The Study Of The Paper Binding In Southwest Of Shandong Province

The paper binding has inherited for a thousand years as a derivate of funeral customs in Chinese people’s lives. The paper binding has showed up full-tasting belief and ceremony characters as a symbol mark in funeral customs since the beginning. The paper binding is not only crafts for appreciating but also appliance of worship and sacrifice for ghost. Growing up with the local grand funeral customs in southwest of Shandong province, the paper binding, which is bearing the concept of the soul, ghosts and gods faith, moral principles, etiquette patterns of the local villagers. It reveals the deep connotation and implication in traditional culture and the much attention to etiquette and tradition.Fieldwork is the main method to collect information in this thesis. Based on plenty of first-hand material, this thesis adopt holistic approach to investigate how the paper binding express the demotic mind, idea and emotion in virtue of visual language symbols. By selecting the definite ritual context, this thesis restores the paper binding of southwest of Shandong province into folk custom activity situation and process, explore its profound cultural connotation and artistic expression. This thesis tries to reveal the interactions between the related groups such as paper binding artists, family of the deceased, villagers and guests, etc.This thesis consists of preface, text and epilogue. The preface introduced the origin of this topic. Based on the analysis of the transformation of civil folk art research paradigm, civil study of paper binding since1988, and the current study of paper binding in southwest of Shandong province, I propose research objectives, research perspective and method of my thesis. I want to explain the significance of putting paper binding into villagers’living to explore it’s function and substantive characteristics so as to achieve the purpose of through a small clue can see something important.The chapter I describes the living circumstance of paper binding art in southwest of Shandong province through natural environment, cultural history and life routine, so as to reveal the dependence relationship between paper binding art and rural society, villagers’living. Determined by the mode of production, farming culture characteristics is maintained in southwest of Shandong province, such as value the traditions and protocols, especially solemn sacrifice needed in funeral ceremony. This is the living environment of the paper binding in southwest of Shandong province.The chapter II profoundly analyzes art form of paper binding. In Section I, I give an account of historical evolutionary line of funerary wares which had changed from living persons and material objects to pottery and wooden figurines, and then to paper dolls and paper horses. Then I research the development history of paper binding art which was generated in Tang Dynasty, sprang up in Song Dynasty, popularized in Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, and transformed in modern society. By discussing the symbolic significance of paper binding art as funerary wares, I consider the paper binding is materialized form of popular emotion and concept as a kind of artistic creation. Therefore the "fake" material has the true meaning. The Section II investigate and narrate the genres, material, tools, technological process and aesthetic characteristics of paper binding art in southwest of Shandong province. The Section III focus on analysis of opera characters of paper binding, which is the most important characteristic of paper binding art in southwest of Shandong province. I discuss how to the opera performance art and paper binding art can combine and interconvert to aesthetic expression.The chapter III presents one funeral ceremony and two third anniversary ceremony, investigates cultural function of paper binding for funeral ceremony in villagers living routine. As a symbol mark of funeral ceremony, the paper binding act silently, but dynamically participate in ceremony process. By investigating the process of the paper binding from being ordered and manufactured, to being put to use and demonstrated, to being burnt to ashes, I reveal the role of paper binding acting in the ceremony, analyze villagers’concept of the soul, moral principles, etiquette patterns, etc, which is represented by paper binding. Then I concretely present multiple social relations’expression and interaction triggered by paper binding between the living and the dead, the consanguinity and affinity, villagers, the bereaved and the handicraftsman. Consequently I explain the symbol meaning and cultural function of paper binding art in the local society.Based on profound understanding of art form and cultural function, the chapter IV summary the characteristic, the survival and development of paper binding in southwest of Shandong province. Decided by its function of servicing for funeral ceremony, paper binding is a short-lived art. There are only three to five days for the paper binding from being ordered and manufactured to being burnt to ashes. This transience result on that it must adapt its material, mode of production and technological process to the short time. At the same time, paper binding art is the normality art in daily life. Due to the utility function being maintained, paper binding art still manifest as applied and aesthetic activity in life situations and repeatedly appear in villagers life by participating in funeral ceremony. On the other hand, because of the faith concept, paper binding art can’t carry out industrialization of production, and can’t be exploited to tourism products yet. As a result, paper binding art has always been in popular life by the original form. The substantive characteristics of paper binding art determine the influential factors of its survival and development to four factors:the decisive role of function, dominant function of science and technology progress, control and guide by government, hidden influence of village regulation and agreement. Influenced by interaction of variety of factors, the paper binding art in southwest of Shandong province present a normal development situation. It still is the fresh and alive art in public lives to this day. At last, based on survival state of the paper binding, I put forward some proposal of how to protect and develop funeral art.In the end, I propose the conclusion. As a symbol mark of funeral ceremony, the paper binding in southwest of Shandong province built a kind of mutual relationship with the villagers living. On the one side, the villagers living such as the belief and aesthetic taste of villagers determines the survival status and art form of paper binding. On the other side, the paper binding service the villagers living. It integrates and reconstructs various kinds of relationship of local community, and carry out the function of aesthetic, entertainment and cultivation. Regarding the protection of funeral art such as paper binding, we should put it to natural developing status and make it together with life and market. We also should create relaxed and free environment for its voluntary change following the pace of life and make it find temperate meeting point between tradition and modern, machine and handwork.