Simple course of butterfly paper-cutting

The simple process of butterfly paper-cutting is as follows:

1. Prepare a square colored paper, a pair of scissors, a meat cleaver and a pen. Fold both sides of the square colored paper in half.

2. Draw a semi-butterfly pattern on the folded colored paper.

3. First, carve the line inside with a meat cleaver, and then cut off the rest with scissors.

4. Finally, unfold the cut butterfly and finish.

Historical Evolution of Paper-cutting

Paper was invented in the Western Han Dynasty BC, before which there could be no paper-cutting art.. But at that time, people used very thin materials to make handicrafts by hollowing out and carving, but it was popular long before paper appeared, that is, patterns were cut on gold foil, leather, silk and even leaves by carving, carving, picking, carving and cutting.

In Historical Records Jiantong Named His Brother, it is described that in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the leaves of the pole were cut into "poles" and given to his brother, and they were named Tang Hou. Leather carving (one of the cultural relics unearthed from Chu Tomb No.1 in Jiangling, Hubei Province) and silver foil carving (one of the cultural relics unearthed from the Warring States site in Guwei Village, Huixian County, Henan Province) used in the Warring States Period are exactly the same as paper-cutting, and their appearance laid a certain foundation for the formation of folk paper-cutting.

In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a poem "Painting Yellow on the Mirror" in Mulan Ci. China's earliest paper-cut works are found in five paper-cuts of the Northern Dynasty (AD 386-58 1 year) unearthed near the Flame Mountain in Turpan, Xinjiang.