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An artist makes ‘window flowers’ with scissors
Print Edition
AN old man dwelling in an old neighborhood in Changning has created beautiful patterns with scissors and paper for more than five decades.
Li Mengsheng is descendant of Yangzhou paper-cutting which represents the southern style of the 1,500-year-old Chinese handcraft.
The southern style of paper cutting features fluent shapes, elegant composition, exaggerated images and creative techniques. The northern style is simpler, bold and unconstrained, says Li.
Using a pair of scissors, Li cuts paper into various shapes and figures, many of which have special meanings in traditional Chinese culture.
Some express people’s best wishes, like a carp jumping over a dragon gate which indicates a leap toward a better life; some depict auspicious animals or flowers. Dragon, lion, deer and bat symbolize power, strength, emolument and fortune while plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum are considered four gentlemen of the flowers.
Braving the cold, plum blossoms are the symbol of strength, courage and purity; orchid is associated with the meaning of elegance, patriotism and fidelity; bamboo stands for indomitable, modest and extraordinary while chrysanthemum is always deemed as a noble man of moral integrity.
Li was the apprentice of late paper cutting master Zhang Yongshou (1907-1989). Zhang, a Yangzhou native, led the southern style during his time.
Born into a family of paper-cutting craftsmen, Zhang was the fourth generation to inherit the skill. He developed Yangzhou paper-cutting by transferring the practical into ornamental themes.
His master pieces, such as “A hundred flowers blossom” portraying a picture of 100 chrysanthemums, and “A hundred butterflies” showing a picture of 100 butterflies around flowers, feature characteristics of realism, generalization and exaggeration.
Among Zhang’s best works there are 101 pieces serving Guo Moruo’s poetry anthology as illustration which enabled paper cutting to rise into a much higher artistic realm.
Li’s father was a close friend of Zhang. Li and his father visited Zhang in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province when Li was 13 year old.
Li was immediately fascinated by paper-cutting. When his father petitioned Zhang to accept Li as an apprentice Li knelt down quickly and kowtowed three times. Since then Li studied paper-cutting from Zhang for four years (1963-1966).
Li’s works are mainly divided into five categories. One is about auspicious Chinese characters, like “福” (fortune), “禄” (emolument), “寿” (longevity) and “喜” (happiness). The second is about opera characters, such as the Twelve Pretties of Nanking in “Dream of the Red Chamber” and people significant to the “Romance of Three Kingdoms.”
The third is about the image of Buddha and the fourth involves people and customs of ethnic minorities.
Li also replicates famous paintings through his paper-cutting skills. Such works include “La Gioconda” by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and the lady gallery of Chen Yifei (1946-2005) or even the most renowned Chinese painting “Along the River during the Qingming Festival” by the Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279) artist Zhang Zeduan (1085–1145).
With the support of friends, Li launched an exhibition of his works last March and opened a workshop at the same time for the inheritance of paper-cutting.
Paper-cutting
The art of paper-cutting dates back about 1,500 years. As the cut-outs are often used to decorate doors and windows, they are sometimes referred to as window flowers.
Usually, the artworks are made of red paper, as red is auspicious, but other colors were also used. Previously, paper-cutting was an indispensible part of people’s life, particularly on major occasions like festivals, weddings and childbirth as it always symbolizes luck and happiness.
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