On Douyin, enter "Zhengjiaban", and there will be live broadcasts of paper-cutting every night. As one of the first inheritors of Shanghai's intangible cultural heritage "Shanghai Pattern Classic", Zheng Shulin, who is over sixty years old, has been recruiting disciples in the li

On Douyin, enter "Zheng Jiaban", and there will be live broadcasts of paper-cutting every night. As one of the first inheritors of Shanghai's intangible cultural heritage "Shanghai Pattern Classic", Zheng Shulin, who is over sixty years old, has been recruiting disciples in the live broadcast room since 2020. Not only does he live broadcast, but he also asks the "Zheng Family Class" from all over the world to "The apprentices take turns live broadcasting for the purpose of spreading and passing on.

His live broadcast room is very simple, with a piece of red paper, a pair of scissors, and a pair of hands. After a while, lifelike zodiac animals, flowers and birds and other patterns appeared under the camera. Zheng Shulin told the Liberation Daily Shangguan News reporter that he has broadcast live broadcasts for thousands of hours in the past four years. “Through live broadcasts, I am in Shanghai, but a group of paper-cutting enthusiasts and paper-cutting enthusiasts have gathered hundreds or thousands of miles away. Craftsman. ”

Paper-cutting is a “hands-on skill”

Zheng Shulin’s paper-cutting studio is located on the third floor of the Jiamusi Cultural Sub-Center, a community cultural activity center in Changhai Road Street, Yangpu District. Last Saturday morning, when reporters came to visit, my uncle who was playing table tennis on the second floor saw an unfamiliar face and pointed the way clearly, "Let's learn paper-cutting, right? Just go through here and go up the stairs." The studio area of ​​

is not large. In the middle is a large rectangular table that can accommodate many people. The four walls are covered with large-scale framed paper-cut works. On a paper-cut work with fish as the protagonist, several The chubby red carp seemed to jump out of the painting. The bookshelves placed against the wall were filled to the brim with books and various types of papers, and there were even stacks of books stacked on the floor.

Zheng Shulin is teaching everyone paper-cutting

"When you see big scissors, you know they are our Shanghai paper-cutting." Zheng Shulin pointed to a pair of big scissors on the table and introduced, "The big scissors on the market are already very scientific, the only thing you need to pay attention to is The first thing he did when he got the scissors was to use a small hammer to loosen the screws on them. They are flexible to use. The paper used for paper-cutting was also collected from all over the place. "The red paper we use now has a good texture. It looks shiny and cuts smoothly.”

Shanghainese people are accustomed to calling paper-cutting "huahua". When Zheng Shulin was 20 years old, "huahua" came into his life. "In 1980, I was 20 years old. I worked in a bus company as a conductor on Route 61. In my spare time, I liked traditional culture such as calligraphy and Chinese painting." His eldest sister happened to get married that year, and a paper-cutting craftsman from one of his neighbors came to the door of his house to make a gift for his sister. I cut out many "happy paintings", "there were dragons and phoenixes, I was attracted all of a sudden." He asked the old artist to learn paper-cutting, but the other party did not agree immediately. Instead, he asked him to spend a year practicing cutting out the large and small Arabic numerals and letters on the desk calendar with scissors. Zheng Shulin agreed. After more than 360 days, several scissors were blunted. The blood blisters on his hands were broken, healed and broken again, and more than 9,000 numbers and letters were cut out.

Zheng Shulin's paper-cut works

"Paper-cutting is a skill of the hands. The characteristic of the Shanghai Pattern Sutra is that it does not trace or draw. The left hand carries the paper, and the right hand controls the opening and closing of the scissors. The draft is in the belly and the art is in the hand. As long as it is an object of nature , can cut raw flowers. This is 'a small turning point, a big world'." In order to learn paper-cutting, Zheng Shulin applied for a "night bus" from the bus company. He had a 20-minute break at night and took a pair of scissors on the bus. practise. In addition to catching up on sleep during the day, I went to the library to find books on paper-cutting, went to the zoo to observe animals, and thought about how to use paper-cutting to express animals and plants. He travels around the world like a real craftsman. In the 1990s, he went alone to Shandong, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Gansu, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Anhui and other places to look for local folk paper-cutting artists. "In order to collect styles and materials, I learned to cut while I was running. When I ran out of money, I practiced stalling and used my paper-cut works in exchange for some money." He still remembers that he traveled to many places in Jiangsu just to purchase paper suitable for paper-cutting.

Zheng Shulin’s paper-cut works

In the blink of an eye, Zheng Shulin has been practicing art for more than 40 years. He began to think about how his beloved "Shanghai Pattern Classic" could be passed down. Four years ago, he accidentally saw on the Douyin platform that many paper-cutting artists were conducting live broadcasts. “But there was a problem. You could only see their faces, but not their paper-cutting hands.He thought jokingly, "I'm not good-looking, but fortunately I'm very dexterous with my hands." "

Just like that, the live broadcast room started. Zheng Shulin did not show his face but his hands, and taught the key points of paper cutting while cutting. On the first day of the live broadcast, the number of viewers slowly increased from more than 20 people to more than 80 people. He felt that the live broadcast was It makes sense. I have persisted like this for more than 4 years, and the number of fans on the Douyin platform has increased to more than 8,000. "I am not doing it for traffic or bringing goods, but for dissemination and inheritance, and exporting Shanghai culture to the whole country through the live broadcast platform." , to the world.

Accepting apprentices in the live broadcast room

Rather than introducing the characteristics of the "Shanghai Pattern Classic" in general, Zheng Shulin wanted to find a true inheritor of the paper-cutting craft. After live broadcasting on Douyin for a while, he began to think about "opening up the art of paper-cutting". "Shanmen" accepts apprentices. As long as he is willing to learn paper-cutting, he will accept almost all comers, "We are not allowed to trace or draw, as long as you are willing to watch the live broadcast and use the scissors yourself."

Like many folk craftsmen, Zheng Shulin uses A traditional way to recruit apprentices “It used to be said that it took three years to learn a craft, and it was very hard for a craftsman. "Just like the master who inspected him back then, he made rules and spent three months inspecting the apprentices who came from the Internet. "Everyone is working all over the country. If they can persist for three months, they will be accepted as registered disciples. ; After another three months of assessment period, if your skills improve, you will be accepted as an entry-level disciple. "

Zheng Shulin, the inheritor of Shanghai Pattern Classic,

, also uses live broadcast to teach when training apprentices. "According to traditional rules, in Zheng's class, each pattern cannot be repeated. "Every Saturday morning, a group of apprentices always gather in the studio of the Jiamusi Cultural Sub-center. Zheng Shulin provides offline guidance while running a live broadcast on DingTalk. Apprentices who cannot be present must check in and listen to the class through the live broadcast. "Become Me After becoming an apprentice, you can't fish for three days and dry the nets for two days. Every day you have the task of listening to lectures and practicing. "When the apprentice's paper-cutting skills became more mature, he asked the apprentices to take turns to broadcast live broadcasts every day to spread the intangible cultural heritage of the Shanghai Pattern Sutra. "Live broadcast is a very good carrier for spreading intangible cultural heritage. Through the live broadcast platform, Our voices can be heard all over the world, and our skills and techniques can be showcased across the country. "

During the live broadcast, Zheng Shulin cut whatever pattern he wanted. Sometimes it was a mouse, sometimes a snake, or a dragon. He kept talking, from the paper-cutting formula to the concept of creation, and even hummed a little field tune on a whim. . Being able to speak and sing is also a characteristic of Shanghai Huahua Jing, that is, he should keep talking while cutting paper, and he should be able to speak slang and allusions, and tell the secrets of paper-cut works. "The singing of Huahua Jing mainly expresses auspiciousness, using folk songs, folk songs, and jingles. Lord. In the past, old artists were illiterate and relied on memory to memorize various auspicious patterns and tunes, and improvised lyrics according to the needs of the guests. In the process of cutting and singing at the same time, the guests not only saw new patterns and received good luck. "He said that the Flower Classic is the story behind the pattern. The process and experience of pattern creation are also the oral culture passed down from generation to generation of craftsmen.

Zheng Shulin's paper-cut works

He asked the reporter his zodiac sign and learned that it was the "monkey" in December. , I immediately got creative inspiration, "You can cut out a monkey standing under a tree, holding a peach in his hand, and you can also add two plum blossoms or daffodils next to it." Different seasons require different Shanghai Patterns. Different styles, singing different stories.

Now, Zheng Shulin has more than 120 apprentices, including those from Shanghai, Anhui, and Jiangsu, and there are also many apprentices from "post-70s" Zhao Hong. One. “In order to learn from my master, I went from online to offline. "She told reporters that she used to live in Beijing. In order to learn paper-cutting, she rented a house in Hangzhou. She got up at 4:30 every Saturday, caught the 6:00 a.m. train to Shanghai, and went back after learning paper-cutting. "A friend gave it to me once. I was very interested in paper-cutting, so I searched it on Douyin and was impressed by the live broadcast room of Shanghai Flower Classic. "She said that she has been relegated to the second line in her workplace, and the Shanghai Flower Classic has allowed her to find new sustenance. "I hope that I can go out to practice stalls in the future, or go to school to teach children how to cut paper."

Zheng Shulin's paper-cut works

" Is it Zheng Shulin? "The reporter wanted to ask the teaching community for their views on "using live broadcasts to promote paper-cutting intangible cultural heritage." Before he mentioned all the key words, Tian Zhaoyuan, a professor at the Institute of Folklore of East China Normal University, blurted out.

In recent years, the Institute of Folklore of East China Normal University has been promoting the use of Shanghai-style paper-cutting artists. Paper-cutting expresses Shanghai culture and helps spread paper-cutting intangible cultural heritage to the world. "Zheng Shulin is our long-term collaborator and important promotion target. Most of the previous projects initiated by East China Normal University to use paper-cutting to cut school sages and campus landscapes were done by him and others. The team is responsible for this. "Tian Zhaoyuan believes that Zheng Shulin is now live-streaming paper-cutting on Douyin to build his own brand image. He has also recruited disciples and founded the Zheng Family Class to spread Shanghai culture to the whole country. It reflects the vitality of Shanghai-style intangible cultural heritage and is an important part of Shanghai-style intangible cultural heritage. A useful communication attempt based in Shanghai and spreading across the country. “I want to praise him. He made active attempts to establish a brand image and go to the market. This fully shows that only when cultural heritage has a market can it be better inherited. "

Zheng Shulin's paper-cut works

In Zheng Shulin's view, intangible cultural heritage projects and handicraft projects used to grow from the market; now if intangible cultural heritage is to be passed on, it must be experienced in the market. "Wherever the economy is the most developed, Where to practice stalls. "Whenever there is an opportunity, he takes his apprentices to tourist attractions and commercial centers to practice stalls and directly accept the test of consumers. He also encourages apprentices in the United States, Japan, and Malaysia to go out more and face the market. "We rely on craftsmanship. For people who eat, let consumers evaluate it. Their willingness to scan the QR code (place an order) is the most important.”