On that weekend in 2015, a group of university students gathered in front of the library of Suzhou University of Science and Technology, and they were talking about it. "She's really good and I wish I could be like her. "
It can't be fake, right, who can do that? "Following their voices, you can see a notice about the campus art exhibition posted on the door of the library.
When people get closer and read carefully, they will find that the protagonist of this exhibition is not a world-famous painting master, but an ordinary female student born in the 90s.
Suzhou University of Science and Technology held a solo exhibition for students for the first time, and this girl Zhai Tianlin is a tearing paper heir, and her talent is eye-catching. People may question, can tearing paper also be considered art?
The answer is yes, as long as it is taken to the extreme, each art form can show its unique charm. Just like the champion in the industry, Zhai Tianlin won the opportunity for the school to make an exception for her with her talent and hard work.
In the hands of the torn paper heir, an ordinary piece of paper can be transformed into a beautiful work of art. The art of tearing paper is a flat cut-out art, similar to decoupage, but not identical, that relies entirely on the body to communicate with the paper, without the need for drafts and tools.
So, how to become a torn paper heir? This starts with Zhai Tianlin's hometown, the Zhai family compound. Although many people don't know much about the Zhai family compound, on the streets of Xuzhou, everyone knows about the history of the Zhai family compound.
There is an ordinary family living in the Zhai family compound, but they have extraordinary craftsmanship, and Zhai Tianlin is one of them.
In 1996, Zhai Tianlin was born in the Zhai family compound, she has been different since she was a child, according to her mother's recollection, the first word she said when she babbled was not her father, nor her mother, but "paper".
This may have doomed her to the art of tearing paper. When she was more than two years old, other children were still watching cartoons, and she had begun to appreciate the art of tearing paper in the company of her father.
Perhaps because of the inheritance of his father's artistic cells, the little Zhai Tianlin did not feel bored, but was deeply attracted. Under the influence of hearing and seeing, seven-year-old Zhai Tianlin began a formal paper tearing study and started an extraordinary life journey.
Every day when she comes home from school, the first thing she does is sit in her room and practice tearing paper, although her little hands are not yet proficient, and the torn paper is crooked, and she can't see what the pattern is, but she enjoys it.
After a long period of setbacks, Zhai Tianlin's tearing technology has not made significant progress. At this point, she seemed to have the idea of giving up. However, an unexpected incident made her determined to persevere.
One night in 2005, she couldn't get the results she wanted after half an hour, so she threw all the papers in her room into the trash and fell on the table and cried.
Why do you keep failing, she asked herself? Am I really incapable? Should you really give up? She was extremely depressed and fell asleep crying. However, when she wakes up, she is surprised to find that the paper in the trash can has magically returned to the table.
This miracle rekindled her hope and determination for the paper-tearing technique.
A post-it note and one"Freshly baked"The giant panda tore the paper, which made Zhai Tianlin couldn't help laughing. His father's focused expression and dedication to art deeply touched Zhai Tianlin.
In the middle of the night, her father was still struggling for art, and the grievances in Zhai Tianlin's heart disappeared in an instant, and she understood what she had to do.
After more than ten hours of hard training every day, Zhai Tianlin and his father spent countless days and nights together. Even though it was dark in front of her, she still chose to persevere, believing that the dawn was ahead.
The hard work paid off, and with the refinement of her skills, her works gradually took on vivid forms, and each piece of art also came into being. In July 2012, when 18-year-old Zhai Tianlin stood at the crossroads of her life, she did not hesitate to choose the art and design major of Suzhou University of Science and Technology.
The achievement at this moment is the reward of her persistence and hard work.
University life opened up a whole new world of design for Zhai Tianlin, and she began to go beyond the limitations of traditional tear-off patterns. "If traditional patterns don't appeal to modern people, then we build on tradition and innovate to keep the art alive. ”
So she began to take action and applied to Suzhou University of Science and Technology to establish a paper tearing art club, hoping to bring more people with common interests together to research and innovate.
But in the process of founding the club, she was surprised to find that many people did not know much about the history of the art of tearing paper. This discovery made her more determined to inherit the art of tearing paper, and she devoted herself to her work even more devotedly.
Her efforts have paid off, and more and more people have learned about and joined the ranks of the art of tearing paper.
As the number of members of the community increases, so does the world of thinking. Under everyone's unique creativity, a unique tearing paper pattern came into being.
Looking at these unique patterns, Zhai Tianlin hopes to be able to share them with more people. In 2015, he and his friends from the club proposed to the school to hold a campus art exhibition, which was highly recognized by the school and gave them such rights on an exceptional basis.
After receiving this "privilege", they worked intensively to prepare, and finally succeeded in displaying vivid artworks in front of the audience. While appreciating these works, visitors not only admired the inheritors, but also admired the charm of traditional Chinese culture.
After the event, many alumni had a new understanding of paper tearing, but Zhai Tianlin felt that it was far from enough.
Zhai Tianlin is still working hard, hoping to pass on the art of tearing paper. Finally, in July 2019, she received an invitation from CCTV for an entrepreneurial variety show.
On the day of her appointment, her heart raced when the spotlight hit her, but when she touched the familiar paper, her heart calmed. In front of everyone's attention, she made a lifelike rabbit out of paper, which won the applause of the house.
However, she was not satisfied and made a bold request to her mentors: to challenge herself blindfolded. The applause rang out, both as encouragement and admiration for her courage.
With the consent of her mentor, she put on a blindfold and embarked on a new challenge.
After dozens of seconds of waiting, a cute giant panda appeared in front of the audience. In order to express his gratitude, Zhai Tianlin gave this special "gift" to the mentors.
Therefore, the 23-year-old Suzhou girl quickly became popular because of the variety show, and received wide attention from culture lovers at home and abroad. In September of the same year, the director of a British museum personally sent someone to China and invited Zhai Tianlin to his country to impart knowledge.
Cultural boundaries can be crossed. Zhai Tianlin gladly accepted the invitation from the United Kingdom, and she firmly believed that this cross-border trip would benefit her a lot. It turns out that museums in the UK have a lot of students, especially primary and secondary school students, who come to visit.
She instantly understood that in order to truly carry forward this traditional craft, it must start with children. Therefore, Zhai Tianlin decided to work with the British Museum to develop a textbook for children, so that this skill can enter the homes of ordinary people and fill the gap in the field of paper tearing education.
This unique and courageous attempt naturally attracted the attention of many people in the country, and many commercial markets began to take notice of this art. With the growing market demand, Zhai Tianlin founded his own studio, providing tear-off design and craftsmanship, and continued to expand the use of tear-off art.
In just one year of entrepreneurial career, this 24-year-old Suzhou girl has earned more than one million at the end of 2020 and has become a veritable heir to the paper-tearing family.
Even though he is worth more than one million, Zhai Tianlin still sticks to his original intention and pursues his dreams. She chose to return to school and continue her studies, eventually completing her graduate studies at Suzhou University of Science and Technology and joining the Department of Design at the School of Art of Nantong University as a teacher.
Now, she is both a teacher and a student, and she always insists on passing on her life's skills, while maintaining a heart of curiosity and continuous improvement. No matter when and where, she never forgets her original intention and keeps moving forward.
At the beginning of 2021, the sudden epidemic prevented many students from studying in the classroom, even Zhai Tianlin's class. In order to respond to the call of the country, Teacher Zhai can only start teaching online.
However, the sudden rise of online classes gave Zhai Tianlin a bold idea in her mind - why didn't she use the live broadcast platform to share her paper-tearing art with the whole country?
This is a new challenge, but Zhai Tianlin is no longer alone at this time, because there is a group of lovely students behind her. Every time it is time for the live broadcast, the students in the class will go online on time and volunteer to become the teacher's assistant to help answer netizens' questions about the art of tearing paper.
Seeing the students so sensible, Zhai Tianlin felt very relieved, and she hoped that more people would inherit this path.
With the growth of the number of people in the live broadcast room, Mr. Zhai began to encourage these paper art enthusiasts to actively learn this traditional craft. In order to facilitate everyone's learning, Zhai Tianlin launched online teaching.
As soon as the online ** course was launched, it was snapped up by netizens, and seeing the positive attitude of netizens, Zhai Tianlin was very happy, because the art of tearing paper is gradually going to the public.
After returning to normal, Zhai Tianlin began to teach offline courses again. After the offline course started, many netizens came to experience the charm of art.
In addition to online and offline teaching, Zhai Tianlin often leads students to nursing homes or welfare homes for public welfare activities on weekends and holidays.
When Zhai Tianlin saw the old man and the children concentrating on tearing the paper, her tears couldn't help but flow, because she knew that she had succeeded. Even with such an achievement, Zhai Tianlin did not dare to relax for a moment.
At the beginning of 2022, she combined the art of tearing paper with tourist attractions, which attracted the attention of many tourists. In particular, the hot-selling tear-off souvenirs in the scenic spot store, each of which is carefully made by her according to the characteristics of each scenic spot, has been well received by tourists.
Although it is enviable to have an annual income of one million in one year of entrepreneurship, behind this, it is more about the efforts of this Suzhou girl to inherit it.
We have reason to believe that China's paper-tearing art will go global and become a part of the world's cultural heritage. This is all thanks to intangible cultural heritage inheritors like Zhai Tianlin, who have inherited and carried forward the essence of Chinese culture with great enthusiasm and perseverance, so that Chinese culture will continue to live and last forever in the long river of history.