Dai paper cutting belongs to the Chinese traditional paper cutting

Dai paper-cutting belongs to the Chinese traditional paper-cutting

Paper (Dai paper-cutting), Lucy City, Dehong Dai Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, traditional art, one of the national intangible cultural heritage.

The Dai paper-cutting is mainly popular in Luxi City, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Its earlier form originated from the paper streamers used in the Dai rituals, and then it was gradually enriched and developed under the influence of the Buddhist culture and the culture of the Central Plains, resulting in the formation of perfect paper-cutting which is widely used in the aspects of rituals, fine Buddhas, funerals, joyous festivals, and home decorations, etc. The paper-cutting is also used in the traditional art of the Dai, which is a national intangible cultural heritage.

In Luxi, almost all Dai villagers can cut paper. The Dai paper-cutting in Luxi uses special scissors, carving knives, chisels and hammers as tools, and the scissors and carving knives are sharp, sharp, narrow and thin, and can generally cut eight layers of paper; the chisels and hammers are stable, drilling, spiritual and alive, and can chisel more than 50 layers of paper at a time.

On May 20, 2006, paper-cutting (Dai paper-cutting) was approved by the State Council of the People's Republic of China to be included in the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage list, item number Ⅶ-16.

The Dai paper-cutting existed in the form of the paper hats used in the sacrificial rituals at an earlier time. The use and manufacture of paper by the Dai began in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, and before paper became popular, the material used to cut and carve patterns was mainly cloth. In the Dai Bei Ye Jing and some ancient narrative poems that have been passed down for thousands of years, they all mention the plot of using leaves to carve patterns for the Buddha, which shows that the skill of cutting and carving patterns has been passed down for a long time.

Today there are still long streamers, colorful lamps and umbrellas with patterns carved out of fabrics, and other materials such as gold foil, silver foil and silk are also commonly used for cutting and carving. According to the literature, the Dai people usually use colorful tied animals to send off the funeral, decorate the coffin and palanquin with paper cuttings, and the ceremony is very grand.

The development of paper-cutting was perfected and widely used in the second half of the 14th century and the 15th century after Buddhism was introduced into the Dai area. Under the influence of Buddhist culture and the culture of the Central Plains, the art of paper-cutting was gradually enriched and developed, and its scope of application involved religious rituals, enticing the Buddha, red and white celebrations, and home decorations.

About the paper-cutting used in Buddhist pagodas recorded in Zhou Yu "from the expedition to the fine Dianmei record" in the diary of the thirty-second year (1767) of the dry drop in the diary records "Wan Ding" (Mean Town) to the Mubang along the way to the pagodas see countless, "the tower is only a statue of the Buddha only, revered the Fodun, each to the big village, or the Tusi residence, there will be the Maungdawan. Tusi resides, there will be the Maung Maung temple, floating map, hanging white paper streamers".

The Dai paper cuts are mostly used for religious activities and religious places, the Dai Temple in the decoration is mainly used for the door, grid side, walls, columns, Friesian niches, streamers, Buddha umbrellas and other places.