Pucheng Paper Cutting

Fujian
🎧  Listen to Introduction

Pucheng folk paper-cutting has a history of more than a thousand years. It has been passed down from generation to generation and has become a custom. So far, there are paper-cutting experts in 19 townships (towns) and streets in the county, and there are more than 100 elderly people over the age of 60. Every New Year's Day, weddings, birthdays, housewarmings, ancestral hall sacrifices, etc., all require banquets, and "flower-cutting women" and "flower-cutting sisters" are invited to cut various paper flowers, the largest of which is a foot, and the smallest is an inch. It is used to decorate new homes and new houses, and to decorate various dishes and offerings. In addition, the people also use paper-cutting to beautify their lives. During the Spring Festival, every household has all kinds of window flowers on their windows. Each household is a small paper-cutting exhibition, and each village and village has become the world of folk paper-cutting art. The characteristics of Pucheng paper-cutting are: first, it is composed of words, with words in the painting and paintings in the words; second, most of them are single-piece patterns, which is related to the fact that paper-cutting is mostly used to embellish and decorate festive items; third, it has homophonic meanings. Fourth, the traditional cultural imprint is obvious, and there are a certain number of patterns from folk legends and myths; fifth, it is passed down from generation to generation, and most of the patterns are passed down in their original form. Pucheng folk paper-cutting has a long history. The paper-cutting technique was introduced from the Central Plains during the Western Jin Dynasty. Later, it was vigorously promoted by Liang Zhangju, a famous official and writer in the Qing Dynasty. It was widely used in people's daily lives and gradually became a custom. Every New Year's Day, wedding, birthday celebration, housewarming, sacrificial celebration, etc., a banquet must be prepared, and all kinds of snacks, dishes, gifts and halls are decorated and embellished with cut red paper flowers, which not only sets off the festive atmosphere, but also expresses people's good wishes. Pucheng folk paper-cutting adopts traditional techniques such as ink wax rubbing and paper twisting, and is passed down through mother-to-daughter and mother-in-law-to-daughter. In 2007, "Pucheng Folk Paper-cutting" was included in the first batch of Nanping City's Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage Representative Works List and the second batch of Fujian Province's Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Representative Works List. In 2008, Pucheng County was named "Hometown of Chinese Folk Paper-Cutting Art" by the Ministry of Culture.

Intangible culture related to the heritage

China tourist attractions related to the heritage