1. The historical origin of paper-cutting

The invention of paper was in the Western Han Dynasty BC (6th century BC). Before that, it was impossible for the art of paper-cutting to appear. But at that time, people used thin sheets of materials to make handicrafts through hollow carving techniques. This was already popular before the advent of paper. That is, the techniques of carving, engraving, ticking, engraving, and shearing were used on gold foil, leather, silk, and even on paper. Cut patterns on the leaves.

The "Jian Tong" in "Historical Records" records that in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, King Zhou Cheng cut a sycamore leaf into "Gui" and gave it to his younger brother, and named Ji Yu as a marquis in the Tang Dynasty. During the Warring States Period, leather carvings were used (one of the cultural relics unearthed from Chu Tomb No. 1 in Jianglingwangshan, Hubei), and silver foil hollow carvings (one of the cultural relics unearthed from the Warring States site in Guwei Village, Huixian County, Henan) were both produced together with paper-cutting. Their emergence laid a certain foundation for the formation of folk paper-cutting.

In the "Mulan Ci" during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there is a poem about "applique yellow on the mirror". The earliest paper-cut works discovered in China are five flower-cut paper-cuts from the Northern Dynasties (AD 386-581) unearthed near the Flame Mountain in Turpan, Xinjiang. These paper-cuts adopt the method of repeated folding and the processing method of images not blocking each other.

2. The development of paper-cutting

Paper-cutting in the Tang Dynasty was already in a period of great development. In Du Fu's poem "Peng Ya Xing" there is a line: "The warm soup washes my feet, and the paper cuttings attract my soul." The custom of using paper-cuts to summon spirits had already been spread among the people at that time. From the Tang Dynasty paper-cuttings now in the British Museum, it can be seen that the level of paper-cutting craftsmanship at that time was extremely high, and the composition of the picture was complete, expressing an ideal state of heaven and earth.

The papermaking industry in the Song Dynasty was mature and there were many types of paper products, which provided conditions for the popularization of paper-cutting. Such as "fireworks" as folk gifts, "window flowers" affixed to windows, or used for decoration of lanterns and tea cups. The application scope of folk paper-cutting gradually expanded in the Song Dynasty. Jiangxi Jizhou Kiln used paper-cutting as a pattern for ceramics, and made the ceramics more exquisite through glazing and firing.

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the handicraft art of paper-cutting matured and reached its heyday. The application range of folk paper-cut handicrafts is even wider. The floral decorations on folk lanterns, the patterns on fans, and embroidery patterns, etc., are all made of paper-cut as decoration and then processed. What's more, Chinese people often use paper-cutting as home decorations to beautify the home environment, such as door stacks, window grilles, cabinet flowers, wedding flowers, ceiling flowers, etc. are all paper-cuts used to decorate doors, windows, and rooms.

3. The current situation of paper-cutting

In the 1940s, paper-cutting based on real life began to appear. In 1942, Mao Zedong's "Speech at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art" pointed out the literary and artistic policy of "literature serves the workers, peasants and soldiers." After that, Yan'an Luyi artists Chen Shuliang, Zhang Ding, Li Qun, Gu Yuan, Xia Feng and others began to learn the local folk paper-cutting with a strong mass base, collected, excavated, organized and researched the folk paper-cutting, and created A large number of new paper-cuts reflect the production, life and fighting of the people in the border area.

The work uses traditional folk styles to describe the new content of the Anti-Japanese War and border area construction. It promoted the creation and development of mass paper-cutting and brought about revolutionary changes in traditional folk paper-cutting. In 1944, new folk paper-cut works from the northwest region were exhibited for the first time in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, kicking off the development of paper-cut art after the founding of New China. It can be said that Yan'an's paper-cutting has created a new era of Chinese paper-cutting.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, under the guidance of the literary and artistic policy of “letting a hundred flowers bloom, weeding out the old and bringing forth the new”, artists created a large number of new paper-cuts that represented new socialist people and new things, opening up the path of paper-cut creation and enriching China’s cultural heritage. The form and content of folk decorative arts. In the creation of new paper-cutting, in addition to paper-cutting that expresses the new atmosphere of all walks of life, children, sports, acrobatics, singing and dancing, etc. have also become the most common themes of paper-cutting.

Extended information

Folk paper-cutting is good at combining a variety of objects and producing ideal and beautiful results.

Regardless of the combination of one or more images, they are all modeled "with image meaning" and "image construction" rather than based on objective natural forms. At the same time, they are good at using Bixing techniques to create a variety of mascots. Combine conventional images to express your own psychology. The pursuit of auspicious metaphors has become one of the ultimate goals of image combination.

There are many pictures that reflect production and life in folk paper-cutting. These works have one biggest similarity, which is the exaggeration of the subject, such as big fish, big peppers, big silkworms, and big grains. Through paper-cutting, people create beautiful images; to comfort their souls, to publicize man's great creativity in conquering nature, in order to build his own ideal world, to affirm man's strength, and to inspire people to have the courage to continue fighting.

Folk paper-cutting expresses the desire for life in various forms, protects life, praises life, expresses the joy of life, and the worship of life has become people's devout belief. "Eagle Stepping on Rabbit" is one of the favorite flowers in folk bridal chambers. It is also a traditional pattern and is widely spread among the people. Eagle means "yang", the same as chicken, bird and crow. In folk deification, the sun is called the "three-legged bird", and among the people, the sun is called the "crow". Rabbit means "yin". Folks call the moon rabbit. The common tent flowers and happy flowers in folk paper-cutting express the worship and pursuit of the reproduction of life in a metaphorical way. There are many paper-cut works with themes such as "Buckle Bowl", "Purchase Doll" and "Fish and Lotus".

Baidu Encyclopedia-Chinese Paper-cut