China News Service, Taiyuan, July 30th, title: The paper-cut dream of Shanxi women: more than 40 years of art "cutting life" and teaching art to thousands of people to inherit culture

　　Author Yuan Jilian Liu Xiaohong

　　"A pair of scissors and a piece of paper" is the whole meaning of the life of Gao Cuizhen, a villager in Sitou Village, Chenjiawan, Liulin County, Luliang, Shanxi. Gao Cuizhen, who has been in the art for more than 40 years, her works are exquisite yet flexible, rugged and delicate, and are very local in the Loess Plateau. She has been extremely passionate about the art of paper-cutting since she was a child, but her life was changed by paper-cutting. It is reported that Gao Cuizhen, who was born in the 1960s, made paper-cutting skills a way to get rich. At the same time, her paper-cutting works have won many awards, becoming the representative inheritor of Liulin County's intangible cultural heritage; in order to better inherit the art of paper-cutting, she Free to teach more than a thousand paper-cut lovers.

　　Life is hard, still concentrate on learning arts

　　When Gao Cuizhen was a child, she was from a poor family. Due to the large number of younger siblings in the family, she was the eldest at home. Therefore, besides carrying water, cooking, and taking care of younger siblings, she had to find ways to earn money to subsidize the family through labor. However, the hard life did not affect Gao Cuizhen’s determination to devote herself to learning arts. Because she was taught by her parents and grandma since she was a child, coupled with her own ingenuity, she often learned and practiced hard, so she accumulated excellent paper-cutting and painting when she was a child and adolescent. Basic skills.

　　It is understood that when Gao Cuizhen was in school, whenever she rushed to the temple fair in Liulin County, others rushed dozens of miles to buy some daily necessities, but she always looked for good books everywhere. Gao Cuizhen said that she remembered one time when her father gave her 2 yuan, but she aimed at those yellowed books that no one else looked at, and bought them all. From small books to all kinds of miscellaneous books, whether borrowed or bought by yourself, as long as you have time, you can study eagerly. With the increase in reading and the broadening of knowledge, Gao Cuizhen has a deeper understanding of the theme and composition of the paper-cut content. Understand and improve.

　　After graduating from high school, in order to realize her dream, Gao Cuizhen stood on the soil slope in front of her home and drew a painting of the style of his hometown Yuanshang and mailed it to the Academy of Fine Arts of Shanxi University. After receiving the notice, she could not afford more than a hundred. This dream was not realized until many years later.

Gao Cuizhen showed off her paper-cut works. Photo by Mao Hongyu

　　Work hard to realize your dream

　　After getting married, Gao Cuizhen is still obsessed with her favorite paper-cutting industry while taking care of her children and busy with housework. In order to allow the three children to complete their studies, and to broaden their horizons and improve their paper-cutting skills, Gao Cuizhen chose to move her family to Liulin County. Before leaving, she vowed: "If you can't behave like this, you will never go back to the village."

　　In order to reduce the burden on the family, Gao Cuizhen tried every means to make use of her paper-cutting skills to make some paper sales during the Qingming Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival to earn a small amount of money to supplement the family. In his free time, Gao Cuizhen often studies the works of the famous Liulin paper-cutting master Wang Jiru and other masters, drawing on the best of others on the basis of tradition, and constantly innovating. The effort pays off. After Gao Cuizhen's "Yellow River Swing Drum" received unanimous praise, it was collected by paper-cutting fans at a price of 2,000 yuan. Since then, Gao Cuizhen's works have risen to fame. For Gao Cuizhen, this matter was a spur and a motivation. Gradually, the changes brought about by paper-cutting appeared in her life. She bought the first TV and the first computer in the village, and her life was on a new level. .

　　A pair of scissors cut out a wonderful life

　　Because of love, so persistent. On weekdays, Gao Cuizhen's mind is often filled with themes, pictures, and inspirations. She puts the love of life into the scissors.

　　In Gao Cuizhen's studio, works of various sizes are plastered all around, some of which are traditional themes, and some are eulogizing the new era. Among them, her hundreds of paper-cut works such as "The Fruits of Zaoxiang", "Heavenly Street Market", "Spring Plowing", "Liu Lin Plate Culture Welcomes the Olympics", "Love Me China" and other hundreds of paper-cut works have participated in many paper-cut art competitions held at home and abroad and won awards. .

　　It is understood that many of Gao Cuizhen's works are collected by the Museum of Overseas Education College of Nanjing University of the Arts and the Chinese History Museum. At the same time, she has successively won the honorary titles of "Paper-cutting Expert in Luliang Region", "Local Talent in Luliang Region", "Top Practical Talent in Rural Area of ​​Luliang City", and "Representative Inheritor of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Liulin County".

　　In order to better inherit the art of paper-cutting, Gao Cuizhen often teaches students for free, training thousands of students and paper-cut lovers. Facing the future, Gao Cuizhen wants to combine the art of paper-cutting with cultural tourism by improving his taste in paper-cutting, integrate the art of paper-cutting into various products, so as to give soul to the products, increase the added value of products, and use economic benefits to promote the development and inheritance of paper-cutting. , Let the paper-cutting change oneself and others. (Finish)