Liji Paper-making Skills, a traditional skill project in the third batch of representative projects of Huai'an City's intangible cultural heritage. Historical Evolution Paper-making is a folk art that integrates the skills of making, pasting, paper cutting, clay sculpture, and painting. It was created to meet the psychological and spiritual needs of people's sacrificial beliefs and has a long history. The earliest paper-made object discovered so far is a paper coffin excavated from the Tang Dynasty ancient tombs in Astana, Turpan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 1973. The coffin frame is made of thin wooden poles, with five arc-top supports from front to back as a bracket, and then paper is pasted on it, and the surface is dark red. The paper used is the horse feed income and expenditure account paper of some post houses in Tingxi and Xizhou from the 12th to 14th year of the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty (753-755). According to the analysis of the remains at the archaeological site, when burying the dead, the dead were first placed on a reed mat pasted with waste paper, and then covered with a paper coffin. According to the land purchase certificate of the tomb owner's burial objects, the date is the fourth year of the Tang Dynasty (769). This special paper-made coffin has a history of more than 1,200 years. In history, the names and main uses of paper-made in different periods are different. In the Northern Song Dynasty, it was called Zhuangluanzuo, Dazhizuo, Mingqizuo, and Zhipu. According to the "Rumenglu" written by the Ming people, people who specialize in paper-made are called "Zhacaijiang", and their business places are paper-made shops, paper horse shops, and paper horse incense shops. Yu Minzhong of the Qing Dynasty once recorded the situation of funerals and coffins in the capital in "Rixia Jiuwen Kao". The general idea of the description in the book is: At that time, the cost of funerals was very high, and there were as many as 500 people participating in the funeral, with funeral cars and memorial flags. The memorial flag was five feet high and wrapped with silk cloth. A funeral would cost more than 100 pieces of silk, and there were also incense pavilions, banners, and ceremonial attendants. There are also offerings made of paper, and there are dozens of houses made of paper alone; on the way to the funeral, there are also children who sing and dance beside the coffin of the deceased, jumping over poles and riding horses along the way, and performing some operas. "The Imperial Capital Scenery" also records that on the first day of October, there is a folk custom: paper-making workshops use five colors of paper-cuts to make men's clothes, which are several feet long and are called "cold clothes". Almost every family will hold a memorial ceremony at night and burn the cold clothes in front of the house, which is called "sending cold clothes". Records in various documents show that the styles of paper-making in history are diverse, and it is very common in folk funeral or sacrificial activities. With the development of history, paper-making crafts are no longer limited to funerals and sacrifices, and gradually developed into a decorative art for festival celebrations. It has spread throughout cities and towns during the Ming and Qing Dynasties and has been passed down to this day. Basic content and value Chuzhou Liji Paper-making is an ancestral skill that has been passed down for six generations. Reeds and bamboo are used to make strips, which are tied into a skeleton and covered with colored paper as needed. There are mainly the following processes: First, material selection. Select reeds or bamboos with straight stems and uniform thickness as materials, and split them into strips as needed. Second, make a frame. Make a skeleton as needed. Third, paste paper. Paste paper as needed. Fourth, match colors. Prepare various colored papers as needed. Fifth, cut flowers. Make patterns. Sixth, paste flowers. For patterns that cannot be made by the props themselves, make them separately and paste them on them; Seventh, draw. Eighth, shape. Correct the appearance as needed to complete the production. There are basically three categories of Chuzhou Liji paper-making works: First, funerary objects: animals such as horses and cows, characters such as sedan bearers and maids, transportation tools such as sedans and cars, and buildings such as buildings. Second, folk art props: such as dragon boats, lions, flower poles, flower boats, etc. Third, lighting equipment: such as carp lanterns, garden lanterns, crooked spirits, Broken Bridge Meeting, Liang Zhu, Journey to the West and other lantern works. Liji paper-making techniques use simple materials and complex processes. The works are colorful, simple in shape, and have bright meanings, which have certain artistic value. Tracing its history has certain reference value for studying the changes in local history and culture. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)