As one of the quintessence of China, Chinese paper-cut is a folk art, a treasure in folk art, or a treasure in the world art treasure house. The paper sense of knife flavor, strange lines, simple, vivid and interesting artistic modeling, and all kinds of beautiful moral meanings of paper cutting deeply exude unique artistic charm, so they are loved by many people.
In China, every festive Festival, especially the new year, people cut paper and paste window flowers. Even young people who can’t cut paper will go to the mall to buy several pairs of window flowers and paste them at home, adding a little festive atmosphere. On the wedding day, people also like to paste the word “囍”, which means harmony, beauty, joy and excitement.
As a folk art, paper-cut has strong regional characteristics: Shaanxi window flower style is rough and bold; Hebei and Shanxi paper cuts are beautiful and gorgeous; Yixing paper cutting is gorgeous and neat; Nantong paper-cut is beautiful and exquisite… Although paper-cut is easy to make and simple in shape, it can fully reflect people’s life and has strong folk characteristics. It is the concentration and exaggeration of many folk art forms in rural China.
Paper cutting has a lot of content and a wide meaning. Auspicious patterns hope to be auspicious and avoid evil spirits; Dolls, gourds, lotus flowers and other patterns symbolize many children and happiness; Poultry, livestock, melons, fruits, fish and insects are closely related to farmers’ lives, and they are also an important part of the performance of paper cutting.
1 Phoenix paper cutting
Phoenix has the sacred and noble connotation given by people and represents auspicious and peace. Therefore, the image of Phoenix is deeply loved by people. In the traditional folk paper-cut patterns, if the image of Phoenix appears, it implies joy and happiness.
2 dragon paper cutting
As the spiritual totem of the Chinese nation, the dragon has been worshipped and respected by people since ancient times. Therefore, the image of the dragon can often be seen in various folk handicrafts such as paper cutting.
3 fish paper cutting
The shape and texture of fish, as well as the shape and texture of fish scale and fish tail, are widely used in Chinese traditional jewelry. They are not only vivid and interesting, filled with love for life, but also imply beauty. They are symbols of auspiciousness, wealth, love between husband and wife, happy love, bright future and luck.
4 Facebook paper cutting
Facial makeup is a painting on the faces of traditional Chinese drama actors, which is used for makeup and plastic arts during stage performance. Different businesses have different facial makeup. “Sheng” and “Dan” facial makeup is simple and lightly powdered; “Net” and “ugly” facial paintings are more complex, especially net. They are all painted again, and the patterns are complex, so they are called “flower face”. Peking Opera fans will make Facebook paper-cut by themselves. Fans who can’t cut will buy such paper-cut for collection.
5 Zodiac paper cutting
The theory of the zodiac began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. According to the folk custom, life is similar to an animal in a certain year. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, twelve animals began to be used to form patterns, known as the twelve zodiac patterns. Since then, there have been twelve zodiac patterns in all dynasties, which are also common in folk auspicious paper-cut and widely spread to this day.