Spring Festival couplets, the origin of paper cutting

Spring Festival couplets are a kind of couplets and a unique literary form. It depicts the background of the times and expresses good wishes with neat, dual, concise and exquisite words, which is China's literary form. Every Spring Festival, no matter in urban or rural areas, every household should choose a pair of bright red Spring Festival couplets and stick them on the door to add a festive atmosphere to the Spring Festival. Spring Festival couplets, pronounced chūn lián, are also called "opposite the door", "spring stickers", "couplets" and "couplets". It depicts the background of the times and expresses good wishes with neat, dual, concise and exquisite words, which is a unique literary form in China.

Spring Festival couplets originated in Fu Tao (rectangular red boards were hung on both sides of the gate in the Zhou Dynasty). According to the Book of Rites, the peach symbol is six inches long and three inches wide, and the words "Shen Tu" and "Lei Yu" are written on the mahogany board. "On the first day of the first month, I made a peach symbol for this family and named it Xianmu. All ghosts are afraid of it." Therefore, the Qing Dynasty's "Yanjing Shi Sui Ji" said: "Spring Festival couplets, that is, Fu Tao."

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, in the court, some people wrote couplets on peach symbols. According to the Records of Shu Family in the History of Song Dynasty, Meng Changjun, the master of the later Shu Dynasty, ordered Zhang Xun, a bachelor, to write a poem on the mahogany board, "Because he is not working, he pretended to say,' Spring Festival, Changqing Festival'". This is China's first Spring Festival couplets. Until the Song Dynasty, Spring Festival couplets were still called "Fu Tao". There is a saying in Wang Anshi's poem that "thousands of households are the narrowest, and new peaches are always replaced with old ones". In the Song Dynasty, the peach symbol was changed from mahogany board to paper, which was called "Spring Sticker". The earliest Spring Festival couplets in the world recorded in world record association, China are: "Three Yang begins to spread; Open the fourth order first. " This Spring Festival couplets is recorded on the Dunhuang suicide note (volume number Stein 06 10) unearthed in the Tibetan Sutra Cave in Mogao Grottoes. This suicide note recorded twelve pairs of Spring Festival couplets, written at the beginning of the year, the day of beginning of spring. This couplet is the preface and the first couplet, which was written by Liu Yu in the 11th year of Kaiyuan in Tang Dynasty (723), 240 years before Meng Chang, the owner of Shu, wrote this couplet. "Sanyang cloth;" "The Four Orders First Open" broke the world record of "Spring Festival in Qing Yu, Spring Festival in Changchun" and was selected as the earliest Spring Festival couplets in world record association, China. The folk custom of pasting Spring Festival couplets began in the Song Dynasty and prevailed in the Ming Dynasty. According to historical records, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming emperor, loved couplets. He not only wrote it himself, but also often encouraged courtiers to write.

By the Qing Dynasty, the ideological and artistic quality of Spring Festival couplets had been greatly improved. Liang Zhangju's monograph Poetry of Spring Festival couplets discusses the origin of Spring Festival couplets and the characteristics of various works. Spring Festival couplets had become a literary and artistic form at that time.

There are many kinds of Spring Festival couplets, which can be divided into door heart, frame pair, horizontal batch, Spring Festival couplets and bucket couplets according to the place of use. The "door core" is attached to the center of the upper end of the door panel; The "door frame pair" is attached to the left and right door frames; "Horizontal batch" is attached to the crossbar of the door; "Spring strips" are posted in corresponding places according to different contents; "Dou Jin", also known as "door leaf", is a square diamond, often attached to furniture and screen walls.

At the same time, every household should put the word "Fu" on the door, wall and lintel. Sticking the word "Fu" during the Spring Festival is a long-standing folk custom in China. According to Dream of Liang Lu, "When I was young, I would visit department stores, draw door gods and spend the Spring Festival ..."; "Scholars, big or small, must sweep the floor, clean the family, change the door gods, hang Zhong Kui, nail peaches, stick spring cards and worship their ancestors." The "spring card" in this article is the word "fu" written on red paper. The word "fu" is now interpreted as "happiness", but in the past it meant "good luck" and "good luck". No matter now or in the past, the word "Fu" posted in the Spring Festival has pinned people's yearning for a happy life and wishes for a better future. In order to fully reflect this yearning and wish, the people simply turn the word "Fu" upside down to mean "Fu has arrived" and "Fu has arrived". There is also a legend that the word "fu" is posted upside down among the people. Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming emperor, took the word "fu" as a secret memory and prepared to kill people. In order to eliminate this disaster, kind Ma Huanghou asked all the families in the city to put "Fu" on their doors before dawn.

Naturally, no one dares to go against Ma Huanghou's will, so the word "Fu" is posted on every door. If one of the families can't read, turn the word "fu" upside down. The next day, the emperor sent people to the streets to check and found that every family had posted the word "Fu", and another family had posted the word "Fu" upside down. When the emperor heard the news, he was furious and immediately ordered the body guard to cut down the house. When Ma Huanghou saw that things were not good, he quickly said to Zhu Yuanzhang, "The family knew that you were visiting today, and deliberately turned the word" Fu "upside down. Isn't this what' Fudao' means? " When the emperor heard the truth, he ordered his release, and a great disaster was finally eliminated. Since then, people have turned the word "Fu" upside down for good luck and in memory of Ma Huanghou.

Others elaborate the word "Fu" into various patterns, such as longevity, longevity peach, carp yue longmen, abundant grains, dragons and phoenixes, and so on. In the past, there was a folk saying that "on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, every family wrote big characters". The word "fu" used to be handwritten, but now it is sold in markets and shops. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Paper-cutting, also known as paper-cutting, window grilling or painting scissors. The difference is that when creating, some use scissors and some use carving knives. Although the tools are different, the artistic works created are basically the same, which is collectively called paper-cutting. Paper-cutting is a kind of hollow art, which gives people a sense of emptiness and artistic enjoyment visually. Its carrier can be paper, gold foil, silver foil, bark, leaves, cloth, leather and other sheet materials. Historically, China folk paper-cut handicraft has its own formation and development process. China paper was invented in the Western Han Dynasty (6th century BC). Before this, the art of paper-cutting was impossible. However, at that time, people used the thin material hollowing-out carving technology to make handicrafts, but it was popular long before paper appeared, that is, carving, carving and cutting techniques were used on gold foil, leather, silk and even leaves. According to Records of the Historian Jiantong Di Feng, in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, a king claimed the title of king, and cut a plane tree leaf into a "reed" and gave it to his younger brother, who was named Hou in the Tang Dynasty. During the Warring States period, leather carvings (one of the cultural relics unearthed from Chu Tomb No.1 in Jiangling, Hubei Province) and silver foil carvings (one of the cultural relics unearthed from the Warring States site in Guwei Village, Huixian County, Henan Province) were all demolished together with paper-cutting, and their appearance laid a certain foundation for the formation of folk paper-cutting. The earliest paper-cutting works in China were discovered in 1967, when China archaeologists discovered two paper-cuts with flowers of the Northern Dynasties in Astana near Gaochang site in Turpan Basin, Xinjiang. They use hemp paper, all of which are folded sacrificial paper-cuts. Their discovery provides physical evidence for the formation of Chinese paper-cutting.

The history of paper-cutting handicraft art, that is, paper-cutting in the true sense, should begin with the appearance of paper. The invention of paper in Han Dynasty promoted the appearance, development and popularization of paper-cutting. Paper is a moldy material. In the southeast of our country, the climate is humid, and the rainy days in May and June every year, paper products will rot over time. Folk paper-cutting is a popular thing. People don't keep it as a treasure, and they can cut it if it is broken. In the northwest of China, the weather is dry, the climate is dry, and the paper is not easy to get moldy, which may also be one of the important reasons for the discovery of paper-cutting in the Northern Dynasties in Turpan, Xinjiang.

Paper-cutting has been in a period of great development in the Tang Dynasty. In Du Fu's poem, there is a saying that "warm water trapped my feet, and paper-cutting called back my soul", and the custom of paper-cutting called back my soul had spread among the people at that time. The paper-cut in the Tang Dynasty, which is now in the British Museum, shows that the paper-cut at that time had a high level of manual art and a complete picture composition, expressing an ideal realm between heaven and earth. Popular in the Tang Dynasty, the carved patterns of flowers and trees have the characteristics of paper-cutting. For example, the pattern of "Duiyang" in Masakura Hospital in Japan is a typical artistic expression of hand cutting. In the Tang dynasty, there was also block printing made of paper-cutting. People carved it into wax paper with thick paper, and then printed the dye on the cloth to form beautiful patterns. In Song Dynasty, the paper industry was mature and there were many kinds of paper products, which provided conditions for the popularization of paper-cutting. For example, it can be used as "fireworks" for folk gifts, "window grilles" pasted on windows, or as decorations for lanterns and teacups. The application scope of folk paper-cutting in Song Dynasty gradually expanded. Jiangxi Jizhou Kiln uses paper-cut as the pattern of ceramics, and makes the ceramics more exquisite by glazing and firing. Folk also use paper-cutting to carve figures in shadow play with the skins of animals such as donkeys, cows, horses and sheep. Engraving plates made of blue printed cloth are carved into patterns with oilpaper board, and the scratched patterns are made by paper-cutting technology, which is divided into yin and yang engraving. Long lines should be cut off to distinguish facts from truth.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the paper-cut handicraft art matured and reached its peak. Folk paper-cut handicraft art has a wider range of applications, such as flower decorations on folk lanterns, decorative patterns on fans and embroidery patterns, all of which are reprocessed with paper-cut as decoration. What's more, Chinese people often use paper-cutting as decoration to beautify the home environment, such as door battlements, window grilles, cabinet flowers, wedding flowers and ceiling flowers, which are all used to decorate doors, windows and rooms. In addition to the paper-binding pattern craftsmen who appeared after the Southern Song Dynasty, the most basic team of folk paper-cutting handicrafts in China is rural women. Female red is an important symbol of the perfection of traditional women in China. As a compulsory skill of needlework, paper-cutting has become a skill that girls have to learn since childhood. They want to learn paper-cut patterns from their predecessors or sisters, cut out new patterns through cutting, re-cutting, painting and cutting, and describe the natural scenery they are familiar with and love, the scenery of fish, insects, birds, beasts, flowers, trees, pavilions and bridges, and finally reach the realm of their will.

China folk paper-cut handicraft art, like an ivy, is ancient and evergreen, and its unique popularity, practicality and aesthetics have become a symbolic meaning that meets people's psychological needs.

Creation 1. Composition method The basic material of paper-cutting is flat paper, the basic units are lines and blocks, and the basic language symbols are decorative points, lines and surfaces. In addition, due to the limitation of materials, paper-cutting is not good at expressing multi-level complex picture content and light and shadow effects, as well as the volume, depth and fluctuation of objects and images. Therefore, we can only foster strengths and avoid weaknesses, and adopt head-up composition in composition, that is, change objects and scenes from three-dimensional images into two-dimensional images. By boldly selecting the performance materials, simplifying them, summarizing them with concise lines, highlighting the key points of the picture, and contrasting the black-and-white relationship with reality, the expressive force of the works can be enhanced, and the objects in the world can be represented with a head-up view, which determines the planarization characteristics of paper-cutting performance, that is, any image creation is stored in a specific visual plane. Folk paper-cutting adopts an expanded way of thinking, which is very arbitrary. Under the scissors of the creator, paper-cutting has become a natural and bold creation, without volume, space, perspective and proportion, relying on experience and spirituality. In order to express their ideas, creators can break the objective laws of nature and space restrictions and put objects in different time and space on the same plane. This kind of static planarization can represent three-dimensional, four-dimensional or even multi-dimensional space, and constantly depict the world in your heart through dynamic thinking. Folk paper-cutting is to make a fuss about the limitations of paper, gallop freely in the limitations, make the impossible possible and simplify the three-dimensional world into a two-dimensional space. Infinite space and infinite complex shapes are placed on a plane, and the flat outline has become the modeling basis of paper-cutting. Therefore, the unique expressive force of folk paper-cutting is realized on the basis of the thorough concept of two-dimensional space. Paper-cut creators play their true and pure artistic nature, break the shackles of the objective world, and express their artistic objects from multiple angles, directions and levels.

This composition thinking of folk paper-cut is not limited by living customs and subject matter content, and creatively organizes a number of images to make them coherent, comparative and foil. This expression technique of flattening and taking things enhances the subjectivity, time and space, three-dimensional sense and comprehensiveness of paper-cutting, and its ultimate goal is to pursue the integrity of modeling. Perfect psychology is the foundation of all this. In folk paper-cutting, the foreground and background of the paper-cut object appear on the same plane, and the object and the image do not overlap each other, so that we can see both the front object and the back object completely, thus showing a strong decorative style. The creator broke the obstacles of realization out of pure thoughts, feelings and aesthetic stereotypes, and fully expressed the image with the method of unity of form and spirit. For paper-cutting, the back, top, bottom or interior of the object can't be seen, but it has an inner feeling. Invisibility is reasonable, but it is unreasonable not to cut it out.

In addition, the structure and expression of folk paper-cutting is not a simulation or representation of a static visual image from a fixed angle, but a dynamic dialectics that fully integrates sensibility and rationality. China folk art does not pursue the depth of perspective, but has an aesthetic recognition of "seeing more and seeing more". Folk paper-cutting also embodies this aesthetic concept, which embodies the whole picture of things in two-dimensional space. The composition form of folk paper-cut completely abandons the concept of "focus" perspective painting, which not only breaks the limitation of time, space and proportion, but also completely breaks away from the specific position of natural scenery, unifying the picture with primary and secondary images, symmetry and balance formal rules. At the same time, folk paper-cutting also has the method of scattered composition, that is, different materials are independent of each other and do not cross each other, and even each object has its own perspective, so the author can arrange these different materials in the same plane reasonably. This is unreasonable in reality, but it is naturally reasonable in paper-cutting.

Folk paper-cutting is not bound by the inherent shape of natural objects, and is not satisfied with the simulation of appearance, but expresses all objects on the plane. At the same time, in order to pursue the integrity and comprehensiveness of modeling, different scenes in different time and space are described, which fully embodies the creator's wonderful ingenuity and aesthetic desire to pursue perfection.

2. Modeling method

Folk paper-cutting comes from life, and the creators of paper-cutting express their understanding of life and nature in this special art form, which is an expression of inner feelings. Therefore, this kind of artistic expression focuses on similarity rather than similarity. At the same time, due to the limitation of paper-cutting technology, it is not appropriate to adopt a completely realistic approach, but only highlight the outline characteristics of the object, and use deformation and exaggeration to highlight the characteristics of the object. Therefore, exaggeration and distortion have become one of the most commonly used expression languages in paper-cutting. Exaggerated deformation is the result of human creative labor and the crystallization of wisdom. Whether it is the painted pottery decoration of Yangshao culture, the graphic patterns of bronzes in Yin and Shang dynasties, or the stone carving art in Qin and Han dynasties, it shows its eternal artistic charm with the beauty of artistic exaggeration. As the direct carrier of primitive art, paper-cutting has outstanding performance in exaggeration and deformation. The performance of folk paper-cutting mostly comes from real life and reflects the life and things around working people. However, it is not only a simple and intuitive simulation of the object to be expressed in its works, but a common standard that transcends the objective expression of reality and changes the nature and shape of the object through exaggeration and deformation.

The creators of folk paper-cutting regard paper-cutting as a part of life, and the yearning for a better life and the worship of ancient totems are the main contents of folk paper-cutting. These themes full of folk customs, beliefs and philosophies can only be expressed subjectively, which makes the image of paper-cut arbitrary, and the depiction of inner images can not be separated from exaggerated artistic language.

The exaggeration of folk paper-cut modeling is a systematic and standardized process of complicated content, rather than an objective description of nature. Therefore, the image in paper-cut is more prominent and eye-catching than the prototype. This is determined by the big historical and cultural background and living environment, and comes from the rich life. At the same time, the processing and simplification of living raw materials is also the basis of folk paper-cut modeling. Eliminating non-essential things, highlighting the parts with characteristics and individuality, and turning complexity into simple art re-creation are the exaggeration of folk paper-cutting. Exaggeration emphasizes the characteristics of the object on the basis of ellipsis, and expands, shrinks, elongates, thickens and deforms the most special part of the object image to make the image more distinctive and artistic. In many folk paper-cut works, people can only see their eyes in facial modeling, because in people's minds, eyes are the most vivid, so the creators exaggerate people's eyes.

The exaggeration of folk paper-cutting not only embodies the characteristics of the object, but also requires the purpose of decorative beauty, which shows the creator's spiritual pursuit of life, such as ideals and wishes. In order to make the prominent part more clear, concentrated and eye-catching, some decorative patterns are often added to the image to achieve the perfect decorative purpose. The desire for beauty has also become one of the exaggerated contents. When representing a character, the clothes of the character are covered with flowers; When depicting animals, the fur on animals is exaggerated into a whirlpool shape, or patterns are directly added to it, so that the original ordinary image becomes transparent and shows strong decoration. Sawtooth and crescent are common decorative patterns in folk paper-cutting. The creative process of folk paper-cutting is a process of evolution and deepening from "truth" in real life to "beauty" in art through exaggeration, and it is also a process of the creator's thoughts, feelings, aesthetic psychology and pursuit and embodiment of beauty. Through long-term observation and understanding of life and long-term practice, the creator understands the law of paper-cutting, and freely combines balanced, uneven, dense and irregular lines to form wonderful rhythm and rhythm, which adds interest and enriches the appeal of the image.

Three, paper-cutting tools and instructions:

Paper-cutting is not made by machine, but by hand. The common methods are scissors and knife scissors. As the name implies, scissors are scissors. After cutting, paste a few (usually no more than 8) paper-cuts, and finally process the pattern with sharp scissors. Knife scissors first fold the paper into several folds, put it on the soft mixture of ashes and animal fat, and then slowly carve it with a knife. Paper-cutting artists usually hold a knife vertically and process the paper into the desired pattern according to a certain model. Compared with scissors, one advantage of knife scissors is that they can be processed into various paper-cut patterns at one time.

Four, paper-cut carving method:

Yangdiao

Give priority to lines, keep the lines of modeling, cut off other parts, connect the lines, and keep the shape. Cutting off the outside is called orthomorphism.

intaglio

Based on the block, the lines of the figure are truncated, the lines are broken, and the shape is cut empty, which is called negative shape.

Yinyangke

Combination of male engraving and female engraving. [Edit this paragraph] Traditional tools and techniques Tools that need to be prepared for traditional paper cutting:

scissors

pencil

rice paper

Wax tray

A knife for cutting meat.

Needle and thread

Dye or ink and brush

oil light

iron

Traditional operation flow

1. Printing and dyeing paper-traditional paper-cutting artists in China will dye the paper red with a brush, because in China, red represents auspiciousness.

2. Hot stamping-After the dyed rice paper is dried, wrinkles usually appear. At this time, it is necessary to iron the crumpled paper with a warm iron.

3. Make a template-the image of the peacock below is very simple. Draw the outline of a peacock with a pencil.

4. Smoked template-Take a piece of paper dyed and prepared by Zhang Gang, wet it, and then press the template on it. Such that one side of the template faces the kerosene lamp. The template and the place where the template is not covered will be blackened by kerosene lamps. When the paper is completely dry, take off the template, and then leave the place smoked by kerosene lamps and the blank covered by the template that has not been found. This is a paper-cut model.

5. Stacking-put the paper-cut samples on a small pile of paper dyed with lewd colors, about 20 pieces, and then seal them together.

6. Paper-cutting-Paper-cutting artists in China usually choose scissors with sharp long handles, which have strong fracture toughness. Use it to cut the one with visible graphics, so that other papers can be cut at the same time. The first is to cut the pattern inside, and the second is to cut the edge outside.

Among all kinds of scissors in China, Yuxian paper-cutting is unique. It is a stippling paper-cut with negative engraving as the main part and positive engraving as the auxiliary part. Its technological process can be divided into the following six processes.

1. Painting: Designers draw patterns according to their own ideas or customers' requirements, which is generally called painting.

Second, the order: sort the painted looks on the rice paper (generally fifty pieces of rice paper at a time are appropriate), and divide them into small pieces with scissors according to the size of the looks.

3. Soak: soak the ordered goods in water and take them out, then squeeze out the water contained in them and dry them in the sun.

4. Carving: Put the soaked goods on the wax board and carve them according to the requirements of the pattern.

5. Dyeing: Coloring the carved products. Raw material coloring and dust removal; Tools are a writing brush and a clean newspaper.

6. Packaging: The products produced by the above five processes are packaged in the form of paper plastic or books, picture frames, gold and platinum. Mounting paper-cut mounting generally adopts the following forms:

1. Frame type

Generally, it is ok to sell photos and pictures in the market. When installing paper-cut, it is necessary to stick a small amount of white latex around the paper-cut on the supporting paper, otherwise the paper-cut will often fall or move after the hanger, which is uneven. The color choice of paper holder mainly depends on the color of paper-cutting, which plays a role in foil paper-cutting. For example, when paper-cutting is heavy color, the backing paper should be light color, and when paper-cutting is light color or white, the backing paper should be heavy color.

2. Paperboard installation

Cardboard installation can be divided into plane installation and vertical installation. When plane mounting, all the transparent latex used for paper-cutting is stuck on the pre-designed cardboard. Three-dimensional mounting is to divide the paper tray into two layers, the middle of paper-cut is fixed with transparent sheet, and the outside is pasted with transparent sheet or cellophane. This mounting gives people a feeling of three-dimensional space.

3. Installation of reels

Scroll is the mounting form of Chinese painting. It is solemn and generous, hanging in the room with great verve and oriental artistic characteristics, which is naturally a superior choice for mounting paper-cuts. If you ask the calligrapher to inscribe and seal the mounted scroll, it can be compared with the central axis painting of China. Mounting scrolls are more expensive than picture frames, and mounting technology is difficult, but the artistic effect is quite good.

4. Glue pressing and installation

With the development of modern industry, there are more and more transparent chemical materials, such as transparent resin glue, adding a little coagulant, laying paper-cut on glass, pouring the prepared glue on paper-cut, then laying it on the glue with cellophane stretched on a wooden frame, flattening it with a rubber roller, and drying it under 400-degree light. This method is very beautiful and can be preserved permanently, but the technology is complicated. If the temperature is not well controlled during prayer, cellophane will be easily burnt and invalid. This mounting effect is similar to photo pasting.

Symbolic significance of paper-cutting

Folk paper-cutting is good at combining all kinds of objects and images to produce ideal and beautiful effects. No matter whether one or more image combinations are used, they are modeled by "image implication" and "meaning conformation", rather than by objective natural forms. At the same time, they are also good at using metaphor and combining the agreed images to create various mascots to express their psychology. Pursuing auspicious metaphor has become one of the ultimate goals of image combination.

The main reason why folk paper-cutting can be widely spread for a long time is the performance function of accepting blessings and welcoming auspicious events. The geographical closure and cultural limitations, as well as the intrusion of adversity such as natural disasters, aroused people's desire for a happy life. People pray for ample food and clothing, prosperity, health and longevity, and all the best. This simple wish is conveyed through paper-cutting. Folk paper-cut "deer and crane in the same spring" is a traditional folk theme pattern. According to records, cranes are "blackbirds", and blackbirds are the general term for "migratory birds". In folk culture, deer is called "waiting for animals" and cranes are called "migratory birds". Deer and cranes are symbols of spring and life. Folk deer and Lu are homophonic, and cranes are regarded as longevity birds, so the combination of deer and cranes means longevity. In the case of relatively low productivity of civil society, human labor has become the guarantee of survival, and it is an eternal ideal for people to get rid of the pain of birth, illness and death. Folk paper-cutting expresses the desire for life in various forms, protects life, praises life, shows the joy of life, and the worship of life becomes people's sincere belief. "Eagle stepping on a rabbit" is one of the favorite flowers in the folk bridal chamber, and it is also a traditional pattern, which is widely circulated among the people. Eagle means "Yang", just like chickens, birds and crows. In folk deification, the sun is called a "three-legged bird" and people call it a "crow". Rabbit means "Yin". People call the moon a rabbit. The eagle stepping on the rabbit is a metaphor for the love between men and women, which embodies the theme of reproductive worship. Sitting and enjoying flowers, which are common in folk paper-cutting, express the worship and pursuit of life in a metaphorical way. Paper-cut works with the theme of "buckle bowl", "catch bun doll" and "fish with lotus flowers" abound, and the list is endless.

The concept of praying for life endows folk paper-cutting with inexhaustible blood and vigorous vitality. When the creators of paper-cutting treat wealth and happiness, they always have firm and optimistic beliefs and endless hopes. Paper-cutting is the external presentation of their ideal of creating a better life. Folk paper-cutting integrates these auspicious meanings into various ethnic activities to meet the spiritual and psychological needs of the general public, support human survival and enrich human life. In folk paper-cutting, we can see many pictures reflecting production and life. The biggest similarity between these works is that they exaggerate the main body, such as big fish, big pepper, big silkworm and big grain. Through paper-cutting, people invented a beautiful image; Comfort one's soul, publicize one's great creativity in conquering nature, establish one's ideal world, affirm one's strength, and inspire people's courage to continue their struggle.

The expression language of folk paper-cutting is not a simple and straightforward description, but a kind of token information, which borrows the conventional concept image to pin people's longing for a better life and expectation for good luck and happiness. All kinds of simple and grotesque paper-cut shapes contain frankness and beauty, which come from the original visual thinking mode and folk aesthetic concept; It comes from a unique modeling system, which consists of program system and image statue; The original philosophy and worldview from China are even more touching.