Technically speaking, paper-cutting is actually hollowing out and cutting on the paper to make it present the image to be expressed. With their own ingenuity and ingenuity, the Chinese working masses have tempered this art form more and more perfectly in their long-term artistic practice and life practice.

A variety of techniques based on cutting and hollowing have been formed, such as paper tearing, burning, color matching, color lining, dyeing, sketching, etc., so that the expressiveness of paper-cutting has infinite depth and breadth. It can be as fine as a spring silkworm spinning silk, and as thick as a large brush. Its different forms can be pasted with a pendulum lining, or it can be suspended in the air.

Because the tools and materials of paper-cutting are simple and popular, the techniques are easy to master, and have the irreplaceable characteristics of other art categories, therefore, this art form has spread almost all over the towns and villages of our country from ancient times to the present, and has won the love and praise of the people.

In the childhood of human beings, there is no distinction between "folk" and "non-folk" in art. With the continuous development of civilization and the emergence of social classes and functional divisions, the historical concept of "folk art" has been formed as opposed to "court art" and "literati art".

Different categories of works embody the aesthetic standards of different classes, which should be the basis of the division between them. As far as paper-cutting is concerned, it is not extraordinary that the works cut and carved with paper can be described as "folk paper-cutting". Historically, there have been many examples of artists who specialized in paper-cutting in response to the needs of the festival customs of the aristocratic burghers, as well as examples of literati painters painting for artists, or professional artists using paper-cutting techniques to create.

This kind of work is qualitatively different from the works created by the working masses for themselves, and most of them have been detached from the aesthetic nature of the laborers, and they cannot be universally accepted by the public. Although some works are also circulated in some regions, they will eventually be changed beyond recognition because they are not created by the people themselves.

Even today, the paper-cut works that appear in the mass art creation activities in many regions cannot be confused with folk paper-cutting. Mass creative activities can also use the form of folk paper-cutting to create good works that the masses like to see, and then circulate among the people, but the purpose of creation is often detached from the needs of their own lives, and even to express the intention of the counselor. Although the two are closely related, they are not the same concept.

The reason why folk paper-cutting has been able to go through China's long historical evolution without losing its pure and fresh characteristics is closely related to the stable social and cultural structure of China's rural areas. The different characteristics of its own contradiction, but also mutual unity, determine its natural selection of the constantly changing side, thus opening up the distance from court art and literati art.

Folk paper-cutting is an indispensable artistic activity that conforms to Chinese folk customs. Its existence must depend on the specific cultural background and living environment of the people.

If there is white things in the house, the windows should not be red-slammed; The doll is not sick, and the grandmother refuses to cut a string of hanging souls; For gifts, it depends on whether it is a happy event, a funeral or a birthday; If an old couple and wife have a pair of flowers in the house, it must be a young man's play; After a long drought and no rain, if it is not the "only daughter pounding mallet" who asks for rain, but the "sweeping woman" who asks for sunshine, then I don't know how many people will curse. This dependence characteristic restricted by the purpose of existence is manifested in the compositional treatment of specific works, that is, the decorative characteristics of the works.

For example, hanging door notes, bowl racks, clouds, etc., must be connected by wires; If it is pasted on the window, it is required to fit the pane and be hollowed out, otherwise it will only be a large piece of paper when it looks at the light; If it is pasted as a kang circumference, it is best to cut less fragmentary patterns, otherwise it will be easy to be damaged after a long time.

Many limitations have also formed a unique language in art. In addition to completing a certain folk function, folk paper-cutting also tries its best to show the independence of its own existence---- that is, the characteristics of beauty. A piece of paper-cut, no matter what kind of occasion it is used for, the author must be imbued with his own aesthetic feelings in the process of creation.

As long as people affirm it by the standard of beauty, it also has an aesthetic value in existence. Of course, the independence of the art form of folk paper-cutting, the limitation of folk customs is not to throw away, but to fully control the arbitrariness of folk forms. Thus. Its existential value also goes beyond the purpose of foil folklore.

This artistic independence is becoming apparent with social changes and the gradual disappearance of old folklore.

In an absolute sense, no artistic creation can simply be considered a purely personal product. The social attributes of human beings inevitably reflect the artistic tastes of a certain class. Individuality, on the other hand, is only played on the basis of a collective, or tradition.

The collective characteristics of folk paper-cutting are clearly reflected in the final attribution of its works. The work is no longer the private property of the individual author, but belongs to the whole society and the collective. Therefore, its final appearance must be the product of directly concentrating the wisdom of the masses and integrating the artistic talents and aesthetic preferences of thousands of people.

In particular, some works that have been passed down through the ages and solidified are basically finalized after repeated carving and modification by many generations, and are generally recognized, circulated and preserved. For example, "Carriage and Horse" and "Weaving Cloth", the prototype of their works can no longer be studied in detail. There are similar works circulating in various places, and their appearances are very different, so it is difficult to say which work is entirely the creation of a single author.

Then, an important cause of the formation of collectivity should be the anonymity of folk paper-cutting. Folk art differs from the creation of professional artists in that the work is neither marked with the name of the author nor with individual copyright. Good works are circulated in the world, and once they are disseminated, they become a large number of copies and variations, and the author is integrated into the group concept of "laborers".

It is true that this kind of laborer's non-individual utilitarian art is indeed based on the solid collective consciousness of folk culture, but this is not enough to deny the artistic personality of folk paper-cutting artists. Just as professional artists strive for self-expression in art, but will not lose their position in society and history, folk paper-cutting will not be without the self in art while expressing the collective psychological consciousness of the nation.

If the embodiment of the personality of the literati artist is the deliberate pursuit of the position of the "big self" by the "small self", then the embodiment of the personality of the folk paper-cut artist is the natural expression of the "small self" in the "big me". Not to mention the artistic styles and characteristics of the east, west, north and south regions, even the works of different authors in the same region have their own distinct personalities. If you look at the flowers with contempt, it will naturally be difficult to see through.

Taking Zhang Linzhao and Wang Lanpan, who are skillful hands in northern Shaanxi, for example, the two are only 100 miles apart, they are close in age, and their customs and habits are basically the same. Zhang Linzhao was wealthy when he was young, liked to watch plays and listen to books, and was educated by the feudal middle class. But there were many hardships in his life, he lost his husband three times, married four times, and gave birth to 13 children, all of whom died young.

Because of this, the external personality is melancholy, withdrawn, not good at talking, and more idealistic about life. He works so that he can "forget about the mess" and is rarely disturbed by others. It can be seen that the inner pain is bitter and the contradiction between its implicit and unrevealing character. In the process of creation, he is anxious to achieve psychological balance through the outflow of emotions.

Wang Lanpan, she thinks that "people have to be busy working when they are alive, so that they can be happy." "Those who do not have excessively high expectations for life and the world, but value their own contribution to society, belong to the type of "contented people are happy". Her wife, Li Xin'an, was instrumental in bringing apples to the northern Shaanxi Plateau, but she never thought she should be rewarded.

Therefore, his personality is cheerful and lively, straightforward and open-minded, self-confident, willful and active, and often informal. She cut the flowers because "people let me cut them, which means that I cut them well, and they lift me up." If you don't have a big ability to do anything else, you can hinge a flower, and if you hinge a flower, your heart will be beautiful. It can be seen that his inner world has a tendency to emphasize self-worth.

In their works, there are personal images and clear shadows of their hearts, which can be described as "paintings like their people". The existence of this individuality not only conforms to the collective characteristics of the cultural traditions of the region, but also does not conceal the spiritual world of the author, which forms a sharp contrast with the expression of the individuality of literati art and court art.

For a long time, folk paper-cutting has been regarded as repetitive labor or the reproduction of traditional patterns, ignoring the personality creation of laborer artists, which is a historical injustice.

After all, not every working woman who cuts with paper can achieve artistic maturity. A village, a ravine, and one or a few well-recognized people in society, their works will naturally circulate everywhere.

One of the modes of transmission is the method of smoking, and the other is the method of relying on memory simulation. In circulation, it is often the daughter-in-law of the Zhang family who uses the appearance of the wife of the Li family, and the daughter of the Wang family who passes on the tricks to the in-laws surnamed Liu, and people have the right to change the original manuscript at will according to their own ideals and aesthetic preferences. The initial form of the work is bound to inevitably change. This phenomenon of variation in inheritance also constantly regulates the differences between folk paper-cutting and its circulation of eras, nationalities, regions, and customs.

At the same time, due to the inheritance of folk forms of folk paper-cutting, and the relative fixation of the basic pattern stylization techniques, the inheritance method has been passed down from generation to generation, which makes it have the characteristics of relatively stable external forms. Some works are equivalent to the repertoire in the opera, where a line is missed, or an action is missing, it will cause an uproar among the audience, and it cannot be changed casually. This is often the case with folk paper-cutting: a good work, through the hand of an ignorant person, turns into an ugly piece of broken paper, and then through the hand of an experienced old woman, it regains its original dazzling brilliance, or even better.

The variability and stability of folk paper-cutting inheritance are closely related to the traditional cultural structure of rural China on which it depends. Therefore, the occurrence of a major social change will inevitably lead to fluctuations and adjustments in the psychology of different regions and Chinese culture. Therefore, excavating and sorting out folk art, including folk paper-cutting, should be an important topic for artists with a sense of national responsibility today.

In ancient times, human beings have discovered and used the artistic technique of using images as image marks, and then created an artistic language that engraves and penetrates various materials. This reflects the perfection of the ancient craftsmen in the use of this artistic technique in many primitive society painted pottery rock paintings, Shang and Zhou bronzes, and Han portrait stone art. Today's folk paper-cutting is extremely consistent with it in terms of modeling and external characteristics, which fully illustrates the inheritance and continuation relationship between them.

Because paper-cutting only exists in response to the needs of folk customs, and its materials are not easy to preserve, there are few works that truly represent the appearance of different historical periods. We might as well find some clues from the records of the classics and the literati in the past dynasties.

Warm soup pours my feet, paper-cutting summons my soul----- Tang Du Fu's "Peng Yaxing"

Lou Jin does victory and spreads Jing customs, cutting the ribbon to raise the style of Jin ----- Tang Li Shangyin "Human Day"

King Wu Yuejian is on an auspicious day...... 100 households outside the city. Do not hang brocade, all use colored paper to cut people and horses to replace. ----- Five Dynasties "Wulin Fanzhi"

To the old capital of the heavenly street, there are those who cut all kinds of patterns, which are extremely exquisite, and they become as you like...... There are young experts in the sleeve to cut words and flowers, etc., ......----- meticulous "Zhiyatang Miscellaneous Notes"

Jiajing made yarn lamp, carved paper carved into the shape of flowers, bamboos and birds. With the light thick color, the molten wax is dyed, and the light Shao is clamped, and the sun is bright and clear, and the fragrant Fei is dancing, in the light smoke, and the real person is indistinguishable. ------ Ming "Suzhou Mansion Chronicles"

Shi Nu, the daughter of Zhang Caigong, also has ingenuity, talks with people, carefully cuts spring flowers and autumn chrysanthemums in the sleeves, weeping willows in fine grass, and is not in a daze......----- "Baoding Mansion Chronicles"

With the long-term stability of China's folk customs and the cultural closure of many remote areas, some patterns of paper-cutting still maintain the initial basic form in the folk circulation more credibly. For example, the spiritualist paper-cutting in Baishui and other places in Shaanxi Province mentioned in Zhuangfu's poem can still be seen there today.

Some people say that folk art is a living fossil of Chinese culture, and there is a reason for it. Due to the differences in regional cultural backgrounds, and the relative stability of some genres of folk paper-cutting, today's folk paper-cutting still retains different levels of China's ancient culture, from which we can appreciate the mystery of the initial period of national art, the majesty of the rising period and the charm of the mature period, and obtain historical enlightenment from the creation of laborers.

As a foil of folk customs, folk paper-cutting has grown tenaciously in Chinese folk alone, and has continued to today's times, showing its vigorous vitality. It is those rural craftsmen who live at the bottom of society, whose ancestors have been composing silent music in the history of national art for generations.

Due to the different opinions of each person, the classification of paper-cutting is also different. For example, some people think that what is carved with a knife is not called paper cutting, but should be called paper carving; But some people think that tracing back to the origin, the ancient paper-cutting is also cut and carved with a knife, not to mention that the cut also has another name of "reamer", why can't the knife be called a paper-cut?

In fact, there are indeed differences in the traces of cutting and carving, and the techniques of its application are also difficult and easy, therefore, the world believes that the works of knives and cuts can be collectively referred to as paper-cutting, and the works of pure knife carving can be called paper-cutting, so there are paper-cutting and paper-cutting in the classification.

Nanjing paper-cutting is one of the ancient folk arts and is the world's intangible cultural heritage. A kind of hollow art visually gives people a sense of emptiness and artistic enjoyment. According to historical books, the Ming Dynasty has been circulated among the people.

At present, a new generation of Nanjing paper-cutting people are thriving under the leadership of Master Zhang Fanglin, in addition to Zhang Fanglin's son Zhang Jun, niece Zhang Ying, nephew Ou Jian, there is no lack of apprentice Chen You, Master Zhang Fanglin's broad mind, will be unreservedly passed on to the younger generation, I believe that the glory of Nanjing paper-cutting will be more dazzling in the hands of these young people.

Yangzhou is one of the earliest areas where paper-cutting is popular in China, as early as the Tang Dynasty, Yangzhou has the custom of paper-cutting to welcome spring. On the day of the beginning of spring, folk paper-cutting is flowers, spring butterflies, spring money, etc., or hanging on the head of the beauty, or embellished under the flowers and trees, looking at each other for fun. It is rumored that during the Jiaqing and Daoguang periods, the famous artist Bao Jun's paper-cutting, flowers, birds, fish, and butterflies all have both god shapes, so they are known as "divine scissors".

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yangzhou paper-cutting has been valued by the state and local governments. In 1955, Yangzhou established a folk craft society. In 1979, Zhang Yongshou, a paper-cutting artist, was awarded the title of "Master of Chinese Arts and Crafts" by the state, and the "Hundred Flowers Blooming" in the 50s of the 20th century, the "Hundred Chrysanthemums" in the 70s and the "Hundred Butterflies Love Flowers" in the 80s were three paper-cut collections for their representative works. Yangzhou paper-cut has a wide range of themes, including people and flowers, birds, beasts, insects and fish, strange mountains and strange scenes, places of interest and historic sites, etc., especially the flowers of the four seasons.

Paper-cutting in the Ansai area in northern Yan'an, Shaanxi Province. There are many forms, including window flowers, door paintings, kang flowers, curtain flowers, kiln top flowers, table skirt flowers, pillow flowers, shoe flowers, brand flowers, belly flowers and so on. The content is divided into several kinds, one is used for the Spring Festival to beautify the environment, and there are many auspicious themes, such as birds, flowers and plants, cattle, sheep, pigs and dogs, lions and tigers; the second is used for wedding decoration cave houses, many pomegranate peonies, pairs of birds and birds, etc.; the third is used to make embroidery, cloth toy base samples, more than double pomegranate, double peach, tiger baby and other patterns; Fourth, it is used for superstitious etiquette, including the God of Wealth, the Lord of the Stove, and the paper figure used as a conjuring spirit.

Paper-cutting circulated in Qingyang and Pingliang in Gansu Province. Longdong paper-cutting has a long history, and the style is rough and exaggerated. Zhengning, Ningxian, Heshui, Qingyang, Huachi, Huanxian and other places in the east are more simple and elegant paper-cutting; The central west peak and the town are beautiful and neat; The style of Pingliang, Jingchuan, Chongxin, Huating and Zhuanglang in the upper reaches of the Jing River in the west is relatively simple and bright.

There are many birds and animals, folk tales, opera characters, flowers of the four seasons, etc. In terms of its form, there are door flowers, kang kiln flowers, kiln top flowers, cabinet flowers, grain hoarding flowers, lantern flowers, wedding flowers, hanging curtain flowers, ceremonial flowers, longevity flowers and embroidery with the bottom sample.

Fushan in Shanxi has the reputation of "the hometown of paper-cutting". Its paper-cutting is all over the county and popular in the southern part of Jin. Its forms include window grilles, ceremonial flowers, etc. The most distinctive feature is the 12-month "bridge flower" strung together for children's birthday celebrations.

Fushan paper-cutting is widely used in the embroidery of clothing, pillows, belly, skirts, wallets, shoes and hats, handkerchiefs, as well as paper flags, gold and silver mountains, bridge horse figures, and fighting flags required for funerals, rituals, and prayers. It is also used for brush printing and clipping patterns of farmhouse door curtains, table surrounds, chair covers, covers, bedding, and flower cloth.

Hebei Wei County paper-cutting, according to legend, has a history of 200 years. Known for its window grilles, "Tianpi Liang" can be said to be the earliest form of window grilles, that is, drawing and coloring on mica sheets for decoration. Later, the woodblock watermark window grille of Wuqiang County, Hebei Province was introduced, absorbing its color characteristics, imitating the transparent effect of "Tianpi Liang", and cutting it with engraving, forming a unique style of Weixian paper-cutting. Weixian paper-cutting is mainly based on "Yin carving" and "color point dyeing", so there is a saying of "three divisions of labor and seven points of dyeing". The themes are mostly taken from opera characters, and there are also auspicious images such as flowers, plants, fish and insects, birds and animals.

The patterns of paper-cutting can be roughly as follows: figures, birds and beasts, words, utensils, scales, flowers and trees, fruits and vegetables, insects, landscapes, etc., and some people propose to add two categories of world treasures and modern utensils, a total of 11 categories.

The characteristics of Chinese paper-cutting are manifested in the meaning of the subject, so the meaning can be used as the basis for the separation, which can be divided into: Najib, blessing, cowardice, evil, exhortation, vigilance, fun and other seven categories.

It has been argued that the classification of paper-cutting should be based on its use, which can be divided into:

(1) Decoration: paper-cutting that is pasted on top of other objects for appreciation or to increase the beauty of other objects, such as window grilles;

(2) Vulgar beliefs: paper-cuts used for sacrifices, prayers, disasters, cowardice, and drug exorcism, such as door gods;

(3) Manuscript mold: paper-cutting for engraving and printing and dyeing, such as embroidery;

(4) Design: paper-cuts that can increase the beauty of other things, or can promote other things, such as the opening of movies or television.

In addition, some people believe that paper-cutting should be divided into three categories:

(1) All window grilles and color drafts (patterns) cut out of monochrome paper are called paper-cutting.

(2) All works cut and pasted with colored paper shall be called clipping.

(3) All works that are cut and then colored should be called cut paintings.

This statement is inevitably vague and general, specious, not only a large number of works similar to the same window flowers are not included, but also the word cut painting has many interpretations, it is not appropriate to list the category, not to mention how the cut and dyed works will be classified, it is really to be discussed.

There are also paper and production classifications, which are mostly used for teaching purposes. It divides paper-cutting into two categories and eight types:

The first category: monochrome decoupage. It is cut out of a kind of colored paper. It is subdivided into:

(1) Folding and cutting, that is, the paper is folded and cut, and a pattern or font can be obtained after being released.

(2) Overlapping and cutting, that is, several pieces of paper are overlapped together, nailed and then cut according to the manuscript, and several works can be obtained at a time.

The second category: multi-color paper-cutting, also known as color paper-cutting. It is cut and collaged into a picture after several pieces of colored paper; or cut it out of white paper according to the draft, and then dye and fill it with various colors; Or cut it into the main version first, lined with white paper, and then dyed and filled with various colors. The breakdowns can be:

(1) Color-lining, first cut the picture with the method of monochrome paper-cutting, and then use colored paper as the lining.

(2) color registering, cut into the image of the main version and the secondary version by the method of monochrome paper-cutting, and then cut the color paper and paste it on the part required by the main version; Or the various colored papers required for the sketch are overlapped and nailed together, and then cut them along the manuscript line, select one for the main version, attach it to the substrate, and then add the rest of the part to the main plate.

(3) Color-blocking, that is, cut into each part of the image with colored paper, and then paste it on the backing paper according to the pattern; Or see the various colors of paper overlapping together and nailing firmly, and then cut according to the manuscript, kissing on the backing paper.

(4) Dyeing, that is, cutting various images with easy-to-dip white paper or light-colored paper, and then dyeing them into the desired color one by one; Or dye the paper first and then cut it into an image.

(5) Coloring, that is, first cut out the main version with black paper or dark paper, mount it on white paper, and then fill in various colors according to the draft; Or cut the theme image with white paper, mount and then fill in the required color; There are also those that are colored first and then cut.

(6) Magnetic paper-cutting, magnetic paper-cutting is divided into hand-made and machine-made in the process, and hand-cut paper-cutting is divided into cutting and carving.

As for paper-cuts made by both methods, the main method should be selected and classified as one.

Paper-cutting is a type of folk art. It is an art that uses paper as the object of processing and scissors (or carving knives) as tools.

Each art has its own unique artistic style, which is determined by the material (paper) and the tools used (scissors and carving knives). Paper-cutting art is a "easy to learn" but "difficult to refine" folk skills, the authors are mostly from the hands of rural women and folk artists, because they (she) take the things they see and hear in real life as the subject matter, the observation of objects, all based on simple feelings and intuitive impressions, so the formation of paper-cutting art is strong, simple, concise, bright special style, reflecting the simple and unpretentious spirit of farmers.

Paper-cut works because they are cut out or carved on paper, so they must take the method of hollowing, because of the hollowing, the paper-cut that forms the yang pattern must be connected by lines, and the paper-cut of the yin pattern must be broken by the lines, if a part of the lines is cut, the whole paper-cut will be fragmented, and the picture cannot be formed.

The result is a structure that never falls, and every cut continues. This is an important feature of the art of decoupage. Paper-cutting is very particular about lines, because the picture of paper-cutting is made of lines. According to practical experience, the lines of paper-cutting are summarized into five words: "round, pointed, square, missing, line". The requirements are met: "round as the autumn moon, sharp as wheat, square as green bricks, missing as sawtooth, and thread like a beard." "It can be said that lines are the basis of decoupage shapes.

In terms of composition, paper-cutting is different from other paintings, "it is difficult to express the overlapping layers of three-dimensional space, scenes and images, and it often breaks through the proportions and perspective relationships between objects and images." It is mainly based on the connection of the image in the content, more use of the combination of techniques, due to the exaggerated deformation in the modeling, but also the use of some rules of the beauty of the pattern form, for symmetry, uniformity, balance, combination, continuity and so on.

It can arrange the sun, moon, stars, birds, clouds, and buildings, people, and animals on the ground on the same screen at the same time. The common form is "high layer of barriers" or "changing the scenery with partitions".

Due to the limitations of tools and materials, paper-cutting is required to grasp the characteristics of objects and images when dealing with images, and to connect lines naturally. Therefore, it is not possible to adopt a naturalistic and realistic approach. It is required to grasp the main part of the image, and boldly discard the secondary part, so that the subject is clear at a glance.

The shape should be prominent, forming a simple and generous sense of grace, the posture of the object should be exaggerated, the action should be large, and the posture should be beautiful, just like the appearance action on the stage, full of rhythm.

The color requirements of paper-cutting are simple and complex, and the configuration of similar colors, similar colors, and adjacent colors is less common. It is required to seek harmony in contrasting colors. At the same time, pay attention to the proportion of colors. For example, when one dominant color is used to form the main tone, the contrast of other colors can be reduced to varying degrees. Sometimes, when you encounter a juxtaposition of various colors, and when it feels a little stiff, you put them in black. In the main manuscript cut in gold, you can get a sense of harmony and brightness.

Many of the characteristics and styles of folk paper-cutting are due to certain skills in knife techniques, such as Zhang Yongshou's "Hundred Chrysanthemums", many places are the use of knife skills. For example, carved a kind of "Luohan whisker" chrysanthemum, because it is a straight petal when it first opens, it is curled when it is in full bloom, forming a screw circle, cutting this kind of chrysanthemum, it is necessary to cut one petal from the inside to the outside, and the petals are curled freely after cutting, so as to form a chrysanthemum with a different image and unique flavor.