This post was last edited by AyaCica at 2025-8-21 09:20
Chinese paper cutting is a folk art thatuses scissors or carving knives to cut patterns on paper, which is used todecorate life or accompany other folk activities. In China, paper cutting has abroad mass base and is integrated into the social life of people of all ethnicgroups, serving as an important part of various folk activities. The inheritedvisual images and modeling formats contain rich cultural and historicalinformation, expressing the public's social cognition, moral concepts,practical experience, life ideals, and aesthetic tastes. It has multiple socialvalues such as cognition, education, expression, lyricism, entertainment, andcommunication. Historical Origins The folk paper-cutting art in China has itsown formation and development process. Paper was invented in the Western HanDynasty (6th century AD). Before that, there could be no paper-cutting art.However, people had long used thin materials to make crafts through hollowcarving techniques even before the appearance of paper. That is, they cutpatterns on gold foil, leather, silk, and even leaves using techniques such ascarving, 镂 ving, picking, cutting, and clipping. Genuine paper cutting should have startedwith the invention of paper. The invention of paper in the Han Dynasty promotedthe emergence and development of paper cutting. Classification of Works
- Monochromatic Paper Cutting
Monochromatic paper cutting is the most basic form of paper cutting. It is cut from various colors such as red, green, brown, black, and gold, and is mainly used for window decoration and embroidery patterns. It mainly has three expression techniques: negative carving, positive carving, and the combination of negative and positive. Paper cuttings used as embroidery patterns often combine cutting and pricking. Pricking uses a needle tip to prick small dots in the details of the pattern, and leaves "hidden cuts" in some parts, which can be used as a basis for changing threads during embroidery. Folded paper cutting, silhouette, and torn paper are all forms of monochromatic paper cutting. - Colorful Paper Cutting
With the exploration and development of paper-cutting expressions, the forms and techniques of colorful paper cutting have gradually increased, including dot dyeing, color overlaying, color separation, color filling, woodblock printing, spray painting, line drawing, and color weaving. Each form has its own characteristics and uniqueness: dot-dyed paper cutting is moist and highly decorative; overlaid paper cutting is sharp with bright color blocks; color-separated paper cutting has distinct color separation and rich color perception; filled paper cutting is simple, clean, and vivid, each giving people different feelings. - Three-Dimensional Paper Cutting
Three-dimensional paper cutting can be either monochromatic or colorful. It is a new type of paper cutting similar to sculpture and relief, created by comprehensive techniques such as painting, cutting, folding, and gluing. It absorbs the skills of modern art and fully reflects the characteristics of realism and artistic romance, transforming paper cutting from a two-dimensional sense to a three-dimensional one. It can be used for ornamental modeling and children's handmade crafts, etc.
Usage Forms Paper cutting has been widely spread amongthe people with a long history. Paper-cut works (paired horse round flowers,paired monkey round flowers) dating back more than 1,500 years have beenunearthed in Xinjiang. Later, its traces can also be seen in dyeing andweaving, Huasheng (ornaments for hair), decorative patterns of Jizhou Kiln andDing Kiln, shadow puppets, blue calico, small embroidery, and paintings. As aform of traditional folk art, paper cutting occupies an important position infolk activities. Professional folk paper-cut artists appeared in the SouthernSong Dynasty. Folk paper cutting often refines and summarizes natural formsthrough homophony, symbolism, and implication to form beautiful patterns. In terms of specific uses, it can beroughly divided into four categories:
- Posting: directly pasted on doors, windows, walls, lanterns, and colored decorations for decoration, such as window flowers, wall flowers, ceiling flowers, smoke grids, lantern flowers, paper flower decorations, and door stickers.
- Decoration: used to adorn gifts, dowries, sacrificial offerings, and offerings, such as wedding flowers, offering flowers, festival flowers, candlestick flowers, incense burner flowers, and Double Ninth flags.
- Embroidery patterns: used for clothing, shoes, hats, and pillows, such as shoe flowers, pillow flowers, hat flowers, bib flowers, sleeve flowers, and strap flowers.
- Printing and dyeing: used as printing plates for blue calico, applied to fabrics, quilt covers, door curtains, bags, aprons, headscarves, etc.
Art AppreciationPaper cutting is a form of folk art. Ittakes paper as the processing object and scissors (or carving knives) as thetools for creation. Every art has its own unique artisticstyle. The material (paper) and tools (scissors and carving knives) used inpaper cutting determine its own artistic style. Paper-cutting art is a folkskill that is "easy to learn but difficult to master". Most of thecreators are rural women and folk artists. Since they take what they see andhear in real life as the theme, and their observation of objects is based onsimple feelings and intuitive impressions, the paper-cutting art forms a uniquestyle of simplicity, purity, conciseness, and brightness, reflecting the simpleand unpretentious spirit of farmers. Content and Significance Folk paper cutting is good at combiningmultiple images to produce an ideal beautiful result. Whether using one ormultiple images, they are shaped "by image to imply meaning" and"by meaning to construct image", rather than based on the objectivenatural form. At the same time, it is also good at using metaphor to create avariety of auspicious mascots, combining conventional images to express one'spsychology. The pursuit of auspicious implications has become one of theultimate goals of image combination. The regional isolation, culturallimitations, and the intrusion of adversities such as natural disasters havestimulated people's desire for a happy and prosperous life. People pray foradequate food and clothing, a thriving population, health and longevity, andall the best. Such simple wishes are conveyed through paper cutting.
The folk paper-cut Deer and Cranein Spring is a traditional folk theme pattern. According to records,the crane is the "mysterious bird", which is a general term for"migratory birds". In folk culture, the deer is called"migratory beast", and the crane is called "migratorybird". Deer and crane in spring symbolize spring and life. In folk,"deer" is homophonic with "official salary", and the craneis regarded as a bird with a long life, so the combination of deer and cranealso implies good fortune, official salary, and longevity. In the context ofrelatively low social productivity in folk society, manual labor is theguarantee of survival, and getting rid of diseases and the pain of death ispeople's eternal ideal. Folk paper cutting expresses the desire for life invarious forms, protects life, praises life, expresses the joy of life, and theworship of life has become people's devout belief.
Eagle Treading on Rabbit is one of the wedding flowers in folk bridal chambers and atraditional pattern, widely spread among the people. The eagle symbolizes"yang", similar to chickens, birds, and crows. In folk mythology, thesun is called the "three-legged bird", and in folk, the sun is called"crow". The rabbit symbolizes "yin", and in folk, the moonis called the rabbit. Eagle treading on rabbit implicitly metaphorizes lovebetween men and women, reflecting the theme of reproductive worship. Folk papercuttings with themes such as Bowl Buckling, Braided Doll,and Fish Nibbling Lotus are everywhere.
There are many paper-cut works reflectingproduction and life among the people. The biggest common feature of these worksis the exaggeration of the main body, such as big fish, big peppers, bigsilkworms, big grains, etc. Through paper cutting, people have createdbeautiful images to comfort their souls, show the great creativity of humans inconquering nature, in order to build their ideal world, affirm human strength,and inspire people's courage to continue struggling.
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Posted an update: 2025-8-21 09:16:26 23
