春节将至:带你走近中国民间艺术

Spring Festival is Approaching ◆ 春节将至

Get Yourself Ready with Chinese Folk Art

带你走近中国民间艺术

When talking about Chinese New Year icons, many people can only think of Red Packets and the lucky character “Fu”, right? Howevematchr, in actual fact, there is so much more than this! Therefore, as Spring Festival is fast approaching, in this article, Eastant would like to invite you to appreciate the charm of traditional Chinese folk art, through the mediums of New Year pictures, Chinese Knots and paper cutting.

当提到中国新年,你只能想到红包和“福”字? 春节给人的印象远不止这些!在中国新年即将到来之际,本文亦适达将邀您一起领略年画、中国结和剪纸这三项中国传统民间艺术的魅力。



New Year pictures 年画



The New Year picture is a form of the traditional Chinese folk art. Customarily, as each Chinese New Year arrives, every family replaces its New Year picture in order to "say goodbye to the Past and welcome in the Future”. 

年画是中国传统民间艺术形式之一。通常,每户人家都会在中国新年到来时,更换新的年画,意为“辞旧迎新”。

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Its origin is derived from the picture of the “door god” in the Tang dynasty. At that time, people would post the “door god” to protect against evil spirits and to encourage the entrance of good fortune. Afterwards, from the Song dynasty onwards, along with the maturity of woodblock printing techniques, New Year pictures of woodblock paintings have been extensively enriched, including more subjects in the prints, like women and babies. Nowadays, traditional new year pictures of woodblock paintings are very rare, as New Year pictures are mostly printed.

年画可以追溯至唐代的“门神画”。 在唐代,人们张贴门神用于辟邪除灾以及迎祥纳福。自宋代起,随着木板印刷技术的成熟, 木板年画正式成形,年画的内容也丰富了起来,如妇女和儿童形象的出现。而现在,传统的木板年画已经很少见了,大多为印刷的画报。

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Chinese Knot 中国结



Chinese knotting is a unique hand-woven handicraft art that began in the Tang and Song dynasty in China. Around the time of Spring festival, Chinese knot decorations can be seen hanging on walls, doors of homes and as shop decorations to add a festive feel and as a good-luck charm. 

中国结是中国特有的手工编织工艺品,起源于唐宋时期。春节期间,中国结作为装饰物,常被挂在房门或墙上,也是常见的商铺装饰,用以增加节日氛围,同时也是好运的象征。

The process of compiling a "Chinese knot" is very complicated and time-consuming, and one major characteristic of decorative knotwork is that all the knots are tied using one piece of thread. There are many different shapes of Chinese knots, and the Pan Chang knot, which is also known as ‘endless knots’, is the most familiar to the public, which symbolizes a long life without setbacks.

 “中国结”的编制过程十分复杂费时,使用一根绳从头至尾编制而成是中国结的主要特点。中国结的种类很多,其中盘长结是最为人们所熟悉的一种,象征着一生平安顺遂。

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Paper-Cut Art 剪纸艺术



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Chinese paper cutting is a kind of hollow-out art form, which visually gives people a sense of openness and artistic enjoyment. It may date back to the 6th century when women used to paste golden and silver foil cuttings onto their hair at the temples, and men used them in sacred rituals. In order to achieve the decorative effect, people usually glued the papercuts to the exterior of windows, so the light from the inside would shine through the negative space of the cutout, which is why paper-cut handcrafts are also referred to as window flowers (chuāng huā).

中国剪纸是一种镂空艺术,其在视觉上给人以透空的感觉和艺术享受。它可以追溯到公元6世纪,妇女在寺庙中将裁剪过的金银箔贴在鬓角为饰,男性则在一些神圣的仪式中使用他们。为了达到装饰效果,人们通常会将剪纸贴在窗户外,这样屋内的光线就会照射到剪纸切口的负空间,这也使剪纸被称为窗花。

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Paper cutting was not only a kind of handcraft, but also a piece of artwork, as it could express people's hopes, gratitude and other emotions through the pattern. For example, the papercuts of the Chinese character "Double Happiness" is always used in weddings and other festive occasions to express joy and blessings.

剪纸不仅是一门手工技艺,更是一种艺术作品,因为人们可以通过剪纸的图案表现出憧憬、感激等丰富的情感。比如,大红色“囍”字的剪纸作品会用在婚嫁等喜庆的场合,表示喜庆与祝福。

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The technique of papercutting remains popular and loved by people of all ages. To complete a simple paper-cut artwork, all you need is a piece of red paper and a pair of scissors. The paper cutouts are usually symmetrical in an even-number series of 2, 4, etc., which means you need to fold the paper before you actually cut it, so that when you unfold the paper, it forms a symmetrical design.

剪纸艺术仍然很受欢迎,被各年龄的人热爱着。完成一个简单的剪纸作品,只需要一张红纸和一把剪刀。剪纸作品通常是以2、4等偶数序列对称的,这意味着在你真正动剪刀之前,你需要将纸进行折叠,这样当纸张展开时,就能看到对称的图形了。

Lastly, Eastant would like to provide you with the joy of Chinese folk art, letting you personally experience the charm of paper cutting.  Try to follow the instructions in the picture and complete your paper-cut work! We hope you like it!

最后,Eastant想邀你一同体验民间艺术的乐趣,亲自感受剪纸艺术的魅力。 你可以参考教程图,完成你的剪纸作品! 希望你喜欢!

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