As a unique folk culture in China, paper binding has been passed down for more than a thousand years. From generation to generation, the art of paper binding has absorbed a variety of cultural forms and presented a heavy humanistic force.
Bai Aihua, a paper-making artist, is the inheritor of Yuzhong Paper-making, an intangible cultural heritage in Lanzhou. The paper-making skills she inherited from her father Bai Ruhe have brought too many good memories to the lantern viewers. A moth eyebrow draws a smile, a small mouth cuts out a god, and the ecstasy of each character is between a stroke and a cut of white love flowers.
When it comes to the relationship between the White House and the art of paper binding, we should go back to 1939. That year, Bai Ruhe, who was only 16 years old in Baibao Village, Ma Po Township, Yuzhong County, came to Agan Town to be an apprentice under the name of a well-known stone painter. Speaking of this stone painter, the hearts of the descendants of the White House are always full of worship and admiration. It is said that the ancestors of stone painters painted with lanterns, and the reason why the stone family made a name for itself in Lanzhou was that it was praised for tying lanterns for the Suwangfu, and many years later, the lanterns for the Suwangfu had the contribution of the stone family. This craft has been accumulated and passed down from generation to generation by the Shi family, and it has been completed by Master Bai Ruhe.
Bai Ruhe was worshipped by the stone painter at that time. Although he was only a small apprentice, he was diligent and talented, and then he gradually stood out among many apprentices and won the favor of stone painters. In addition, the stone painter’s family was thin, and the old man finally chose to pass on the paper binding skills to Bai Ruhe without reservation. And Bai Aihua is the youngest daughter as white as a lotus. She said that her father taught her very strictly at the beginning, and a little bit of disqualification had to be reinvented. Nowadays, Bai Aihua, as a non-genetic inheritor, has completely inherited his father’s talent and wisdom in this respect.
Although the appearance of the huge lantern group of modern lanterns makes some small lanterns lose their former luster, the ingenuity of traditional craftsmen has its own uniqueness. Take the binding of characters as an example. Eyebrows are just the finishing touch of paper binding works, among which there are many doorways to shine. On the operating platform of Baiaihua, the superior bamboo is neatly processed, and the length, width and thickness are strictly required. Even if the small bamboo joints are finely polished, it is afraid that the appearance will be affected if there is any protrusion in the binding process. Compared with modern paper lanterns, the pigments of traditional lanterns are superior. Minerals such as azurite, azurite and cinnabar can only be used as pigments after careful grinding, and they will not fade easily even if they are placed outside in the wind and sun.
Today, what makes Bai Aihua feel the most beautiful is the Lantern Festival in Yuzhong County in 1992. In that exhibition, her and her father’s tied products won the grand prize, and their vivid shapes attracted many audiences. Two hand-tied lambs actually attracted real sheep with fake ones.
Bai Aihua said that although modern civilization will have an impact on traditional craftsmen, the yellowed paintings will never disappoint the craftsmen who love it. The manuscripts accumulated by craftsmen from generation to generation are a general history of folk customs and deserve to be treasured forever. Regarding how to make the paper-binding skills glow with new vitality in the inheritance, Bai Aihua said that the inheritance should first be passed down with serious skills, and the technological process should not be changed just to please, so the so-called inheritance may not exist. However, we should also make bold innovations in inheritance, which can spark better innovation in generate when it reaches my son’s generation. For me, keeping the skills left by my ancestors completely is the best contribution to the intangible heritage.
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