The art of paper-cutting is an indispensable part of China's intangible cultural heritage. It carries the folk customs of different regions, and also pins people's yearning for a better life and expectations for auspicious happiness. In Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, there is a representative inheritor of provincial intangible cultural heritage, Shi Lihua, a master of paper-cutting, who has spent more than 60 years to practice a unique paper-cutting style, without prior drafting, pick up and cut, while cutting, the works are completed in one go, each painting is original. Among the many creative themes, Shi Lihua is particularly good at cutting butterflies in a variety of shapes and creating the "Fu Butterfly Totem" series.
【Commentary】Shi Lihua, representative inheritor of intangible cultural heritage of Heilongjiang Province
Anyone can cut a butterfly, but my butterfly is still a little different from others. For example, paper cutting is now a flat drawing, so I turned it into a three-dimensional paper cut like this color set, adding a lot of elements to it and adding everything to it. For example, characters, landscapes, and zodiac signs are all inside. There are 10,000 species of butterflies, and 10,000 butterflies are not the same. For example, this one, let's take a look, this is a butterfly composed of two black dragons, which adds auspicious clouds and harvest words, these represent Heilongjiang, and small swallows, the plan of the year lies in spring, (swallow) represents spring, a lot of meanings are in this.
【In the same period】10,000 butterflies, 10,000 styles, Shi Lihua used her skilled skills and innovative ideas to make butterfly paper cutting a unique work of art. In addition to butterflies, Shi Lihua has lived in Harbin since she was a child, and she also loves Northeast style and ice and snow culture for ten minutes, so she created the Snowflake Series, the Northeast Wind Series, and the Belly Pocket Series. Her paper-cutting art is like a camera, using a pair of scissors to "record" the beauty of life. So how did Shi Lihua get involved with paper cutting?
【Commentary】Shi Lihua, representative inheritor of intangible cultural heritage of Heilongjiang Province
I grew up watching my mother, grandmother, and grandmother, who used these scissors to make paper cuts and fabrics. At the beginning, I liked to watch and love, but now I am almost obsessed, and even in elementary and middle school, I must bring a pair of scissors in class, I cut a small sample, to this classmate, that classmate, classmate said thank you, thank you two words let me persist until now.
Today's Shi Lihua is old, but whenever she mentions paper-cutting, she seems to be the little girl who began to learn paper-cutting at the age of six, and she is always full of awe and enthusiasm for the art of paper-cutting. It is this persistence that has enabled Shi Lihua to win more than 100 large and small awards such as the China Paper-cutting Virtue and Art Double Xin Award. However, as a non-genetic inheritor, Shi Lihua admits that although she is happy to win the award, it is more important to pass on the paper-cutting skills.
【Commentary】Shi Lihua, representative inheritor of intangible cultural heritage of Heilongjiang Province
Since the nineties, my paper-cutting skills have been the first to enter major universities, primary and secondary schools, communities, kindergartens, and special groups, and many poor mountainous areas, with more than 10,000 people, some of whom are now engaged in professions (paper-cutting) and go to teach. I think I teach students, students teach students, students teach students and students teach students again, I think this craft will not be lost.
[At the same time] a table, a pair of scissors, a few pieces of red paper. From school classrooms to social activities, we can always see Shi Lihua. As one student once wrote in his essay, "The eyes of the old man shone with excitement, and at this moment, I understood a lot, there was perseverance, love, and yearning." Shi Lihua was the lighter on his growth path. I believe that Shi Lihua's paper-cutting class will be like a seed planted in the heart of every student, and will eventually blossom and bear fruit at some point in the future, when the non-genetic inheritance will no longer be the adherence of a few people, but the pursuit of the whole people.
Reporting by Liu Lu from Harbin, Heilongjiang
Responsible Editor: [Song Fangcan]