The most famous place of Hebei paper-cutting

The most famous place of Hebei paper-cutting is Yuxian.

Yuxian paper-cutting is a local traditional paper-cutting skill in Yuxian, Hebei Province, and it is one of the national intangible cultural heritages. Yuxian paper-cut originated in Ming Dynasty, which is a traditional folk art with unique style and high reputation at home and abroad. In the late Qing Dynasty, Yuxian paper-cutting tools were changed from "cutting" to "engraving". At the beginning of the 20th century, Yuxian paper-cut gradually formed its own unique artistic style in composition, modeling and color, and created a unique new folk paper-cut.

On May 20th, 2006, Yuxian paper-cut was approved by People's Republic of China (PRC) and the State Council, and included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list, numbered ⅶ- 16.

Historical origin

The earliest paper-cutting in Yuxian can be traced back to the Ming Chenghua period. At that time, the paper-cut was monochrome, not hollow, with simple and rough image (mainly used for embroidered shoes, wedding and funeral mascots and window decoration on New Year's Day, so it was called "window decoration"), and its style and skills had not yet formed its own characteristics.

During the Xianfeng period of Qing Dynasty, the wooden watermark window grilles of Wuqiang were also imported. This paper-cut is richer in color than Sky Light, but rougher than the later Yuxian paper-cut. It is called "grass window grilles", also called "grass window is empty". This paper-cut looks good during the day, but it turns black at night, so the paper-cut artist tries to add a little ethereal effect to it with a knife, creating a precedent for colorful ethereal paper-cut in Yuxian.

Reference to the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia-Yuxian County