[Explanation] The Chinese New Year is approaching, and it's time to cut paper and paste window decorations.
Recently, Lou Xiaoqing, an inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of the paper-cutting project from Jinhua, Zhejiang, created a paper-cut version of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". Its superb skills and ingenuity are breathtaking.
[Concurrent] Lou Xiaoqing, the representative inheritor of Jinhua City-level Yiwu Paper-cutting Project
This one is a long scroll (paper-cut) that I just finished, and its (theme) is "Along the River During Qingming Festival". I set it to a length of fifty centimeters wide and ten meters long. It used a combination of negative and positive carvings (technique), and the whole work took nearly five years.
[Explanation] Lou Xiaoqing introduced that the most prosperous part of the paper-cut version of "Along the River During Qingming Festival" is also the most difficult to cut in the whole painting.
It is necessary to ensure the beauty of the microscopic perspective and balance the overall harmony of the picture. The use of skills and the overall vision are indispensable.
[Concurrent] Lou Xiaoqing, the representative inheritor of Jinhua City-level Yiwu Paper-cutting Project
The most complicated should be the most prosperous area of this work (content). Why it is the most difficult is that (because) the relationship between the characters here is the most complicated, that is to say, there are many characters, and they overlap. The relationship between the perspective of such a character that is stacked, etc., I carved all the characters with Yin carving (technique), and the rest were carved with Yang, which is to focus on this person (object).
[Explanation] Having been in contact with the art of paper-cutting for more than ten years, love is the driving force behind Lou Xiaoqing's perseverance.
Immersed in the fun of bringing forth new ideas, for Lou Xiaoqing, the challenge brought by each piece of work is a reflection of ingenuity.
[Concurrent] Lou Xiaoqing, the representative inheritor of Jinhua City-level Yiwu Paper-cutting Project
In the paper-cutting world, there are also people who made "Across the River during Qingming Festival".
Although some people say that there is no need to spend so much energy on what others have done, but because I like it, I want to present it again with my own hands.
In such a small leaf (figure), I may have to (carve) thirty knives up and down, because it is relatively fine, and I can only use the tip of the knife to go down little by little, which really consumes a lot of my energy.
[Explanation] Today, Lou Xiaoqing's home is full of thousands of paper-cut works, but Lou Xiaoqing feels that what she is most proud of is the inheritance of paper-cut culture.
[Concurrent] Lou Xiaoqing, the representative inheritor of Jinhua City-level Yiwu Paper-cutting Project
There is a very high sense of achievement when the veil is lifted.
It is hoped that through such a small window, this paper-cut (art) can be brought to the public.
Reported by Zang Chengeng and Dong Yixin from Yiwu, Zhejiang
Responsible editor: [Lu Yan]