The content of paper-cutting contains a strong flavor of life. Fish, insects, birds and beasts, flowers and trees, pavilions and bridges, which people are familiar with and love, have become the patterns of paper-cutting. Whenever the Chinese New Year is a holiday or a happy event is coming, people will cut some old words such as "Fu" and "Xi" to celebrate.
The images portrayed by paper-cutting are vivid and lifelike. Let's take a look at this "Fairy Descending" first! The four fairies have different looks and dancing, and their arms are wrapped with light and silky ribbons, which are swaying gently with the wind. Look at this "Squirrel Picking Grapes" again. I saw it shaking its big fluffy tail and staring at the big purple grapes with small eyes, for fear of being taken away by other small animals.
There are interesting folk stories in paper-cutting! This paper-cut tells the story of "a mouse getting married". Look! The little mice carried the big sedan chair, the groom was elated, and the big cat was envious. It turns out that the story is like this: Father Mouse wants to find a good son-in-law for his daughter. Mother mouse says the sun is the best, the sun says the cloud is the best, the cloud says the wind is the best, the wind says the wall is the best, and the wall says the mouse is the best. Best of all, the little mouse married the bride.
what a beautiful paper-cut! I can't put it down!
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In addition:
My passion for paper-cutting is due to my childhood life in the countryside. In the countryside, as long as there is a holiday, everyone wants to marry in stick grilles.
Rural people are clever in their simplicity, and clever in their childishness. With a pair of scissors and a piece of colored paper, they will fly out of the world. You cut a pair of cats, and she cuts a tiger ... The two are exchanged, which not only meets their own needs, but also contacts the feelings of the villagers, showing their simplicity and enthusiasm to the fullest. I was brought up by my old grandmother day by day in such an environment. The old grandmother can be regarded as an expert in paper-cutting. Although her eyes are dim, she can cut up the paper with a concentration that people can't imagine. No matter what flies in the sky or runs on the ground, it is so light and agile in her paper-cutting. Her paper-cuts, simple and childish, like Taoist paintings, are ingenious and free and easy at will. Because of what I heard, I became interested in paper-cutting.
I'm a bit strange. Once I know the truth, I'll go to the dark in an alley. When I first learned paper-cutting, my grandmother strongly opposed it. From a simple understanding, it is said that it is useless for a boy to do this job, but I am obsessed with it and always haunt my grandmother. Grandma can't do anything about her precious grandson, so she has to spare some colored paper. Of course, the beginning needs a pattern, which is equivalent to copying in painting and tracing red in calligraphy. Gradually, I put aside the pattern and let my own temperament. This interest continued until I was admitted to the county. Because I was busy with my studies, I had to reluctantly give up what I wanted. After that, I hardly ever cut it for more than ten years. Even if it did, it was purely accidental.
after work, there is no time. Once I attended a colleague's wedding, and when the car to pick up the bride was about to leave, I found that the word "hi" was missing, and I was anxious about a room full of people. I volunteered to solve the problem. Since then, the paper-cut about me has spread in the unit. So, whenever my colleagues do happy things, they ask me for help. Some bring colored paper, and some simply bring only one mouth. I am happy to do it, which is naturally related to my likes and dislikes. Therefore, I always carefully design, and strive to change the cutting method, font and surrounding collocation: some dragons and phoenixes are auspicious, some bees and butterflies are flying together, some magpies are noisy, and some are tied together ... all of them are based on the traditional connotation of happy marriage and good luck. When I appreciate my work, the kind of comfort that I never had before arises spontaneously, such as standing on a vast field and breathing the fragrance of the earth.
I've always been square, which is of course due to my personality, but sometimes I play jokes on people. I have a friend who is active and likes to play tricks on people. I have never suffered from him. When he got married, he naturally asked me for a happy word. I put a paper-cut of a cat and a dog hugging and kissing in it. The two things are naive and very funny. Originally, it was just a joke, and I don't know whether the poster was intentional or not, so I posted this paper-cut on the bedside table of the bridal chamber. It was not until the wedding was over and the bride and groom flushed up that they discovered that they were really in distress. Since then, every time I talk about it, I will inevitably laugh and scold.
2. Paper-cutting
Nowadays, how many little girls still like paper-cutting? Once, I taught my students paper-cutting in class, and they cheered and covered the glass in front of them with their own works. At that time, I was moved to see this very folk classroom.
Really, there are not many people who like it. Just like girls in the past, there are not many people who entrust their leisure with a red paper and a pair of scissors. Grasping bun dolls can avoid disaster. If you cut an animal and paste it every day from the first day of the first month to the seventh day of the first month, it will be a good year, and GREAT GHOST kids can't get started.
A very old and interesting legend, accompanied by red and bright tracery on white window paper, ancient China is pure and elegant and charming. It is washed away by the years, and the soul is scattered and out of control.
In fact, it is a process of enjoyment. Spread a piece of red paper, draw the pattern you like, hinge with scissors, dig with the tips of scissors, and look at each other carefully, indulging in the situation and not knowing the length of the sun and the moon. Those fine movements, hands are also pleasant, very primitive and clear happiness.
and the cut things, even if some details are damaged, are very unbearable. After all the cuts, they will not be obvious at all, but they will look good anyway. They are childish and beautiful in form, and the sky is beaming and very inclusive.
Embroidery is the same. When I was in college, a beautiful girl in the upper bunk opposite me once leaned on the bed and lazily embroidered a silver reed in the sunshine outside the window. I remembered that scene for a long time.
I always thought it was a fairy tale of girls' loss.
Now everyone doesn't like to do this fairy tale, and my husband, as my loyal audience, loves it. He works with me on a whim, burying his head in digging, and his hands are actually more skillful than mine. Every time I can cut out a refurbished pattern, I will send it casually, which is very complacent. Until one day, he saw people selling paper-cuts in the street, which were very complicated and beautiful, and only one could sell for 1 yuan. His sense of fairy tales was immediately hit, and he became dejected and despondent, which made a sound of injustice for the ancient handicraft art in China.
In fact, there is nothing unfair. None of us have the ability to maintain an ancient folk tradition. What we do for ourselves is just a game to send away the sun and the moon. Pretending to be deeper, we are just looking for some peace and mood outside of real life.
But sometimes I really wonder if we want to see these hand-made, quaint and beautiful paper-cuts again in a few generations, will we go to the museum?
what a pity.
Third, the courtyard deeply dreams of paper-cutting.
When I come back from Yun's wedding, I think more about the paper-cutting in her new house and the various window grilles stuck on the window glass, which are the best gifts for our colleagues to harvest when they go to Pingyao.
One summer evening, bathed in the afterglow of the sunset, we met in Pingyao Ancient City. The ancient city is really a little old. The mottled city walls are full of vicissitudes and desolation, and even the broken brick walls are filled with the breath of war. But I like the faint smell of vinegar and dust in the air, and the strong human touch in paper-cutting art.
after staying at xirentai inn, I searched for my room in the maze-like deep courtyard, passed through several cloisters, passed by huts such as "Full Moon with Flowers", "Unique Cave", "Cloudy Sky" and "Quiet and Far-reaching", and I saw "Indifferent and Wise" in front of the shutter doors with red lanterns and window grilles. Putting down the luggage, I didn't have time to think about it, so I went to the market of the ancient city with Yun. Perhaps the night in the ancient city is the most attractive. The red lanterns along the street are lit up, and visitors from south to north are greeted with a happy smile. The glass with window grilles is lit up by indoor lights, and there are many warm memories in the dim light, while Yun and I plunged into the shop of Li Xiuying, a paper-cutting family, and spent most of the night.
Yun picked out his wedding happy characters with different styles in the paper-cut shop, but I was unconsciously attracted and intoxicated by the paper-cut art of plain or colorful. Those paper-cut patterns, big or small, round or square, or single or overlapping, have bright and smooth lines, rich and concise contents, which imply spiritual enlightenment and profound meaning, making people seem to have entered the Garden of Eden outside the world of mortals. They are a baptism of the soul after the color of the eyes, the voice of the world, the peace of the body and the lightness of the mouth. Such as "Thousand Hands Guanyin", "Hundred Butterflies Map", "Eight Streets Kangning", "Five Poisons Harmony", "Four Happiness" and "Double Happiness" link China's auspicious figures with the solar terms of the year, which makes people more sincerely yearn for the mysterious fit of everything in the universe and between heaven and earth; Those flowers, birds, fish, insects, birds and animals are lifelike, and everything is available, which makes people intoxicated in the paradise on earth that is in harmony with nature and closely related to creatures; Some representative figures, such as "Saint Confucius", "Dream of Red Mansions", "Water Margin" and the facial makeup of drama characters, are lifelike and have a realistic expression, which not only makes people appreciate paper-cutting and taste the mutual integration of artistic works, but also feels that paper-cutting art has a long history in China traditional culture. How did the skillful hands of folk artists bring together all the creatures and folklore in the world under a small pair of scissors? It gives people the inspiration of the soul, the cultivation of sentiment and the philosophical thinking of life, which is amazing. Paper-cutting has the same ornamental value as stamps and sparks, but it also has the value of beautifying life. On holidays, when you marry a wife and a daughter, when you have a birthday, you can cut window grilles in red and yellow and stick them on the lintel or glass, which is fresh and generous, making your yard full of joy and vitality. In the warm paper-cut home, Yun has selected many exquisite paper-cuts for herself. Imagination and her "Hundred Pictures" satin bedding reflect together, which must have a unique style and a tradition in fashion. When I entered the marriage hall more than ten years ago, I also pasted all kinds of paper-cuts on the windows, lintels and bedside of my new house, but I asked my friends to cut them at that time, and there were not so many renovation patterns. Up to now, there is still an extra-large "heart-to-heart" picture of flowers and birds, which represents a ceremony and a classical complex of traditional weddings.
The store was closing, and we reluctantly returned to the inn. In fact, in Pingyao, the hometown of paper-cutting, paper-cutting is everywhere. Whether it is a restaurant, an inn or a farmhouse, almost every place with windows will be pasted with several paper-cuts. Monochrome paper-cutting is rough and simple, while color paper-cutting is graceful and graceful, and the patterns of paper-cutting often show auspicious wishes. Such as chicken and wishful patterns indicate good luck; Lotus and fish patterns represent more than one year; "eight festivals of corning" means that you are safe and healthy all year round; Mei Lanju bamboo shows the integrity of a gentleman.
On the window of my residence, there is a picture of an extremely playful boy, which is in line with the theme of "being indifferent to the bright future". On the wall inside, there is a poem "on the eve of government examinations to secretary zhang" written by Zhu Qingyu of the Tang Dynasty: "Why stop the red candle in the bridal chamber at night, and wait until the dawn to pay homage to my aunt and uncle, and then put on makeup and whisper to my husband,' Does the thrush fade into fashion?' "It is a little more elegant, and it seems to cater to the bride-like mood of the first traveler to Pingyao. Lying on your back in bed, you can enjoy the starry sky in summer nights through the skylight on the roof. A feeling arises spontaneously that it is easy for a person to get lost in the ancient city. If you don't tell anyone where you are tonight, who will care about where a person comes from and where he goes? Even if I told my relatives and friends in Pingyao ancient city, in a deep corner and a small room of this courtyard, who would find it? Think about those paper-cuts, those birds, flowers and figures are endless, dancing beside them, dancing in the ancient city and blooming in many people's dreams, and my heart is much more solid and quietly integrated into the night of the ancient city.
"I don't know if I am a guest in my dream". I will definitely dream and get drunk tonight, dreaming that I have become a bride in Pingyao for one night, and I have become a paper-cut red face.