In the minds of the Chinese, there is no more ceremonial traditional festival than the "New Year". Paste Spring Festival couplets, cut window flowers, wear New Year's clothes, and prepare New Year's goods ......The reunion of the family, at the end of the year, little by little, the busy figures on weekdays return one by one, from the dust to the fireworks of pots and pans, the days usher in the warmth in the cold winter, home, in the red color of looking forward to the New Year.
Ancient handicraft has been circulating for thousands of years
As one of the symbols of Chinese handicraft culture, the earliest historical source of Chinese paper-cutting Chinese can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty (6th century AD).
This kind of original Chinese arts and crafts works created by using scissors or carving knives to cut patterns on paper have the broadest mass base, and gradually formed different genres divided by region and nationality in the long history, a hundred flowers bloom, in various folk activities and traditional festivals with rich content close to life, following the traditional modeling style, completed the national expression of giving a beautiful meaning again and again.
Paper-cutting comes from the folk, suitable for all ages, and everyone can get started. But to make a masterpiece, you need to master skilled craftsmanship and unique ideas full of ingenuity. The core knife method includes flat knife, sharp knife, curved knife, etc., the cutting method is divided into folding scissors, hob scissors, different techniques to shape the ever-changing lines and patterns, a pair of scissors, a piece of paper, enough to create a spiritual pastoral.
The lines are smooth and exquisite, the pattern is symmetrical and balanced, and it seems simple, but it requires an accurate grasp of the tension of the paper, and a strong sense of space and hand-eye coordination, so as to ensure accurate movements and flawless patterns in the process of knife and scissors carving in one go.
Traditional patterns come from flowers, birds, people, animals and plants, folk tales and scenes of labor and life, etc., and innovative patterns and pictures are the new dimensions that test the inspiration and artistic accomplishment of paper-cutting artists.
From the overall layout to the local details, from the pattern level to the proportions of the modeling, how to depict the oriental aesthetics that is both exquisite and rich in cultural connotation on a piece of paper is a topic that the inheritors of "intangible cultural heritage" diligently pursue. This work requires constant patience and tenacious dedication, as a masterful decoupage can take hours or more of concentration to complete.
In order to inject new vitality into traditional handicrafts, it is more necessary for artists to continuously realize the transformation of modernization through traditional techniques, combine and integrate with more art forms, and give birth to paper-cut masterpieces with the style of the new era.
Oriental imagery cultural totem
The art of paper-cutting, which came into being with the advent of papermaking, has passed through the millennium, picking up the oriental aesthetic elements of different eras and the prayers and beliefs of the Chinese people for a better life in the past dynasties, carrying the profound Chinese civilization.
The paper-cut patterns with the words Fu, magpie, Ruyi and other elements imply "auspicious Ruyi", which are ubiquitous during the festival to express people's good wishes to relatives and friends; The paper-cut works with the theme of the 12 zodiac signs bless the zodiac year through the years and personality traits represented by different zodiac signs, adding liveliness and interest to the tradition; Since ancient times, flowers, birds, fish and insects have been commonly found in various arts and crafts, implying the change of solar terms and showing the close connection between Chinese's life and nature. The hope of sowing and the happiness of harvesting are the most simple happiness in oriental culture; In addition, the paper-cut works with the theme of traditional stories and characters in classical masterpieces are more full of ancient style, such as the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl Magpie Bridge Meeting, Daiyu Funeral Flowers, Liang Zhuhua Butterfly ......The love and beauty, affection and sorrow of the ancients jumped on the paper, between light and dark, yin and yang, and the swan song of the ages danced.
The style of the "Jiangsu and Zhejiang School" represented by Yangzhou paper-cutting is beautiful and graceful, and it is the most elegant charm of classical literati. Zhang Yongshou is the inheritor of Yangzhou paper-cutting, and is also known as a generation of paper-cutting art masters. His works have a wide range of subjects, fluent and tactful lines, vivid and lively cutting, and are both formal and spiritual, and lifelike. Cut the bird from the wings; Cut the fish from the head; Cut the tiger from the back toe; Cut flowers to achieve "round like the autumn moon square like bricks, missing like a sawtooth line such as whiskers", the cut is neat, smooth and even, and the composition of each work is "sparse and dense, complex and simple, virtual and real, static and moving". The art master Liu Haisu once praised his paper-cutting as "painting in the cut, and its flavor is endless".
The "Northern School" represented by Shaanxi and Shandong has an ancient and clumsy shape, a rough style, and inherits the original folk patterns, which is rich in a strong life atmosphere. Ku Shulan, a master of Shaanxi paper-cutting, calls herself a "flower-cutting lady" and has cut out countless imaginative works on the kang head in the countryside. Her paper-cutting is glamorous but not vulgar, complicated but not chaotic, and brings out the pure folk traditional cultural genes and plates, so that the folk songs that have been circulated for thousands of years leap onto the paper and become a figurative totem of Shaanxi's traditional culture.
The "southern faction" represented by Guangdong and Fujian pays attention to both rigidity and softness. Foshan paper-cutting is not only light and beautiful, but also vigorous and vigorous, and the wind of Yuexiu has the chivalrous spirit of Foshan martial arts.
Design tradition Cultural and creative handmade
Originated in the Western Han Dynasty and flourished in the Sui and Tang dynasties, the paper-cutting art also has strong artistic plasticity and product design value because of its profound historical and cultural accumulation. In addition to being used as illustrations for publications, animated film and television works and other media, the art of paper-cutting in the new era has gradually shown rich artistic tension, from the palace of folk art to the field of practical aesthetics of contemporary life, which is both inheritance and innovation.
T-shirts, stationery, mobile phone cases, and cards that play with paper-cut elements have always been in the C position among cultural and creative brands, with bolder colors and more whimsical ideas, making paper-cutting a member of the "National Tide Revival Movement", linking ancient skills and young thinking.
Digitalization is an important part of the modernization transformation of traditional culture. The digital art of paper-cutting has been given a new life, and it is also more conducive to being widely disseminated on the Internet and attracting the attention of more young people.
"Chinese Paper-cutting Digital Space" is the result of the national art first-class annual communication and promotion funding project "Digital Protection and Display Platform Construction of Chinese Paper-cutting Database" undertaken by Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts of Shanghai University, which focuses on the digital works of digital paper-cutting art masters and the new development of paper-cutting art in exhibitions and cultural creativity.
The Chinese stories on paper have grown a long pattern over the years, and the historical context can be seen from time to time. Every festive season is a celebration of family reunion, and each paper-cut window flower tells endless blessings and legends. This Spring Festival, let's put up the window grilles and count the quiet years in the years of circulation.
*:Oriental Art Peaches, Network Map (Invasion and Deletion) Safe and auspicious New Year