Information about Chinese traditional culture

Paper-cutting is one of the most popular folk arts in China. According to archeology, its history can be traced back to the sixth century AD, but people believe that it actually started hundreds of years earlier than that.

Paper-cutting is often used in religious ceremonies, decoration and plastic arts.

In the past, people often used paper to make various shapes of objects and figures, and buried them with the deceased or burned them at the funeral. This custom can still be seen sometimes outside China.

The art of paper-cutting generally has symbolic meaning and is part of this ceremony; in addition, paper-cutting is also used as a decoration for offerings to ancestors and gods.

Nowadays, paper cutting is more often used for decoration.

Paper-cutting can be used to decorate walls, doors, windows, pillars, mirrors, lamps and lanterns, etc. It can also be used to decorate gifts, and even the paper-cutting itself can be used as a gift to give to others.

People used to use paper cuts as models for embroidery and spray paint art.

Paper cutting is not done by machine but by hand. There are two commonly used methods: scissors and knife.

As the name suggests, scissor cutting is to use scissors. After cutting, several pieces of cut paper (generally no more than 8 pieces) are pasted together, and finally sharp scissors are used to process the pattern.

To cut with a knife, you first fold the paper into several stacks, place them on a soft mixture composed of ash and animal fat, and then slowly score them with a knife.

Paper-cutting artists generally hold the knife vertically and process the paper into the desired pattern according to a certain model.

Compared with scissors, one advantage of knife scissors is that they can be processed into multiple paper-cut patterns at one time.

In rural areas, paper-cutting is usually done by women and girls.

In the past, this was a handicraft that every girl must master, and it was also a standard used by people to evaluate brides.

Professional paper-cutting artists are often men, because only men can work together in the workshop and earn wages.