In 1967, Chinese archaeologists found two Tuan Hua paper cuts in Astana Ancient Northern Dynasty Tombs near Gaochang site in Turpan Basin, Xinjiang. They used hemp paper, both of which were folding sacrificial paper cuts. Their discovery provided real evidence for the composition of Chinese paper cuts. Let's take a look at the origin of paper cutting. The latest 5 selected articles are welcome to consult!
Origin of paper cutting 1
Xiantang
The invention of paper was in the Western Han Dynasty (6th century BC). Before that, it was impossible for paper-cut art to appear. However, at that time, people used sheet materials and hollowed out carving techniques to make handicrafts, but it was popular as early as when paper did not appear, that is, the techniques of carving, carving, picking, carving and cutting were used to carve patterns on gold foil, leather, silk and even on leaves.
In the historical records, the brother of the cutting Tung Tong describes the Zhou Dynasty king of the Western Zhou Dynasty who cut his "Guiyu" to his brother by using Wutong leaves and Feng Ji Yu to Tang as Hou. During the Warring States period, leather engraving (one of the cultural relics unearthed from No. 1 Chu tomb in jianglingwangshan, Hubei) and silver foil engraving (one of the cultural relics unearthed from the Warring States site in Guwei village, Huixian County, Henan) were withdrawn together with paper-cut. Their emergence laid a necessary foundation for the composition of folk paper-cut.
During the northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a poem "yellow decals on the mirror" in Mulan CI. The earliest paper-cut works found in China are five Tuan Hua paper-cuts unearthed in the Northern Dynasty (AD 386-581) near huohuoshan mountain in Turpan, Xinjiang. These paper cuts adopt the method of repeated folding and the processing method of image not covering each other.
Tang Dynasty
Paper cutting in the Tang Dynasty was in a period of great development. In Du Fu's poem Peng Yaxing, there was a sentence "warm soup and wash my feet, and curving paper to summon my soul". The custom of summoning my soul with paper cutting had spread among the people at that time. As can be seen from the paper-cut of the Tang Dynasty now stored in the British Museum, the handicraft art level of paper-cut at that time was very high, and the picture composition was complete, expressing a dream realm of heaven and earth.
Jie is popular in the Tang Dynasty. Its flower and wood engraving patterns have the characteristics of paper-cut, such as the "pair of sheep" in zhengcangyuan, Japan. The pattern of sheep is a typical manual art expression of paper-cut. In the Tang Dynasty, there were also missing printing plates made in the form of paper cutting. People carved flower plates with thick paper and missed dyes on cloth to form beautiful patterns.
In addition, paper cuts from the Tang Dynasty and five dynasties have also been unearthed in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, such as Shuanglu pagoda, Qun pagoda and deer, pagoda, etc. all belong to the category of "merit flower paper", which are mainly used to worship Buddha statues and decorate temples and Daochang. Its picture composition is complex and there are specific materials. In addition, there are ink and wash paintings such as the standing image of Bodhisattva and the standing image of Bodhisattva holding flags. It is a combination of paper cutting and painting.
Song Dynasty
During the Southern Song Dynasty, there were artists who took paper cutting as their profession. According to the careful records of the Song Dynasty in the old stories of Wulin, there were hundreds of "small economies" in Hangzhou at this time. Among them, there are those who specialize in "cutting arrowhead patterns", some are good at cutting "Zhujia calligraphy", and some specialize in "various patterns".
The paper making industry in the Song Dynasty was mature and there were many kinds of paper products, which provided conditions for the popularization of paper cutting. Such as the "fireworks" as folk gifts, the "window flowers" pasted on the window, or used for the decoration of lanterns and tea lanterns [8]. The application scope of folk paper-cut in Song Dynasty was gradually expanded. Paper-cut was used as a pattern of ceramics in Jizhou kiln in Jiangxi Province, and the ceramics were more exquisite after glazing and firing; Folk people also use paper-cut to carve the skin of donkeys, cattle, horses, sheep and other animals into the figure shape of leather film; The engraving plate made by blue printed cloth technology is carved into patterns with oil paperboard. The pattern of scraping printing adopts the technique of paper-cut, which can be divided into yin and Yang engraving. The long line should be cut to distinguish the virtual and real.
Ming and Qing Dynasties
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the paper-cut handicraft art matured and reached its peak. The application of folk paper-cut handicraft art is more extensive. For example, the flower decorations on folk lights, the patterns on fans, and the patterns of embroidery, all use paper-cut as decoration for reprocessing. What's more, Chinese folk often use paper-cut as decorations to decorate their homes and beautify their home environment. For example, door stacks, window flowers, cabinet flowers, happy flowers, ceiling flowers, etc. are all paper-cut used to decorate doors, windows and rooms. [organized by www. Qunzou. Com] although the art of paper-cut came from the people, it had become a national art by the Qing Dynasty, and even the Royal relatives and relatives at that time were inseparable from paper-cut.
The Kunning palace of the Forbidden City in Beijing is the wedding room of the emperor of the Qing Dynasty. According to the custom of the Manchu people, the window papers of the front and rear windows of the palace are pasted on the outside. The wall is pasted with paper, with black "囍" character paper-cut corner flowers pasted on the four corners, and the black dragon and Phoenix round flower paper-cut is in the center of the ceiling. Paper cuts are also pasted on the walls of the corridors on both sides of the palace. From the pattern, material and color of paper-cut, compared with the ceiling flowers and wall flowers of ordinary farmers, there is basically no difference except that the paper-cut pattern is slightly larger.
Modern times
At the beginning of the 20th century, the May 4th New Culture Movement established the rudiment of Chinese folklore under the advocacy of advanced intellectuals Cai Yuanpei, Lu Xun, Liu Bannong and Zhou Zuoren. They widely collect folk literature materials and strive to collect folk art works, including folk paper-cut. In the 1930s, artist Chen Zhinong began the research and creation of folk paper cutting in Beijing. In the form of sketches and silhouettes, he described many customs and customs of old Beijing, including street vendors, workshop craftsmen, food stalls, tea picking, fairs, temple fairs, market idlers, etc.
In the 1940s, paper cutting with real life as the theme began to appear.
In 1942, Mao Zedong's speech at the Yan'an Symposium on literature and art pointed out the literary and artistic policy of "literature and art serving workers, peasants and soldiers". Since then, Yan'an Luyi artists Chen Shuliang, Zhang Ding, Li Qun, Gu Yuan, Xia Feng and others began to learn from the local folk paper-cut with a deep mass foundation, collected, excavated, sorted and studied the folk paper-cut, and created a large number of new paper-cut reflecting the production, life and battle of the people in the border area. The work uses the traditional folk style to describe the new materials of the Anti Japanese War and the construction of the border area. It has promoted the creation and development of mass paper-cut and revolutionized the traditional folk paper-cut.
In 1944, the new folk paper-cut works of Northwest China were also exhibited for the first time in the Shaanxi Gansu Ningxia border region, which opened the prelude to the development of paper-cut art after the founding of new China. It can be said that paper cutting in Yan'an has ushered in a new era of Chinese paper cutting.
After the founding of new China, under the guidance of the literary and artistic policy of "letting a hundred flowers bloom and bringing forth the new", artists created a lot of new paper cuts to express the new people and new things of socialism, opened up the path of paper-cut creation, and enriched the forms and materials of Chinese folk decorative art. In the creation of new paper-cut, in addition to the paper-cut that shows the new atmosphere of all walks of life, children, sports, acrobatics, song and dance have also become the most common themes of paper-cut.
Since the birth of paper-cut art, there has been no interruption in Chinese history. It is enriched in various folk activities and is one of the most abundant artistic forms of Chinese folk history and culture.
Origin of paper cutting 2
According to archaeological research, the origin of paper-cut can be traced back to the sixth century of the park, but some people believe that the development history of paper-cut is earlier. So what is the origin of paper cutting? Next, let's explore the origin of paper cutting.
China's paper-cut craft has its unique composition and development process. It is said that the earliest paper-cut art appeared in the spring and autumn and Warring States periods, that is, the 3rd century BC. At that time, people cut patterns on materials such as gold foil, leather, silk and leaves to make various handicrafts, which is the so-called early paper-cut art.
In the Tang Dynasty, the folk custom of paper-cut evoking the soul began to be popular, which promoted the great development of paper-cut art. From the unearthed cultural relics, it can be seen that the level of paper-cut technology at that time was quite high, and the composition of paper-cut picture was complete, delicate and exquisite. In addition, in the Tang Dynasty, people also used paper-cut as printing board, carved thick paper into missing printing board, and then printed dyes on cloth to create beautiful patterns.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the paper-cut technology matured and reached its peak. At this time, the paper-cut technology is more widely used. For example, the flower decorations of folk lanterns, the patterns of fans and embroidery patterns are all processed by using paper-cut as decoration. At that time, more people in the folk took paper-cut as a home decoration to beautify the home, such as window flowers.
I will introduce the origin and history of paper-cut there. I believe you all know something about the development of paper-cut. Paper cutting is an excellent traditional culture and art in China. It has a unique style and is very representative. I hope you can learn more about these traditional cultures and learn if possible. Don't let our traditional culture pass over time.
The origin and legend of paper cutting
During the Han Dynasty, shortly after the invention of paper at that time, a scholar (I at that time) was very depressed. There was a wife who was in poor health, like jade, and a 6-7-year-old boy, Jasper.
The scholar is really talented, but no one appreciates him and no one cares about him. And they are clumsy. It's not very good to do something else. Fortunately, sometimes my wife helps others and makes some clothes for others to make some money. In this difficult environment, I have to work hard! What makes me happy is that my Jasper is very sensible and obedient. Although she is very young, she helps her mother cook and wash the dishes, and never compares food and play with other people's children.
The winter of this year was unusually cold. When approaching the end of the year, Yuxiang felt uncomfortable and couldn't get off the ground for several days. Seeing that there was only a little rice left at home, I was very anxious, so I went to some large families to beg whether I needed to write, because I was very upright and didn't want to ask for anything from others. But those big families are not interested in it.
But I had to go home hungry.
On the way, it snowed heavily, and the howling north wind made me unusually cold. I hurried home. When I was about to get home, I found an old lady lying there. The old man was dressed in rags. He leaned on a stick in his left hand and a broken bowl in his right hand. When I saw there, I felt pity. I quickly picked up the old man and helped her to the house.
When I entered the house, I told her that Jasper took the initiative to boil water. She took out the little rice left at home and cooked a large bowl of porridge. At this time, the old man slowly woke up. I quickly made the porridge not hot and slowly let the old man drink it. It was getting late. The old man seemed to understand something and asked: you saved me. Let's have dinner together! Like jade said, "we are not hungry, old man, you eat first!" "Alas! I'll eat it first!" The old man said helplessly.
At the moment, I was worried about dinner, but it was inconvenient to say anything, so I simply took out my pen and wrote a word "Fu" on a piece of paper.
After drinking this bowl of porridge, the old man's body seemed to recover a lot. So he got up and looked around the room. He was poor and almost had nothing. Looked at the seemingly jade and said, child, you're not feeling well! Like jade said, every year to winter this time is like this, the body is always uncomfortable. The old man felt something like herbal medicine from his arms and said, boil some water, put it in it, boil water and drink it, and your disease will be cured!
I turned back and looked at the word "Fu" I wrote. It seemed to be true, but I didn't understand. She tore it three times and five times with her hand! I was in a hurry at that time. I finally found this piece of paper. Our family saved you. It's the new year. Our family wants to paste a word of blessing for good luck next year, but... Why do you tear it off? The old man said calmly: expand the word of "blessing" I tore to see what it looks like
Jasper ran over curiously and slowly unfolded it. Ah, it's something we've never seen before. A blessing word is surrounded by a big fish, and after this "tearing", the blessing word has a more three-dimensional sense! The little Jasper was so happy that his mouth couldn't close. He held the paper on his chest for his mother to see, and said whether it was good-looking!
Without waiting for us to say anything, the old man took some money out of his arms and said, "I can see that if you can give me the final bowl of rice, it means that your family is a family of virtue and goodness. What you have suffered at present is actually a fate! Now it should be over. I have some money. Take it to buy some rice and let your wife and children have a good year. Your wife will not get sick from now on, and your children will have a good future in the future, and I Tell your wife later how to turn ordinary words into this kind of thing. If you take this "paper" to the market and those rich families, you will certainly sell it at a good price! " Then he told her how to do the craft well.
At this time, we realized that we met an immortal today, so I knelt on the ground with jade like and Jasper, repeatedly kowtowed and said, dare to ask which immortal, the old man seems to have some accidents, and repeatedly said, "Well, I'm not an immortal. I'm just entrusted by an immortal to come to the world to see if there are virtuous and virtuous people, and then pass this skill to him. When I came, the immortal told me to find you and try to pass it on. If you can't, we have to find someone else. Well, when you meet each other two thousand years later, don't forget it! ”
Origin of paper cutting 3
As early as the Han and Tang Dynasties, it was a fashion for folk women to cut gold and silver foil and colored silk into Fangsheng and paste flowers and birds on their temples. Later, it was gradually developed. In festivals, colored paper was cut into various flowers, plants, animals or story characters, and pasted on windows (called "window flowers") and lintels (called "door notes") as decoration, as well as gifts or embroidery patterns.
The art of paper-cut has a long history and is also widely recorded in ancient poetry and Classics:
1. In the poems handed down by Cui Daorong of the Tang Dynasty, there are such words and sentences: "if you want to cut Yichun characters, people in cold spring use scissors". The "Yichun post" mentioned there is also the paper-cut that people are familiar with at the moment.
2. "The song of the Shang and Jin Dynasties, written by Li Yingsheng, is a poem written by the people of the Tang and Jin Dynasties. Ribbon cutting is also called paper cutting.
3. Duan Chengshi's "Youyang Zazu" of the Tang Dynasty said: "at the beginning of spring, in the house of scholars and bureaucrats, paper-cut is a small coil, either hanging at the head of a beauty, or hanging under flowers, and then cut into spring butterflies. Spring wins with drama."
4. "The miscellaneous notes of Zhiya hall poems" written by Zhou Mi of the Southern Song Dynasty reads: "the title of the old capital is very exquisite. There are people who cut all kinds of patterns. In addition, there are Yu Chengzhi in the Central Plains, who finish special writing every time they cut the calligraphy of various families. Later, some teenagers can cut words and flowers in their sleeves, which is very exquisite." That is, the "Kaifeng" mansion. "Pattern cutting" naturally refers to "paper cutting".
5. Zhiyun, Jiande County, Guangzhou: "Lin Wenhui, with neat outline and paper-cut as characters, flies like a dragon and snake, with the same point difference. The room is decorated into a shaft, and the easy salary rice is self-sufficient. It is called cutting". As early as the Han and Tang Dynasties, it was a fashion for folk women to cut gold and silver foil and colored silk into Fangsheng and paste flowers and birds on their temples. Later, it was gradually developed. In festivals, colored paper was cut into various flowers, plants, animals or story characters, and pasted on windows (called "window flowers") and lintels (called "door notes") as decoration, as well as gifts or embroidery patterns.
Symbolic significance of paper cutting
Folk paper cutting is good at combining a variety of objects and images together and producing the perfect result in the dream. No matter one or more image combinations are used, they are shaped by "image implication" and "meaning conformation", rather than natural forms. At the same time, they are good at creating a variety of mascots by means of Bixing, and combine the images agreed to become vulgar to express their psychology. The pursuit of auspicious metaphor has become one of the ultimate goals of image combination.
The main reason why folk paper-cut can be widely spread for a long time is the expressive function of Nafu Yingxiang. Regional closure, cultural limitations, and the invasion of adversity such as natural disasters have stimulated people's desire for a happy life. People pray for plenty of food and clothing, prosperity, health and longevity, and all the best. This simple wish is conveyed by paper cutting. Folk paper-cut deer and crane in spring is the theme pattern of folk tradition. According to records, the crane is the "black bird", which is the general name of "migratory birds". In folk culture, deer are called "waiting animals", cranes are called "migratory birds", and deer and cranes together in spring is a symbol of spring and life. The folk deer and Lu are homonymous, and the crane is regarded as a long-lived bird, so the deer and crane together have the meaning of blessing, Lu and longevity. In the situation of relatively low productivity of civil society, human labor has become the guarantee of survival. Getting rid of the pain of disease and death is people's eternal dream. Folk paper cutting expresses the desire for life in various forms, protects life, praises life, shows the joy of life, and the worship of life has become people's devout belief.
The concept of praying for life endows folk paper-cut with inexhaustible blood and vigorous vitality. The creators of paper-cut always have firm and optimistic beliefs and continuous expectations towards wealth and happiness. Paper-cut is the external presentation of their dream of creating a perfect life. Folk paper cutting integrates these auspicious meanings into various national affairs and activities to meet the spiritual and psychological needs of the general public, so as to support human survival and enrich human life. In folk paper-cut, people can see many pictures reflecting production and life. One of the biggest similarities of these works is the exaggeration of the main body, such as big fish, big pepper, big silkworm, big grain, etc. through paper-cut, people make up a perfect image; To comfort one's soul, to publicize one's great creativity in conquering nature, to establish one's own dream world, to affirm one's strength and to inspire people's courage to continue to struggle.
The expression language of folk paper-cut is not a simple plain narration, but a message of objects. It borrows those conceptual images agreed to become vulgar to express people's longing for a perfect life and good luck and happiness. Species The grotesque and straightforward paper-cut style comes from the original visual thinking mode and folk aesthetic concept; From the unique modeling system composed of program system and image statue; The original philosophy and world outlook from China have more touching artistic charm.
Classification of paper cutting
In terms of specific purposes, it can be roughly divided into four categories:
I. for posting, that is, it is directly posted on doors and windows, walls, lights and color ties for decoration. Such as window flower, wall flower, ceiling flower, smoke lattice, lantern flower, paper tie flower and door paper;
II. Lining, that is, it is used to decorate gifts, dowries, sacrifices and offerings. Such as happy flowers, offering flowers, fireworks, Candlestick flowers, Douxiang flowers and double ninth flag;
III. printing and dyeing, that is, as the printing plate of blue printed cloth, it is used for clothes, quilt, door curtain, baggage, bib, headscarf, etc.
IV. embroidery bottom sample, used for clothing, shoes, hats and pillows. Such as shoe flower, pillow flower, hat flower, bib flower, sleeve flower and suspender flower;
Window flower
Paper cut for decoration on windows. It is common in the north. Most of the farmhouse windows in the north are wooden lattice windows, with vertical lattice, square lattice or geometric lattice. The top is pasted with a layer of white "leather paper". The window paper is replaced and new window flowers are pasted on every new year's festival to show the elimination of the old and welcome the new. The forms of window flowers include corner flowers at the four corners of the decorative pane, as well as folded flowers. There are more free kinds of suitable patterns, such as animals, flowers and characters, as well as continuous sets of drama or legend story window flowers. In short, adapt to panes of different shapes and make different arrangements. There is an unusual arrangement, that is, the window sash across the pane, which is called "window Yue" in Shandong folk.
Happy flower
Wedding and festive fashion points all kinds of utensils, articles and paper cuts for indoor furnishings. Generally, paper cuts are placed on tea sets, soap boxes, basins and other daily necessities, and some are pasted on dressing mirrors. The theme of flower like patterns mostly emphasizes the meaning of auspiciousness and happiness. The color is bright red, and the shape styles include round, square, water chestnut shape, peach shape, pomegranate shape, etc. it is configured with various auspicious patterns, such as dragon and Phoenix, mandarin duck, magpie, flowers and plants, peony, etc. The composition layout has the method of "flower in flower".
Door paper
Also known as "hanging paper", "hanging money", "red paper", "happy paper", "door color" and "Zhai die". It is generally used on the lintel or the second beam of the main room. Its style is mostly in the shape of a brocade flag, with a large head and wide sides, with tassels under it. Most of them are carved on red paper, but also in other colors or colors. The patterns are mostly geometric patterns or inlaid with characters, flowers, dragons and phoenixes and auspicious words, such as "celebration of the whole world", "national peace and people's peace", "surplus in successive years", "good weather", "golden and jade filled the hall", "magpie climbing plum", "happiness, wealth, longevity, happiness and prosperity" and so on. When posting, or one word, or one piece of information, it is hung in a complete set. Generally, there are more than five pieces. In addition to printing the spring and removing the old, the door paper also has the meaning of praying for blessings and expelling evil spirits.
Fireworks
Paper cuts attached to cakes, birthday noodles, eggs and other gifts. It is called "cake flower" and "fruit flower" in Chaozhou, Guangdong, and "circle potted flower" in Pingyang, Zhejiang. The theme of fireworks mostly adopts auspicious and joyful patterns. Paste paper cuts on the "happy eggs" in Shandong to celebrate the birth of children, or dye the eggs red to reveal white patterns. In rural areas of Fujian Province, birthday gifts are presented to each other, and tortoise patterns are used to symbolize longevity. There are turtle shaped cakes and turtle shaped paper cuts.
Shoe flower
Paper cut used as embroidery bottom sample of cloth shoe upper. There are generally three forms: one is to cut into small flowers or small scattered flowers and embroider them on the toe, which is called "toe flower"; the other is to cut into crescent shape suitable for the shape of the upper, which is called "upper flower"; the third is to extend from both ends of the toe flower to the upper, which is called "upper flower". In addition, there is a kind of "sole flower", which was mostly used in "longevity shoes" in the old time. Or embroidered on the bottom of cloth socks. The layout of shoe flowers is generally sparse and bright, and the themes include flowers, plants, birds, etc. Some shoe flowers are cut locally without hollowing out. This is called "dark knife", which is the basis for changing the color of the trocar during embroidery.
Douxianghua
The utility model relates to a colored paper-cut, which is mostly used for decoration in Han folk activities such as ancestor worship and God worship. The theme of the paper-cut mostly selects auspicious patterns such as dramas, historical stories, folklores, flowers, characters and so on. Color matching is generally composed of gold, bright red, peach red, green, blue, orange, light yellow, black and other waxed paper, with rich colors and strong effects. When cutting paper, 7 layers of wax paper and a layer of wrinkled gold paper are required to be stacked together, and the patterns are engraved according to the unified style. After the engraving is completed, the different parts of each engraving are pieced together and pasted on a piece of white paper according to the inspiration of the paper-cut artist, and finally the white paper is engraved into the same pattern. Therefore, a set of Douxiang flowers can make 8 paper cuts with the same patterns and different colors.
Characteristics of paper cutting
There are a lot of information about paper cutting, which has a wide meaning. Auspicious patterns hope to be auspicious and avoid evil spirits; Dolls, gourds, lotus flowers and other patterns symbolize many children. Chinese farmers believe that many children will be more blessed; Poultry, livestock, melons, fruits, fish and insects are closely related to farmers' lives, and they are also important data for the performance of paper cutting. As a folk art, paper-cut has strong regional characteristics: the style of Shaanxi window flower is simple and bold; Hebei and Shanxi paper cuts are beautiful and gorgeous; Yixing paper cutting is gorgeous and neat; Nantong paper cutting is beautiful and exquisite. Although paper-cut is easy to make and simple in shape, it can fully reflect the connotation of people's life and has strong folk characteristics. It is the concentration and exaggeration of many folk art forms in rural China. From the understanding of paper cutting, we can easily understand other aspects of Chinese folk art.
Paper cut flag
It is used for paper cutting in the form of flags and flags in folk activities. It is very beautiful to cut the red flag on the Double Ninth Festival. In the old custom of Zhejiang in the Song Dynasty, if there is a patient, the witch holds the paper-cut dragon and tiger flag to drive away evil spirits and eliminate disasters. In funerals, the "flower flags" used for funeral can also be cut into plain paper. The paper-cut flower flags are related to the flags held by the guiding Bodhisattva in Buddhism; In addition, during the fasting ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the deceased, there are also paper-cut "soul summoning paper flags" and "Shu" (whose shape is also similar to flags) hanging on the beam of the Sutra hall.
Origin of paper cutting 4
The origin of Chinese traditional paper-cut should be traced back to before Cai Lun invented papermaking in the Eastern Han Dynasty. With the evolution of history and the improvement of economy, culture, science and technology, folk paper-cut art developed maturely in the northern and Southern Dynasties, but it really flourished after the middle of the Qing Dynasty. Due to the "precious" in the early stage of invention, paper-cut art first spread in the palace and scholar bureaucrat residence, becoming the "favorite" of ladies. When it was handed down to the Tang and Song Dynasties, it has been widely popular in various festival occasions among the people; In the Yuan Dynasty, it spread to the Middle East and Europe; As a result, his works of art have been combined with people's daily life and festivals in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Of course, an earlier record in China can be found in the spring and Autumn Annals of the Lu family: "King Cheng and Tang Shuyu lived in Yan'an, aided Wu Ye as a GUI, and granted Tang Shuyu the title of 'I will be a daughter.' Shu Yu Xi told the Duke of Zhou... So he granted Shu Yu the title of Jin." This is also recorded in the historical records of the Jin aristocratic family. This matter was widely spread to later generations, and was repeatedly cited. Finally, it took "Jiantong" as the surrogate of enfeoffment. King Cheng is king Cheng of Zhou Dynasty. Shu Yu is the son of King Wu. It was the Western Zhou Dynasty that Shu Yu was granted the title. The behavior of imitating GUI to form leaves is almost a plastic art of paper cutting. So far, there is still a folk manual "tearing paper" as a variety of paper cutting. Therefore, it is not groundless to say that the embryonic form of paper cutting has appeared in the Western Zhou Dynasty.
In the research of the development history of Chinese traditional culture, it is difficult to explore the origin of paper-cut. The reason for the difficulty lies in its material characteristics. The paper is thin and fragile, which is difficult to preserve, and it is difficult to discard after use. Another reason is that most of our historical records are records of official history or mainstream culture, and despise the skills of working women from the middle and lower classes at that time. Due to the dual reasons of material and prejudice, we lack both archaeological material materials and documents. Fortunately, a small number of ancient paper-cut objects have been found in Dunhuang, Xinjiang and other special environments. Researchers have also found clues about paper-cut from various documents and woven sporadic information. Finally, Chinese paper-cut can be seen faintly.
In Astana area, Turpan County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, five paper cuts were unearthed from three tombs of the northern and Southern Dynasties from 1959 to 1966. Due to the local dry climate, the paper-cut 1500 years ago has been well preserved. These paper-cut works are cut by origami method. At that time, the popularity of paper was not very long, and the maturity of paper-cut technology presented in "to the horse", "Tuan Hua" and "to the monkey" was surprising. I believe they are not the earliest works, and the source of Chinese paper-cut still needs to move forward. The fact that ancient paper-cut objects are often unearthed in the ancient Western Regions - the silk road not only shows that Chinese paper-cut had been produced before the sixth century, but also reflects that paper-cut activities had been widely popularized in the Central Plains and spread to remote areas at that time. In the mainland, a batch of paper-cut works of the Tang Dynasty were found in the ancient tomb of atomic head village, long county, Shaanxi Province. A total of 10 pieces were pasted on the outer wall of a pottery pot. They were flower patterns with a diameter of 8 cm to 10 cm. They were white when unearthed and then weathered, leaving only pattern traces.
This ancient handicraft art is very popular among the people. As a part of folk custom, paper-cut art is existing and developing with its tenacious vitality. Up to now, its vigorous vitality has been greatly displayed. It is the hard-working and dexterous hands from the lowest level of society in ordinary farmers that have laid a silent and beautiful chapter for the brilliant development of our folk handicrafts.
Origin of paper cutting 5
Paper cutting is a traditional Chinese folk art. It uses scissors to cut paper into various decorative patterns, so it is called "paper cutting". Paper cutting originated in the Han Dynasty. In the Han and Tang Dynasties, it was popular for folk women to cut gold and silver foil and colored silk into flowers and birds and stick them on their temples. Later, during the festival, the colorful paper is cut into various flowers, plants, animal or character stories. Those pasted on the window are called "window flowers", those pasted on the door are called "door tags", and those used for festivity are called "happy flowers". In the poem "man's Day is an affair" written by Li Shangyin, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, there is a sentence "a wisp of gold wins, spreads the customs of Jing, and the ribbon cutting is the wind of Jin". It also records the history of paper cutting.
Development history of paper cutting
Paper cutting (also known as paper engraving) is one of the oldest folk arts in China. It gives people a feeling and artistic enjoyment through the air visually. The carrier of paper cutting can be paper, gold and silver foil, bark, leaves, cloth and leather. On May 20, 2006, the paper-cut art heritage was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list with the approval of the State Council. Chinese folk paper-cut handicraft has its own composition and development process. The invention of Chinese paper-cut was in the Western Han Dynasty (3rd century BC). At that time, people used sheet materials and hollowed out carving techniques to make handicrafts, but it became popular as early as when paper did not appear, that is, the techniques of carving, carving, picking, carving and cutting were used to cut patterns on gold foil, leather, silk and even on leaves. In the historical records, the younger brother of Wutong recorded that the king of the early Western Zhou Dynasty had cut his "Guiyu" to his younger brother by the leaves of the phoenix tree. During the Warring States period, leather engraving (one of the cultural relics unearthed from No. 1 Chu tomb in jianglingwangshan, Hubei) and silver foil engraving (one of the cultural relics unearthed from the Warring States site in Guwei village, Huixian County, Henan) were withdrawn together with paper-cut. Their emergence laid a necessary foundation for the composition of folk paper-cut. The earliest paper-cut works in China were discovered in 1967 by Chinese archaeologists in Astana Ancient Northern Dynasty Tombs near Gaochang site in Turpan Basin, Xinjiang. They used hemp paper, both of which were folded sacrificial paper-cut. Their discovery provided physical evidence for the composition of Chinese paper-cut.
The history of paper-cut handicraft art, that is, paper-cut in the real sense, should begin with the emergence of paper. The invention of paper in the Han Dynasty promoted the emergence, development and popularization of paper cutting. Paper is a kind of material that is easy to mildew. People will not keep it like a treasure. If they damage themselves, they can cut it again. In Northwest China, the weather is dry and rainy, the climate is dry, and the paper is not easy to mildew, which may also be one of the important reasons for the discovery of Northern Dynasty paper cutting in Turpan, Xinjiang.
Paper cutting in the Tang Dynasty has been in a period of great development. In Du Fu's poems, there is a sentence "warm water washing my feet, paper cutting evokes my soul". The custom of evoking the soul with paper cutting has been spread among the people at that time. As can be seen from the paper-cut of the Tang Dynasty now stored in the British Museum, the handicraft art level of paper-cut at that time was very high, and the picture composition was complete, expressing a dream realm of heaven and earth. Jie is popular in the Tang Dynasty. Its flower and wood engraving patterns have the characteristics of paper-cut, such as the "pair of sheep" in zhengcangyuan, Japan. The pattern of sheep is a typical manual art expression of paper-cut. In the Tang Dynasty, there were also missing printing plates made in the form of paper cutting. People carved flower plates with thick paper and missed dyes on cloth to form a very beautiful pattern.
The paper making industry in the Song Dynasty was mature and there were many kinds of paper products, which provided conditions for the popularization of paper cutting. Such as the "fireworks" as folk gifts, the "window flowers" pasted on the window, or used for the decoration of lanterns and tea lanterns. The application scope of folk paper-cut in the Song Dynasty gradually expanded. The paper-cut was used as a pattern of ceramics in Jizhou kiln in Jiangxi Province, which made the ceramics more exquisite after glazing and firing; Folk people also use paper-cut to carve the skin of donkeys, cattle, horses, sheep and other animals into the figure shape of leather film; The engraving plate made by blue printed cloth technology is carved into patterns with oil paperboard. The pattern of scraping printing adopts the technique of paper-cut, which can be divided into yin and Yang engraving. The long line should be cut to distinguish the virtual and real. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the paper-cut handicraft art matured and reached its peak. The application of folk paper-cut handicraft art is more extensive. For example, the flower decorations on folk lights, the patterns on fans, and the patterns of embroidery, all use paper-cut as decoration for reprocessing. What's more, Chinese folk often take paper-cut as an ornament to decorate the home and beautify the home environment. For example, door stacks, window flowers, cabinet flowers, happy flowers, ceiling flowers, etc. are all paper-cut used to decorate doors, windows and rooms. In addition to the paper binding pattern craftsmen who appeared after the Southern Song Dynasty, the most basic team of Chinese folk paper-cut crafts is still those rural women. Needlework is an important symbol of the perfection of traditional Chinese women. As a required skill of needlework, paper cutting has become a handicraft that girls have to learn since childhood. They want to learn the patterns of paper cutting from their predecessors or sisters, through temporary cutting, re cutting, painting cutting, and depicting the natural scenery they are familiar with and love, fish, insects, birds and animals, flowers, trees, pavilions and bridges
And finally reach the realm of doing whatever you want and cut new patterns with your hands.