Development and study of Chinese folk art of paper cutting

Van Kein PhD in Art History Postgraduate, Department of Theory and History of Art, Moscow State Pedagogical University 109052, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Ryazan str., 9, office 3 wangkeying@bk.ru

1. Folklore and imagery in paper artHegel wrote that "art and a certain way of its creation are associated with a certain national type."

To understand the craft art, it is necessary to understand its geographical, religious, cultural customs and other factors.

In the late 1950s, seven paper-cut flowers for sacrifices were discovered in tombs from the Northern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang dynasties, located in the village of Astana, Mount Hoyan, Turfan County, Xinjiang, which are the earliest found jianzhi. ^[1,5c]. This is clear and verifiable evidence of the existence of mature jianzhi art about 1400 years ago. The origin of jianzhi has a long history, but the development of this art is different from other types of art, it is often passed from hand to hand by folk masters, depends on the deep cultural background and habitat of people. Knife carving and other techniques have created many items of folk culture that have been widely distributed for thousands of years. Folk paper cutting accessories are practical for the most part, and people make jianzhi during festivals, weddings, birthdays, opening ceremonies and folk events. The imagery in paper cutting also reflects very peculiar geographical folk customs and national cultural characteristics.

The national character of art is an artistic feature formed by the expression of the essential characteristics of the nation ^[2,100c]. The unique aesthetic consciousness and spiritual orientation, formed in accordance with the geographical, economic and political environment, cultural traditions of different peoples, will be reflected in the creative practice of artists. If we take as an example the characteristic Manchurian papercutting (Fig. 1), its most striking artistic feature are the unique figurative symbols and religious symbols of ethnic minorities. As can be seen in Fig. 1, the image of the Manchurian aristocrats is the visual center. The headdress is dominated by large stretch marks decorated with gold, silver, pearls, magnificent and exquisite jewelry. The coat consists of a vest made of luxurious materials and intricate patterns. The background is a symbol of "double happiness". As a classic symbol of the image, the hieroglyph "?" represents the newlyweds in Chinese culture. The symbol of "double happiness" contains countless abstract images of bats. In Chinese, "bat" is a homonym of the word "blessing". Thanks to the artistic processing of Chinese characters and images of noble women, this pair of paper clippings expresses the wish for a happy life. Another important theme of Manchu folk papercutting is mother worship. Paper-cut deities are mainly used as a means of communication between people and gods in shamanic sacrifices, to ward off calamity and evil spirits, to protect children and even to summon souls. Whether it is a paper clipping "Double Happiness" or a paper clipping of the mother deity, all this is a kind of desire and aspiration for a safe and happy life.

Jianzhi of the northern part of Shaanxi in Fig. 2 is distinguished by its originality. The animal shapes in the images are somewhat exaggerated. Animals and plants are depicted in jianzhi for both aesthetic and symbolic purposes. A variety of animal symbols appear in the picture, filled with regional peculiarities. The dragon dance symbolizes a local holiday, the fish on the dragon's head symbolizes wealth, and the flower on the cow's muzzle symbolizes honor. This pair of paper clippings is thematically balanced in composition and simple in form, but full of positive mood.

The original national jianzhi are usually created by rural women who do not have an art education. Their understanding of beauty is simple, subjective, somewhat superficial, but this subjective refinement is a sincere reflection of their living environment, culture and customs. Paper cutting at this stage turns concrete three-dimensional images into two-dimensional ones, ignoring the spatial relationships of objects and offering only images and symbols with beautiful meanings, embodying in simple pictures a vision of a better life in the eyes of ordinary people.

Figure 1. The Manchu art of paper-cutting

(https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%BB%A1%E6%97%8F%E5%89%AA%E7%BA%B8/3452066?fr=aladdin)

Figure 2 Festival in northern Shanxi

(https://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%E9%99%95%E5%8C%97%E7%89%B9%E8%89%B2%E6%B0%91%E4%BF%97%E5%89%AA%E7%BA%B8)

 2. Henri Matisse and Ku ShulanFigure 3. Matisse in the last years of his life

( https://www.sohu.com/a/505144495_121124794)

Figure 4. The sadness of a king

    ( https://www.sohu.com/a/505144495_121124794)

If abstract images in traditional Chinese folk art are a response of the people to the simplicity of life, then the paper—cut artistic work of the artist Henri Matisse in his last years contains the creative experience of his life and artistic searches. Henri Matisse said: "Papercutting is just the most direct way of self—expression I've found. To know what the symbol of an object looks like, you need to study the object for a long time" ^{[3, 77c]}.

In later years, Matisse gradually began to create so-called puzzles. The new materials he used brought him clean, matte colors, tones where nothing has priority and does not depend on brushstrokes. Each form is independent and self-sufficient, and it still retains its distinct form, being connected with other forms (Fig. 3). His paper-cut works completely abandon the relationship between space and perspective and use rich and colorful color blocks to create simple and rhythmic works. His works seem simple and straightforward, but in fact it is necessary to take into account many specific details, such as: quantity, size, color, position, balance and location — all this is carefully thought out by the artist (Fig. 4). It can be said that papercutting is a continuation of his artistic concept of oil painting, and although the choice of "material" differs, the embodied artistic philosophy is similar.

Matisse firmly believed that he "cannot imitate nature like a slave, but must interpret it and subordinate it to the spirit of the painting" ^{[4, 68 c]}. Thus, Matisse believed that artistic creativity was never passive copying or imitation, but a purposeful search for inner spiritual expression.

Almost at the same time, in faraway China, an elderly woman, Ku Shulan, also used paper collages to build her own art world. Both Henri Matisse and Ku Shulan use color pictures as their creative plan, cut out the desired shape and size from colored paper and create cut-and-paste combinations in accordance with their artistic intentions. But unlike Matisse, this folk craftswoman did not receive a professional art education, all her paper clippings come from her simple knowledge of life and the rich spiritual world.

Figure 5 The lady with the cut flowers

 ( http://www.chinapapercut.cn/spa/s8/330.html)Hegel argued that "art and its creative methods are closely related to nationality" ^[5,362c], and Ms. Ku Shulan's works are full of aesthetics of national and regional culture.

During the later years of her life, Ku Shulan (1989-2000) repeatedly performed an essay on the mysterious theme "The Lady with cut Flowers" (Fig. 5). This woman is graceful and luxurious, she is both the idol of Ku Shulan, and a perfectly symmetrical artistic composition. The unique characters in her works fully demonstrate the understanding and standards of beauty of local residents, that is, people with "a large face, a high bridge of the nose, light skin, large dark eyes and a small mouth are considered beautiful." She carefully decorates paintings with colorful and rich decorative patterns of flowers and plants, and in her creations displays everything beautiful that is in her heart. The difference between its paper cutting and traditional folk paper cutting is innovation. She renounces practical attributes, such as religious holidays, and no longer just imitates things, but integrates them into her sense of self, cognition and desire for beauty. She raised the folklore tradition to the height of artistic creativity, and her understanding of abstract artwork is not inferior to any artist.Both Henri Matisse and Ku Shulan used decoupage as a language to express their spiritual worlds, and they both opened up an alternative creative path for people in contemporary art, creating a wider space and inspiration for a variety of artistic and spatial expression.3. Emotional imagery and installation space application of contemporary jianzhi art

 Compared to decorative works cut out of paper, the creations of Japanese artist Sachiko Abe are cleaner.

In her world, paper cutting is just a repetitive action that gets rid of the goals of practicality and decorativeness and simply serves as an outlet for emotions.

Abe Sachiko is a child who was once abandoned, she lived in four families. She is sensitive and insecure, and badly needs the approval and care of others. [6.36c] Cutting out of paper has become a way for her to establish relationships and connect with the outside world, while others feel her story, and she releases her own emotions. For her, it is a process of continuous practice, research and moving forward, the process of calming her heart through repetitive movements. It takes her 40 minutes to cut a piece of paper, and the thickness is usually 1 mm; when she is nervous or a little tense, the thickness is 0.5 mm; when she is depressed, the thickness is about 0.3 mm. She reflects on herself and feels the world through the thickness and length of the paper cut, and by this behavior she achieves the effect of calming emotions and inner reconciliation. She wants the audience to feel her own condition, and understands that cutting out of paper is actually more healing for her.

Fig. 6 Twenty-first paper cut-out

(https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/414344233)In the works of Sachiko Abe (Fig. 6), we cannot see the usual artistic expression and cannot compare it with any similar experience.

The artist and his feelings are part of an exhibition that breaks through the expression of images of the past, but uses behavior and emotions as a means to mobilize a work of art, as well as to convey and release emotions as art itself. A large area of paper similar to water in the work impresses all viewers with its anxiety, this feeling is unique. Her exhibition is full of national and cultural features of the aesthetics of Wabi-sabi in Japanese culture, the search for completeness in incompleteness and the study of infinity in finiteness.

The presentation of paper cutting in the form of an art installation is a new direction in the development of modern Jianzhi art, it breaks the shackles of the traditional two-dimensional plane, uses and enhances the textured characteristics of the material. In many installation exhibitions today we see the shadow of the art of papercutting, which constantly explores the boundaries of art and makes its own efforts for the versatile development of art.

4. A new direction in the development of the art of paper cutting

Thanks to its flexible and changeable forms of expression and abstract forms, the art of paper cutting has gradually become a representative art form of space decoration methods. With the acceleration of the pace of life, harmony and stability of the social environment, people are paying more and more attention to the protection and development of traditional culture. Traditional folk art, represented by paper clipping, also began to be introduced into new areas, not only in graphic design, but also in the installation design of public spaces, demonstrating its rich expressiveness and deep artistic value.

Figure 7 Unstoppable

(https://new.qq.com/rain/a/20210122A0CZD500)The art installation by pioneering artist Chen Fengwan (Fig. 7) combines the image of a "dragon" from traditional Chinese myths, uses colored hard paper and exaggerated movements, and creates a legendary "dragon" flying through clouds and fog.

These art installations are not only innovations in art models, but also excellent examples of commercialization and socialization of art. Due to the non-reproducibility of works of art, most of the early art of papercutting was presented to the public as exhibits and was rarely used for commercial purposes. However, with the development and progress of time, more and more people have higher spiritual needs for art and aesthetics. Artistic application and commercial design are the inevitability of time. The transformation of the installation art product has also injected fresh blood into the field of commercial design.

5. The Art of paper cutting: Legacy and innovationToday, the art of papercutting is no longer limited to traditional cultural use, it has wider opportunities for development.

We believe that in order to develop the art of papercutting, artists must keep up with the times, free their thinking from their inherent way of creativity. It is not only important for them to introduce innovations in artistic materials, forms of expression and artistic styles, but also to apply modern concepts of art and design in the art of paper cutting, combining new technological models with traditional art, such as modern installation art, artificial intelligence technologies and Internet+. This will allow contemporary ethnic art to acquire a new structure and be transformed through various material environments using digital technologies.

However, innovation does not mean abandoning history. Artistic innovation should consist in giving today's artistic emotions and forms of artistic expression a spiritual subtext of traditional culture, constantly balancing between practicality and artistry. It is necessary not only to bring the art of papercutting to exhibition halls, but also to allow it to enter the commercial market, give it a new vitality in wider fields of application and give the development of national art a new impetus to development.Conclusion

 Traditional folklore and culture are the soil on which the art of papercutting originated, but development is impossible without innovation.

The integration of innovations into the general environment of time is even more necessary in order for the works of paper cutting to be in harmony with time. Therefore, works of art must simultaneously have a national spirit and be modern, and real artistic creativity is in a constant process of research and trials. The key to the future development of national art lies in inheritance and innovation, in harmony with time.