The concept, origin, history and development of color paper-cutting
The concept of colorful paper-cutting
Paper-cutting is one of the most popular folk arts in China and an important part of the national cultural heritage. It is a kind of hollow art, often used in religious ceremonies, plastic arts and various decorations. In terms of color, paper-cutting can be divided into two categories: single-color paper-cutting and multi-color paper-cutting. Single-color paper-cutting refers to paper-cutting creations using the same color, while multi-color paper-cutting is what we call "color paper-cutting", which uses scissors, carving knives, colored paper, paint, etc., through cutting, pasting, spelling, painting and other methods A form of folk art produced.
The origin, history and development of color paper-cutting
Paper-cutting art activities have been popular long before paper existed. According to research, since the Shang Dynasty (1600-1100 BC), some people have used the techniques of carving, engraving, picking, engraving, and shearing to carve patterns on gold foil, leather, silk, and even leaves. By the Western Zhou Dynasty, the artistic record of the nature of paper-cutting became clearer. "Cut a tung tree to seal a younger brother" in "Historical Records" once recorded that in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, King Cheng cut a sycamore leaf into a "Gui" and gave it to his younger brother. Hou. However, paper-cutting in the true sense should start with the appearance of paper. In the Western Han Dynasty, people used hemp fiber to make paper. It is said that after the death of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, his favorite concubine Li, the emperor missed her so much that he could not sleep well and could not eat to her taste. So he asked a magician to cut out the image of Concubine Li with hemp paper to summon her soul. This is probably the earliest paper cut. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, due to Cai Luns improvement of papermaking technology, paper production gradually became large-scale. This form of carving also found a more popular material, and the unique art of paper-cutting was soon born. It can be said that the art of paper-cutting in my country has a history of at least two thousand years.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, there was a popular custom of "engraving gold to make a win". "Sheng" is a pattern cut and carved from paper, gold and silver foil, or silk. Those cut into a square geometric shape are called "Fang Sheng"; Those shaped like flowers and grass are called "Huasheng", those cut into human shapes are called "rensheng". At that time, there was also a popular kind of small flags cut from double silk silk, called spring banners, or banners and spring banners. On the day of the beginning of spring, people cut various banners, spring banners, spring swallows, spring butterflies, etc. as Holiday gifts are either tied on the head, hung on a willow branch, or affixed to the screen. The emperor also met with his ministers on this day and presented them with gold and silver banners or Luo banners respectively.
Colored paper-cutting is developed on the basis of monochrome paper-cutting. In "Ren Ri" written by Li Shangyin of the Tang Dynasty, "The success of making gold spreads Jing customs, and cutting ribbons brings Jin style to people" is exactly the description of the art of paper-cutting. Although it remains to be verified whether there were colorful folk paper-cuts in the Tang Dynasty, we can feel from the text that the colors of Tang Dynasty paper-cuts were quite rich. It is also recorded in the "Wulin Fanzhi" of the Five Dynasties: King Wu Yuejian traveled on an auspicious day... Hundreds of households outside the city did not hang brocades, and they all used colored paper to cut out people and horses to represent them. This is also a description of the colors in the art of paper-cutting.
In fact, the production of shadow puppetry and paper-cutting are from the same origin. It is recorded in the "Capital Records" of the Southern Song Dynasty: "The shadow puppetry was originally carved from plain paper by the people of the capital, and later it was decorated with colored leather." This is a direct description of the application of paper-cutting art to shadow puppet production. Moreover, from "plain paper" to "color", it shows that colored paper-cutting already existed in the Southern Song Dynasty, and it should be the application of point-color paper-cutting. By the Ming Dynasty, the dotting technology had matured. The Ming Dynastys "Suzhou Prefecture Chronicles" recorded: "Jiajing Zhong made gauze lanterns and carved paper into the shapes of flowers, bamboos and birds. With light and thick colors, melted wax slowly dyed, and light Shao Clamp it, it will be bright and translucent when reflected in the sun, and the fragrance will dance, and it will be lost in the light smoke, and it is indistinguishable from the real thing." From the text description of "Sui light and thick color", we can feel the superb skills of the Ming Dynasty point color artists. In the Qing Dynasty, because the Manchu people had the custom of paper-cutting, paper-cutting entered the palace. In the Forbidden City, Shenning Palace, where emperors of all dynasties held weddings, used paper as their bridal chamber. The walls were papered according to Manchu customs, with black paper-cut corner flowers with the word Double Happiness pasted on the four corners, and black paper-cut flowers with dragons and phoenixes in the center of the ceiling; on the aisle walls on both sides of the palace Also attached are horn flowers. It is said that someone used paper to cut the "Liuhe Spring" pattern with longevity stars, cranes, deer and pine, painted it and pasted it on the court clothes. Even the Queen Mother of the West thought it was embroidered. These techniques are very common in modern point-color paper-cutting. .
Recently, the "Phoenix Gold Foil" from Shu that was well preserved more than 3,000 years ago was unearthed at the Jinsha site in the western suburbs of the city. The center of the pattern is a rotating incised sun pattern, with four graceful phoenixes flying around it. The color is The golden color reflects the worship of the sun by the ancestors of ancient Shu. There is also the "tiger pattern gold foil" unearthed in Sanxingdui. In ancient times, it was often used to affix Buddha statues, or carved into patterns and affixed toOn top of lacquerware, ceramics, woodware, carriages and horses, jewelry boxes, etc. The color of gold foil is yellow, and it looks very beautiful when attached to the surface of these objects. This shows that ancient ancestors already had a preliminary understanding of the aesthetic function of color. Although paper-cutting had not yet appeared at that time, this strong aesthetic demand for color laid a good spiritual foundation for the emergence of colored paper-cutting in the future. Today, there is a kind of paper-cutting in Foshan, Guangdong called "copper lining paper-cutting", which uses copper foil to engrave lines and then lines the bottom with various colored papers. This kind of folk colored paper-cutting is a form of continuation of the patterns carved on gold foil by ancient ancestors. , after continuous development and evolution, it has been preserved to this day and has become a unique art form in modern decoration. It can be said that gold foil carving is the origin of folk color paper-cutting.
With the continuous enrichment of modern scientific and technological materials and the gradual improvement of peoples living conditions, the application of colored paper-cutting is expanding to a wider range of life areas: it is used to embellish walls, decorate doors and windows, room pillars, mirrors, lamps and lanterns Wait, it can be used as an embellishment for gifts.
