The Chinese Culture-Paper Cutting

Aug 03, 2021

Chinese paper-cutting is a kind of folk art that uses scissors or a carving knife to cut patterns on paper to decorate life or cooperate with other folk activities. In China, paper-cutting has a broad mass base, blends with the social life of people of all ethnic groups, and is an important part of various folk activities. Its continuous visual image and modeling format contain a wealth of cultural and historical information, and express the social cognition, moral concepts, practical experience, life ideals and aesthetic tastes of the general public.

It has cognition, education, expression, lyricism, Multiple social values such as entertainment and communication.On May 20, 2006, the paper-cut art heritage was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists.

1. Monochrome paper-cutting单色剪纸

Monochrome paper-cutting is the most basic form of paper-cutting. It is cut from various colors such as red, green, brown, black, and gold. It is mainly used as a base pattern for window grille decoration and embroidery. There are mainly three methods of expression: Yin engraving阴刻, Yang engraving阳刻, and Yin-yang combination阴阳结合.

For the paper-cutting of the embroidery pattern, the combination of cutting and stitching is often used. Stabbing is to pierce small dots in the details of the pattern with the tip of the needle, leaving a "dark knife" 暗刀in some parts, which can be used as a basis for changing the thread of the trocar during embroidery. Folding paper-cutting折叠剪纸, silhouettes剪影, tearing paper撕纸, etc. are all manifestations of monochrome paper-cutting.

2. Folding paper-cutting折叠剪纸

Folding paper-cutting is the most common way of making expressions among the folks. The so-called folding paper-cutting refers to the paper-cutting made by folding and cutting in different ways. The earliest flowers such as "on the horse" 对马and "on the monkey" 对猴were cut out by folding. The folding paper-cutting method is concise, simple to make, labor-saving and time-saving, and the shape is general and deformed. It is especially suitable for expressing symmetrical structures and symmetrical patterns, such as people, frogs, butterflies, turtles, reflections, and fish.

Geometric patterns, flowers, scenery, utensils and other themes can be adapted, and the expansion is extremely symmetrical, and it can change into a variety of suitable shapes, two continuous, four continuous or multi-continuous, which is one of the main reasons that it can be spread for a long time. Folding paper-cutting plays an important role in the popularization of paper-cutting and craft pattern modeling in China.

3. Silhouette剪影

Silhouette is an ancient form in the art of paper-cutting. It expresses the shape of characters and objects through the outer contour, so it pays the most attention to the beauty and shape of the outer contour. Due to the limitation of the contour modeling, the silhouette is generally better to express the side of a person or other object.The main tools are scissors and carving knives. The paper is usually black or heavy-colored paper. When the silhouette of the figure is expressed, it is usually cut while looking at the object. The silhouette is very suitable for expressing the light transmission effect, and it is a very distinctive type of paper-cutting.

4. Tear paper撕纸

Tear paper is a new type derived from traditional folk paper-cutting. The method is to use different types of paper and use the method of hand tearing to tear the shape. Naturally, hand-cutting will be greatly limited, and it is not suitable for expressing the effect of craftsmanship. But it is precisely this limitation and precisely. It shows its unique artistic personality, with a simple, unrestrained and vigorous style. In the process of tearing paper, there is often a kind of randomness, and there is a natural charm.

5. Color paper cut彩色剪纸

With the exploration and development of paper-cut expression forms, the forms and techniques of color paper-cutting are gradually increasing, such as dyeing, coloring, color separation, color filling, wood printing, inkjet painting, sketching, and color weaving.

Paper-cutting art is one of the oldest Chinese folk art. As a kind of hollow art, it can give people a visually transparent feeling and artistic enjoyment. Paper-cutting Use scissors to cut paper into various patterns, such as window grilles, door papers, wall flowers, ceiling flowers, lantern flowers, etc.

During festivals or wedding celebrations, people stick beautiful and bright paper-cuts on windows, walls, doors and lanterns in their homes, and the festive atmosphere is also enhanced by this.

In rural areas, paper-cutting is usually done by girls. In the past, paper-cutting was almost a manual art that every girl must master, and it was also a standard for people to judge brides.

In the art of paper-cutting in the north and south of China, through a pair of scissors and a piece of paper, you can express the joys, sorrows, sorrows and joys of life.