Zhangpu paper-cutting is not only an important symbol of Zhangpu's folk culture for thousands of years, but also the crystallization of the diligence and wisdom of the vast number of working people. As early as 1300 years ago, paper-cutting skills accompanied the pace of developing Zhangpu in Zhangzhou, and were brought here by groups of Central Plains immigrants, gradually decorating all aspects of local people's lives.
Lin Tao, the inheritor of the Zhangpu paper-cutting project of the national intangible cultural heritage project, was undistracted when he created it, and he was fully engrossed and forgot both things. Photo by Wu Jun
The reason why Zhangpu paper-cutting can be popular in this place is because there are a group of people who pursue beauty and create beauty, especially those women who are revered as "Huamu". In the old days, Zhangpu had the custom of "sitting on huamu", and girls had to go to Huamu's house to learn embroidery, paper cutting, tailoring and other female red skills before they became relatives. Hua Mu will cut a set of traditional paper-cut samples to give to the apprentices to learn, and in the case of not knowing how to hold a pen, the apprentices will use the smoke from the lights to paste the paper-like paper to produce a photocopied effect. Therefore, the samples donated by Huamu are also called "smoked samples", which is also a visual image and modeling format inherited from generation to generation.
One of the four gods cut flowers, Lin Tao's paper-cut work "Dragon Boat Race". The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional festival of the Chinese nation, and the Baisha people also regard this folk activity as an important festival for them to pray for smooth winds and rains, clear Haiyan River, and safe and smooth fishermen going to sea. This work reflects the scene of the dragon boat. There is no fierce competition on the screen, but there is a kind of ritual-like quiet and peaceful.
During the "Sitting Huamu" period, the girls relied on huamu's smoking samples to hone their paper-cutting skills, and at the same time learned a lot of historical and cultural knowledge related to paper-cutting under the word of mouth of Huamu. Those girls who make rapid progress and outstanding achievements may become the flowers of a new generation. In this way, in the artistic creation and selfless teaching of the flowers, Zhangpu paper-cutting can be passed down from generation to generation, radiating a brilliant light, and gradually departing from embroidery to become a unique folk art form.
Chen Zailai, one of the four gods, cut paper for the work "Cow Herding". Grandma Chen Zailai has lived in the countryside for a long time and seems to be particularly fond of such themes as cattle. In this work, the calf jumps happily, kissing the shepherd boy's hand with its mouth, and the old cow wags its tail and turns back to watch them play with affection, a dreamlike scene that may only be created by a loving person like Old Man Chen Zailai.
Zhangpu paper-cutting is mainly based on yang scissors and supplemented by yin scissors, and has the artistic characteristics of plump and symmetrical composition, coherent and concise lines, and delicate and elegant style. Its "row shear" in the feathers, petals and other details of the application of the silk, lifelike, in the color of the monochromatic, in the contrasting color to seek coordination, with a strong craft decoration effect.
Chen Jin, one of the four gods, cut flowers and flowers, in the paper-cut work "Treading Water Wheel". This work truly reproduces the scene of social production and labor in the 1950s and 1960s, where farmers cooperate with each other and cultivate in paddy fields, and what is valuable is that the portrayal of water wheels is more realistic, and it is a record of the production tools of that era.
In 2008, Zhangpu paper-cutting was listed as the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative expansion projects; in 2009, as part of the Chinese paper-cutting project, it was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity; in December 2020, it was successfully selected as the "Most Popular Chinese Ten Skills" in the first National Skills Competition.
One of the four gods cut flowers, Huang Su paper-cut work "Mouse Marries Relative". The work reflects the custom of marrying relatives in the real world. The spatial "C" shape of the composition and the flowing walking route make the whole greeting team very large. Among them, there are lanterns, there are people who carry cars, there are blowing trumpets, drumming gongs and cymbals, and the matchmaker shakes the handkerchief and twists and turns behind the palanquin, which is full of humor.
Today, most of the early Zhangpu paper-cuttings that we can appreciate are the crystallization of the wisdom of the "Huamu" people. They are the custodians and bearers of this intangible cultural heritage project. In the long journey of life, scissors and red paper are their most loyal companions. They have been expressing their inner beautiful ideals and pursuits with the scissors in their hands for decades, conveying their social understanding, moral concepts, practical experience, life ideals and aesthetic tastes, and also in the small "click, click" sound, the beautiful cultural memory of a place can be preserved.
Lin Tao's paper-cut work "Pig's Trotter Flower". When the Zhangpu people give the dowry, the man will send the woman a four-color gift such as cakes, cakes, pig's trotters, and cloth. No matter how much or how little, there must always be a beautiful layer of paper flowers on top of the dowry, and the cake flowers on the cake are large cake flowers, and the pig trotter flowers are laid on the pig's trotters.
Lin Tao's paper-cut work "Big Cake Flower". Flatbread is an indispensable gift for the bride price. The round cake has always been a symbol of reunion and consummation, and a layer of red and plump cake flowers is laid on the cake, which adds a lot of festive atmosphere to the wedding and conveys people's wishes for a happy marriage.
When it comes to Zhangpu Huamu, it is natural to avoid the four gods who cut flowers - Chen Jin, Lin Tao, Huang Su, Chen Zailai, especially the master of folklore and art in the coastal areas - Lin Tao (1905-2010). With her superb technical level and high creative enthusiasm, she forged a simple and ancient paper-cutting art with a century of bittersweet life, and recorded the customs and customs of the coastal areas of southern Fujian in white.
Lin Tao's work "Harvest". Lin Tao is good at telling stories with scissors, and above the waves, two fishermen stand in the boat, one pulling the sail and the other catching the fish. Underwater, several unknown large fish, larger than the size of the figure, are rolling and jumping. Although the scale of this work is not large, the atmosphere of the picture is warm and the plot is relaxed. In particular, Mr. Lin Tao broke the usual concept of three-dimensional space, and subjectively wanted to show the big fish in the cabin in two-dimensional space, bold but reasonable, mysterious and vivid.
A century of wind and rain baptism, Lin Tao's paper-cutting art with superb mind and skill, simplified the complex, into the realm. On the one hand, her paper-cutting still retains the traditional pattern pattern of folk patterns, and it is not difficult to find traces of traditional embroidery, paper-cutting, bed flowers, table flowers and roof ridge flowers from her works. Through the dialectical abandonment of the themes, patterns, artistic compositions and various forms of expression in the traditional folk art schema, she absorbs the parts of others or the light of the sages between negation and retention, integrates into her own creative thinking structure and establishes aesthetic concepts in the traditional sense. This forms the "traditional" characteristics of Lin Tao's paper-cutting art.
Lin Tao's paper-cut work "Shrimp Farming". After the reform and opening up, the hometown of the old man Lin Tao, Baisha, is a famous aquaculture base, and the old man totemically incorporates the shrimp farming scene into his own creative theme, without stingy pictures, and shapes the shrimp bigger than the characters, which is her prayer for a good harvest.
On the other hand, her creation emphasizes the aesthetic "self-consciousness", in the creative practice, figurative thinking occupies a basic position, and her originality is a concrete reflection of her observation and thinking of the world, so that her paper-cutting art creation has a strong "original" artistic characteristics.
Lin Tao's paper-cut works "Chopstick Flower", "Bowl Flower", "Rice Spoon Flower". This is a typical set of Pudu festival sacrificial paper flowers. Worship the "RenKeGong" (transliteration, that is, the wandering soul wild ghost), do the "ancestral thing", paste the rice spoon flower, chopstick flower, paper bowl flower, but in this kind of poignant ritual of sacrificing the lone ghost, the big red paper flower will bring people a little warmth.
The large-scale document "Complete Collection of Chinese Folk Art and Paper-cut Scrolls" includes her representative works and describes her in the introduction as "representing the highest realm of Chinese folk paper-cutting art creation". The Fujian Provincial Federation of Literature and Literature and the People's Government of Zhangpu County awarded her plaques such as "Peak of the Cutting Altar" and "Reputation full of Shenzhou". In 2004, she was rated as "Representative of The Inheritors of Folk Paper-cutting Geniuses in the Coastal Areas of the Mainland" by the Central Academy of Fine Arts and other units, participated in the "Into the Mother River - The Life and Art Exhibition of Chinese Folk Paper-cutting Genius Inheritors", and made important contributions to the nomination of Chinese paper-cutting to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In 2009, she was awarded the "Honorary Certificate of the 60th Anniversary of Engaging in New Chinese Literary and Art Work" by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
Lin Tao's paper-cut work "Catching Shrimp".
For example, the work "Catching Shrimp" is very typical, with mysterious color, if you look at it in general normal thinking, it is obvious that the picture is absurd, and the proportion of people and shrimp is obviously out of balance. The shrimp in the work are much larger than the people, occupying a large space in the picture, and have a great impact on the viewer's vision, which is shocking. Why is her creation so bold? Lin Tao said with a simple sentence: "Is the shrimp valuable?" It turned out that this was the symbol of the author's spiritual prayer, and Lin Tao used her simplest language to unlock the code of her heart—praying for a good harvest in the coming day. From Elder Lin's point of view, this was the illusion of her good wishes.
Lin Tao's paper-cut work "Fishing". The old man Lin Tao, who lives in a fishing village, is naturally familiar with the labor life of fishermen, so the works that reflect the life of fishermen occupy an important part of her creation, and this work shows the labor scene of fishing in nets.
Lin Tao boldly shapes objects according to the general laws of paper-cutting art and its own aesthetic standards in free creation. As she said, "What you want to see and what you cut, what to cut paper is all about 'heart'", she can freely express her emotions and imagination without any frame, and perhaps only a wise person like Lin Tao, who has read through the vicissitudes of a hundred years, can create such a work.
Master-disciple inheritance, the author as a closed disciple in lin tao abo for seventeen years, listening to her laughter, looking at her figure, feeling the truth that "paper cutting is all in the 'heart'". Photo: Lin Ruihong
Today, Zhangpu paper-cutting artists use their ingenuity to continue to carry forward the traditional art forms that belong to the private tradition of boudoir on the artistic road opened up by the older generation of flowers, not only adhere to tradition, but also adapt to the new needs brought about by social development, so that Zhangpu paper-cutting blooms more brilliantly in the hundred gardens of folk art.
Lin Tao's paper-cut work "Shoulder Cover Flower". The drapery worn by women, commonly known as the shoulder shield, is only worn during important periods of life such as marriage, "wearing lamp feet" and burial. Especially when marrying "wearing lamp feet", the colorful shoulder shield on the shoulder can cause the whole village to boil. You can imagine how colorful and beautiful this sash flower embroidery will be.
Lin Tao's paper-cut work "Belly Pocket Flower". The belly pocket, also known as the "bandeau", is a close-fitting underwear that protects the chest and abdomen in traditional Chinese clothing. This adult woman's belly pocket has a delicate pattern, with chrysanthemums, double phoenixes playing peony and other patterns, symbolizing auspiciousness and wealth. Such a belly pocket, not only hides the privacy of the human body, but also contains a humble and romantic character of a nation and a rich and ancient civilization, which has now evolved into a fashion fashion for women on the streets of summer cities to pursue fashion and show a stunning posture.
(Author: Chen Jianxin)
Source: Learning to power the country