Foshan Papercut[i]

Paper-cut is a traditional folk decoration art, especially popular in Foshan area. The long history of the paper-cut can be traced back Song Dynasty, while its most prosperous time is in the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. Now the paper-cut products are very popular in Guangdong province and southwest of China, as well as in Asian countries.

Colorful Paper-cut Art

The traditional Foshan paper-cut features the themes of festival and luck, exorcising and blessing, children and longevity, etc. A unique local style is shaped with the brilliant copper foils adopted in the paper-cut.

According to its raw materials and making methods, the Foshan paper-cuts are divided into copper lining, paper lining, copper writing, silver writing, woodcut, copper chiseling, and solid color, etc. The local copper foil and silver foil are used with cutting, carving and chiseling techniques, lined with various color paper and printed with various patterns to create the paper-cuts with southern styles. Foshan paper-cuts have both delicate and bold means, and different materials are selected according to different demands.

Interesting local customs

In ancient times, the paper-cuts were mainly used for festival gifts decoration, embroidery carving patterns, product trademarks and so on. With develoment of the society, Foshan paper-cuts have created a path of renovation on the traditional arts with strict picture composition, strong decorating ability, elegance and splendidness to reflect the modern living topics. Foshan paper-cut is typical in China paper-cut arts.

Foshan paper-cut has an important position in the local customs. In festivals, wedding, funeral, birthday celebration, sacrifice, intercommunication and daily articles and children toys, the paper-cuts are used for decoration. For example, in Spring Festival, the door head of each family is pasted with a horizontal scroll bearing an inscription of “Five Fortunes On Door”, below which are pasted five copper lining characters of “Fortune” in the shape of coin. The “Gold Flowers” are sacrificed to Heavenly God, ancestors, door-keeping god, land god, stove god and well god.

On the the seventh evening of the seventh month on Chinese lunar calendar each year, women will use the paper-cuts to decorate the fruit baskets, incense burner tables, the bowels for carrying the articles for sacrifice. The girls will use the paper-cuts to decorate the white gourd lanterns. Usually the paper-cuts used on the Qiqiao Festival are one of the items for the girls to contest their handcraft. The fireworks are decorated with paper-cuts, and the tobacco bags, tea baskets (for carrying teapot), rice jars and glass boxes are mostly decorated with paper-cut.

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[i] 原网址：http://www.chinadiscover.net/guangdong-tourism/guangdong-foshan-papercut.htm

Word

1.     prosperous  繁荣的;成功的;兴旺的

2.     exorcising   驱逐

3.     longevity长寿;长命;持久

4.     foils  (尤指包装食物等用的)箔;箔纸(覆有箔的纸);陪衬者;陪衬物

5.     chiseling凿边；凿缝；凿开（chise的ing形式）

6.     embroidery 刺绣

7.     trademarks商标;(人的行为或衣着的)特征，标记

8.     sacrifice牺牲;舍弃;祭献;祭祀;祭献的牲畜;祭品

9.     horizontal水平的;与地面平行的;横的

10.  inscription(书首页的)题词;(石头或金属上)刻写的文字，铭刻，碑文

11.  Fortunes财富;发大财

12.  Heavenly神圣的;天梦;天上的;天朝

13.  jars(玻璃)罐子;广口瓶;一罐，一瓶(的量);缸;坛子

Phrase:

1.     traditional folk decoration art民间传统装饰艺术

2.     The long history of  …悠久的历史

3.     traced back追溯

4.     are very popular in 很受欢迎

5.     brilliant copper foils亮铜箔

6.     are divided into分为

7.     a path of 一条

8.     has an important position  …有着重要的地位

Sentence

1.     The long history of the paper-cut can be traced back Song Dynasty, while its most prosperous time is in the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty.

The long history of  ….的悠久历史；while在…期间。

2.     A unique local style is shaped with the brilliant copper foils adopted in the paper-cut.

谓语是is shaped with；adopted是做the brilliant copper foils的非谓语动词。

3.     The local copper foil and silver foil are used with cutting, carving and chiseling techniques, lined with various color paper and printed with various patterns to create the paper-cuts with southern styles.

With+V-ing; lined其后的句子是解释说明The local copper foil and silver foil。

4.     With development of the society, Foshan paper-cuts have created a path of renovation on the traditional arts with strict picture composition, strong decorating ability, elegance and splendidness to reflect the modern living topics.

With development of+N 在….的发展；

Problem：

1.     What are the materials and practices of Foshan paper cutting?

According to its raw materials and making methods, the Foshan paper-cuts are divided into copper lining, paper lining, copper writing, silver writing, woodcut, copper chiseling, and solid color, etc. The local copper foil and silver foil are used with cutting, carving and chiseling techniques, lined with various color paper and printed with various patterns to create the paper-cuts with southern styles. Foshan paper-cuts have both delicate and bold means, and different materials are selected according to different demands.

2.     What are the themes of Foshan paper cutting?

Most of the themes of Foshan paper-cut are loved by the working people, as well as opera characters and folk stories loved by the masses. Such as "dragon", "phoenix", "carp", "Peacock", "Sishi melon", "fulushuoquan", "hehe Erxian", "six kingdoms Fengxiang", "Tang Minghuang's Moon Palace", "Chang'e's flying to the moon", "Eight Immortals making trouble in the East China sea", "Dragon Boat Race" and so on.

3.     What is the important position of Foshan paper cutting?

Foshan paper-cut plays an important role in the local traditional folk culture. It is popular to decorate Foshan paper-cut for festivals, weddings and funerals, birthday sacrifices, social etiquette, even daily necessities and children's toys. For example, during the Spring Festival, the banners of every family were pasted with a horizontal scroll of "five blessings facing the door", and five pieces of copper lining Fu characters were pasted under the horizontal banners to spend money; the God of God, ancestors, door officials, land, kitchen king, well God and so on, inserted a pair of "golden flowers" on the left and right corners; in the past, there was a golden flower shop in Foshan, and the business was prosperous. There are two or three layers of the gold flowers of the God. Each layer is a piece of copper chiseled paper-cut. The middle part is erected with wood. The lower layer is large and the upper layer is small. It is full of three-dimensional feeling. The gold flower is decorated with pommel, which is very eye-catching. Most of the designs are on the top of a golden gourd, a lotus seat, and the middle part of the picture is about a boy who attracts money. The golden flowers used by other domestic gods are roughly the same. The ancestors use medium and other gods use trumpets, which vary from the first to the second floor. When the wedding is celebrated, all the gift boxes and gifts are decorated with paper-cut stickers. On the eve of the seventh lunar month in July, women decorate fruit plates, incense tables and candlesticks with paper-cut, and the bowls for offering tributes are also covered with paper-cut. The wax gourd lantern, sesame boat, grapefruit, etc. elaborately made by the girls, etc All of them are decorated with paper cutting. Usually, the paper-cut used in Qiqiao Festival is also one of the items for girls to compare their skills. Fireworks packaging uses paper cutting for decoration, tobacco bags, tea baskets (for holding teapots), rice pots, and even glasses boxes. People like to use paper cutting for decoration.

In addition, more sacrificial objects were used. It is a common custom in Foshan that seven "seven" should be made in funeral ceremonies, and a large number of sacrifices should be burned for each "seven", especially "three seven". There are Jinshan, Yinshan, Jinqiao, Yinqiao, big house and furnishings, clothes and shoes, etc. These paper-cut decorations are all pasted with paper-cut decoration, such as the cabinet surface and four corners are pasted with paper-cut, and even handkerchiefs are designed with paper-cut.

4.     Where is Foshan paper cutting mainly used?

Foshan paper cutting was also used as the manuscript of architecture and furniture carving more than 100 years ago, and then used for interior decoration. It is pasted on the lintel and column Fang, and is also used for decoration of sacrificial rites, tying, spending money, firecrackers, etc. "The romance of the West Chamber" shows the most wonderful scene in the drama story. The three characters have distinct primary and secondary roles, and their expressions are different, which has a good stage effect.