A large edition of the Bible was open on a plain dining table in the living room, and on the table was also a book about the explanation of the Book of Revelation published by the local CC&TSPM. The two books now feature prominently in the life of Fan Pu, a Christian paper-cutting artist, who is using them to help create a series of paper cuts according to the Book of Revelation.
Recently, we visited Mrs. Fan Pu at her residence. When we entered her room, we saw the open Bible on the table, as she was reading it.
Mrs. Fan, 77 years old, first shared her recent life. Because of her old age, her health is not what it used to be, and she spends most of the day at home. Her biggest hope at present is to complete the series of paper-cuts of Revelation. She has spent a year conceiving and drawing, and it is expected that the whole project will take two or three years. She can only work a few hours a day because of her poor eyesight and declining strength. At the peak of her creation, she could work more than 10 hours a day, and she often worked until midnight.
In addition to the Revelation series of works being created, Mrs. Fan has also previously produced a series of paper-cut works of the entire volume of books in the Bible, such as the Book of Isaiah, Psalms, and Acts of the Apostles, among which there are 84 works for the Book of Acts and nearly 200 works for the series of Psalms. Mrs. Fan not only works according to the content of the Bible, she also works with the themes of Christmas, the Life and Lesson of Jesus, and the Stations of the Cross, among which the Life and Lesson of Jesus series includes a total of 153 works. In addition, she has works based on individual Bible stories and Bible verses.
The works about Bible verses combine the characters with the corresponding verses, which have been affirmed by the famous Christian calligrapher and painter Zhang Xinzheng. Mrs. Fan quoted Mr. Zhang's evaluation of her in her book The Journey of the Heart: Paper-Cutting Art of Fan Pu, “In addition to the characteristics of adopting special Bible scripture themes, your paper-cutting art has unique characteristics and originality, that is, multiple characters and calligraphy. Your multi-word paper cut is also one of the major breakthroughs in paper-cut art. Not only that, the use of traditional calligraphy art is also a breakthrough.”
In the process of using paper cutting, one of the Chinese folk arts, to express Christianity, Mrs. Fan has been trying to combine Christianity with Chinese culture. She said, “The essence of localization is the incarnation. Only when the seeds of life enter this soil can they grow, blossom, and bear fruit. The same seeds grow differently in different soil environments, but the essence of life is the same.” She began her work by using Chinese characters and costumes, adding Chinese elements such as tai chi patterns to some of her works, and later adopted a Christian perspective to illustrate classic phrases from ancient books such as the Analects of Confucius and the Songs of Chu.
The number of Mrs. Fan's Christian paper-cut works has passed thousands, the vast majority of which she created in her spare time and after retirement, and the reason why she is able to achieve so much is because she regards it as God's calling and her mission. Mrs. Fan admitted that most of the people engaged in paper-cutting art in China are quite poor, and few people are willing to learn about it now, because it is difficult for them to support their families with this craft. She has run training courses, but there are only a few people who come to learn, and none of them can stick to them. Looking back on her creation process, she attributes all the glory to God. "God is in charge of my future. I am only a vessel, a knife or scissors in his hand."
Although she is now worn out with age, Mrs. Fan said that she firmly believes that the Book of Revelation series can be completed, because the brothers and sisters are praying for her, and this is the mission given to her by God.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
客厅一张朴素的餐桌上摆放着一本敞开着的大字版《圣经》，桌上还有一本地方基督教两会出版的《启示录》的释经书籍。这两本书目前在基督徒剪纸艺术家范朴的生活中占据着重要地位，她正藉着它们的帮助来创作《启示录》的系列剪纸。
近日，笔者和一位同工到范朴老师的居所拜访了她，一进门，就看到了桌上那本敞开着的圣经，原来她正在灵修。
现年77岁的范老师先分享了她近期的生活。因为上了年纪，她的身体状况已大不如前，一天大多数时间待在家里。她目前最大的盼望就是完成《启示录》的系列剪纸，已经用了一年的时间来构思、绘图，预计整个项目还需要两三年的时间才可以完工。因着视力、体力下降，她现在一天只能工作几个小时；而在创作的巅峰时期，她每天可以工作十多个小时，时常不知不觉就工作到晚上12点。
除了正在创作的《启示录》系列作品，范老师之前还创作过《以赛亚书》《诗篇》《使徒行传》等《圣经》中整卷书籍的系列剪纸作品，其中，《使徒行传》共有84幅作品，《诗篇》系列将近200幅作品。范老师不仅以成卷的圣经内容为创作主题，她还以“圣诞”“耶稣生平与教训”“苦路”等主题进行创作，其中《耶稣生平与教训》系列共有153幅作品。另外，她还有跟据单个的圣经故事、圣经经文的作品。
圣经经文作品是将人物形象与相应的经文结合在一起，此举得到了著名基督徒书画家张心正的肯定。范朴老师在她的著作《心路历程：范朴剪纸艺术》一书中引用了张老先生对她的评价：“您的剪纸艺术除了专用圣经经义的题材为其特点之外，在技艺上还具有独到的特点和独创之处——那就是‘多字’与‘书法’。……您的多字剪纸，也是剪纸艺术之一大突破，不仅如此，而且在形式上运用传统的书法艺术也是一个突破。”
在使用作为中国民间艺术之一的剪纸来表达基督信仰的过程中，范老师一直在尝试将基督信仰与中国文化相结合。她认为：“本土化的实质是道成肉身，生命的种子进入这块土壤，才能生长、开花、结果，同样的种子在不同的土壤环境中生长是有些差异，但生命的本质是一样的。”她起初的尝试是作品采用中国的人物形象以及服饰，在一些作品中加入太极图案等中国元素，后来，她采取以基督信仰的视角来阐述《论语》《楚辞》等古籍中的一些经典语句。
范老师的基督教剪纸作品数量已经过千，绝大多数是她用业余时间以及退休后创作的，她之所以能够做到这个程度，是因为她将之视为神的呼召，是她的使命。范老师坦言，国内从事剪纸艺术的大多挺穷的，现在很少有人愿意学，靠这个手艺难以养家糊口。她曾开过培训课程，来学习的人只有个位数，没有一个可以一直坚持下去的。回看自己的创作历程，她将一切的荣耀归给了上帝：“是上帝掌管我的明天，我只是他手中的一个器皿、一把小刀或一把剪子。”
虽然如今年老体衰，但范老师坚定地说，她坚信《启示录》系列作品一定可以完成，因为有弟兄姐妹们在为她代祷，因为这是神给她的使命。
基督徒剪纸艺术家范朴：我只是他手中的一把小刀
A large edition of the Bible was open on a plain dining table in the living room, and on the table was also a book about the explanation of the Book of Revelation published by the local CC&TSPM. The two books now feature prominently in the life of Fan Pu, a Christian paper-cutting artist, who is using them to help create a series of paper cuts according to the Book of Revelation.
Recently, we visited Mrs. Fan Pu at her residence. When we entered her room, we saw the open Bible on the table, as she was reading it.
Mrs. Fan, 77 years old, first shared her recent life. Because of her old age, her health is not what it used to be, and she spends most of the day at home. Her biggest hope at present is to complete the series of paper-cuts of Revelation. She has spent a year conceiving and drawing, and it is expected that the whole project will take two or three years. She can only work a few hours a day because of her poor eyesight and declining strength. At the peak of her creation, she could work more than 10 hours a day, and she often worked until midnight.
In addition to the Revelation series of works being created, Mrs. Fan has also previously produced a series of paper-cut works of the entire volume of books in the Bible, such as the Book of Isaiah, Psalms, and Acts of the Apostles, among which there are 84 works for the Book of Acts and nearly 200 works for the series of Psalms. Mrs. Fan not only works according to the content of the Bible, she also works with the themes of Christmas, the Life and Lesson of Jesus, and the Stations of the Cross, among which the Life and Lesson of Jesus series includes a total of 153 works. In addition, she has works based on individual Bible stories and Bible verses.
The works about Bible verses combine the characters with the corresponding verses, which have been affirmed by the famous Christian calligrapher and painter Zhang Xinzheng. Mrs. Fan quoted Mr. Zhang's evaluation of her in her book The Journey of the Heart: Paper-Cutting Art of Fan Pu, “In addition to the characteristics of adopting special Bible scripture themes, your paper-cutting art has unique characteristics and originality, that is, multiple characters and calligraphy. Your multi-word paper cut is also one of the major breakthroughs in paper-cut art. Not only that, the use of traditional calligraphy art is also a breakthrough.”
In the process of using paper cutting, one of the Chinese folk arts, to express Christianity, Mrs. Fan has been trying to combine Christianity with Chinese culture. She said, “The essence of localization is the incarnation. Only when the seeds of life enter this soil can they grow, blossom, and bear fruit. The same seeds grow differently in different soil environments, but the essence of life is the same.” She began her work by using Chinese characters and costumes, adding Chinese elements such as tai chi patterns to some of her works, and later adopted a Christian perspective to illustrate classic phrases from ancient books such as the Analects of Confucius and the Songs of Chu.
The number of Mrs. Fan's Christian paper-cut works has passed thousands, the vast majority of which she created in her spare time and after retirement, and the reason why she is able to achieve so much is because she regards it as God's calling and her mission. Mrs. Fan admitted that most of the people engaged in paper-cutting art in China are quite poor, and few people are willing to learn about it now, because it is difficult for them to support their families with this craft. She has run training courses, but there are only a few people who come to learn, and none of them can stick to them. Looking back on her creation process, she attributes all the glory to God. "God is in charge of my future. I am only a vessel, a knife or scissors in his hand."
Although she is now worn out with age, Mrs. Fan said that she firmly believes that the Book of Revelation series can be completed, because the brothers and sisters are praying for her, and this is the mission given to her by God.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
Fan Pu, a Christian Paper-cutting Artist
