If the Spring Festival is a song of spring, then the window flower is the impression of the Spring Festival. Wang Shiyi, 68, whose family lives in Jingyuan County, Baiyin City, Gansu Province, sees the Spring Festival as the sound of "bang banging", delicious meals, and bright red window flowers.
Wang Shiyi has a small pair of scissors, and the small tip is only about 3 centimeters long. This "sword" has accompanied Wang Shiyi for more than 40 years. Despite the passage of time, it is still sharp, cutting out a spring in the hands of its owner.
Wang Shiyi is making paper-cut works with small scissors. (Photo by Xinhua news agency reporter Cui Hanchao)
The window flowers of the Spring Festival as a child fascinated Wang Shiyi with the art of paper-cutting, and he began to teach himself paper-cutting from elementary school. From the year of dancing spoons to the white hair of the hair, this childlike fun has become the pleasure of Wang Shiyi's pursuit of a lifetime.
"When I saw anything, I thought about what it would look like to make a paper cut." In Wang Shiyi's eyes, "everything can be cut paper". In order to practice paper-cutting techniques, I don't know how many pieces of paper were "gone" under his hands, and he slowly learned techniques such as folding, yin and yang carving, and piercing holes.
For Wang Shiyi, who did not take a professional art course, the most difficult thing about paper-cutting is to draw lines on the paper first, which takes up most of the time of the creation of the work. On the hardest days, Wang Shiyi did not put down the scissors in his hand, "In winter, wrapped in a quilt and cut paper under a kerosene lamp, I feel that it is a kind of enjoyment." The window flowers of each Spring Festival in Wang Shiyi's home have achieved "self-sufficiency". With the passage of time, the paper used by Wang Shiyi to cut paper has also changed from the original wax paper to thickened and semi-cooked rice paper, and the content of the work is no longer a single traditional image.
Wang Shiyi makes paper-cut works at home. (Photo by Xinhua news agency reporter Cui Hanchao)
"Paper-cutting comes from the people, and it must change with the development of the times and the needs of the people." Now The theme of Wang Shiyi's works is not only beasts and children, but also commemoration of the centenary of the founding of the Party and the fight against the new crown pneumonia epidemic... Among the nearly 3,000 works of different sizes, Wang Shiyi's most satisfactory work is the "Eight Views of Ancient Jing Dynasty" with the theme of local scenery. In this work, he used the magic of paper-cutting to reproduce local characteristic landscapes such as "Wulan Towering Green", "Snow Ridge Pile Silver", "Moon River Evening Photo" and so on.
The young Wang Shiyi will continue his paper-cutting work in his spare time to take care of his grandson, and for the inheritance of this craft, he also teaches free of charge in local primary schools and vocational secondary schools. And whenever the Spring Festival is approaching, Wang Shiyi will always find a place to "cut and sell now" to share the spring under his scissors with others.
Spring is a new beginning. "The sword is not old" He has a new spring wish - "Now that the days are so good, I hope to pass on this 'spring' skill." Wang Shiyi said. (Reporter Cui Hanchao)