The Northwest folk paper-cut
4 min readNorthwest folk paper cutting is the most famous and ancient folk paper-cut. Remote closed natural environment in Northwest China forms the agricultural economy of living at the mercy of the elements from generation to generation and the living conditions of cave dwelling, as well as forms the ancient folk customs. The area inherits completely Chinese ancient design patterns, ancient philosophy thought of Yin and Yang and the concept ofreproductive worship. The northwest area has a broad mass base and long paper-cut technology tradition, and ancient concept is widely used in the paper-cut. The paper-cut is posted indoor and outdoor, and everyone loves the paper-cut. The paper-cut has become a symbol of beautifying the building space and wishing a good life.
For thousands of years, the intrinsic motivation of continued development of the Northwest paper-cut art has a great relationship with the local folk customs and concept of witchcraft.
Witchcraft activities can be originated from the human childhood, and witchcraft activities are accompanied by strong emotions, which needs to transmit through movement, sound, appliances, image and other carriers of forms, which contains a large number of connotation factors of totem worship. This kind of paper-cut’s subjects has strong historical continuity.
Pursuing good fortune and avoiding disaster are its main social functions. Xihua is a paper-cut type of auspicious nature, and this kind of paper-cut isfilled with the idea of reproduction worship. Primitiveness and ancient nature of graphic semantic meaning make these paper-cut mysterious and conceptual, which are with somewhat magic charm. This concept can be embodied in the ancient arts and crafts products, such as fish, birds, frogs andother graphics on the colored pottery vessels of Yangshao culture, are very similar to the content of modeling in the Northwest paper-cut. The hand in hand dancing figures on pottery basin of the Banpo period in Shaanxi is also close to the image of Child with two twisted hair knots in the Northwest paper-cut.
① Shaanxi folk paper-cut Shaanxi Province is located in the loess plateau, vast yellow land with the Qinchuan of eight hundred li, and red and green paper-cuts are posted everywhere on each festival, It makes the boring loess plateausuddenly permeated with a vibrant scene. It is said that because of the remote regions, when sage Confucius civilized the world, he only omittednorthern Shaanxi region, so people’s temperament in northern Shaanxi is different from the moderate personality characteristics of central plains people. There forms a bright and strong characteristic, and its creativity of art is very strong, imagination is ample, also happy or angry, sad or joyous affections are expressed impassionedly and forcefully. The paper-cut retains the original visual impact. Northern Shaanxi paper-cut represented by Yanchuan and Ansai, and the paper-cut here inherits some artistic style of ancient Han Dynasty stone relief. Its appearance is succinct, wraparound, plump and vivid, and has a strong sense of block surface.
Shaanxi paper-cut can be said that it is the representative of “living fossil”of Chinese ancient culture, such as the images of “fish body human face”,”lion body human head”,”Child with two twisted hair knots”, and it completelyinherits the Chinese nation’s ancient modeling patterns, the philosophy of Yin and Yang and the idea of reproduction worship.
The basic features of Shaanxi folk paper-cut art: it has antique and simple modeling, original and straightforward style, lively and interesting moral, and diverse and abundant form, and it is with the decorative effect and graphic language of ancient totem, also it reflects the local pristine, clear and massive folk customs. On the whole, the style of ancient simplicity is the unique charm and main feature of the Shaanxi paper-cut.
Scissors are the only tool for Shaanxi paper-cut product, and people use scissors to make creation freely on the color paper. Shaanxi folk paper-cut has various methods and forms, andit can be divided into monochrome paper-cut, color paper collaged paper-cut, stippling paper-cut, permeability dyeing paper-cutting, stereo paper-cut, and fumigated paper-cut sample pattern and so on. Monochrome paper-cut is the main kind of paper-cut in Northern Shaanxi, and its simple modeling focuses on exaggeration and distortion, and inherits the ancient aesthetic taste and modeling idea. Shaanxi paper-cut’s theme includes the elements that people pray for the harvest crop and rich life, such as “bumper grain harvest”, and “The domestic animals are all thriving”,”Everything goes well”,”surplus year after year”,”carp jumps over the dragen gate”, etc; auspicious image performance of plants and animals, such as “polecat”,”lion”,”Chinese unicorn”,”jade hare”,”pomegranate”,”peony”, etc; legend story characters and mythological and historical scenes, such as”the Yellow Emperor”,”match-making party”,”the twenty-four filial exemplars”, etc; the works express people’s praise to life, such as “Child with two twisted hair knots”,”fish play lotus”and”double bowls”, etc.
②Shanxi folk paper-cut Folk paper-cut in Shanxi area is deeply rooted in the people’s hearts and widely circulated. People here love life and love the paper-cut. Paper-cut has become a form of art activity with strong mass base. Walk into the village courtyard homes of northwest Shanxi in the Spring Festival, all over the mountains and plains are yellow mounds and grey cave dwellings, but the colorful paper-cut and snuff, thedoor paper-cut blown by the wind, the auspicious colored paper-cut pastedon the cupboard, and barn and corral will bring you to a situation full of wonderful imagination, as if feeling rich, living folk life scenes.
The basic characteristics of Shanxi folk paper-cut art is rough, succinct, simple, with deep sense of life, etc.
However, due to the differences of geographical environment, life custom and aesthetic idea, characteristics of paper-cut around Shanxi are different.
Most paper-cut in southern Shanxi, central Shanxi, southeast Shanxi, northwest Shanxi, Lvliang mountain area is monochrome paper-cut, and its style is simple and rough; while dyeing paper-cut popular in Yanbei region is graceful and gorgeous.
