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Chinese Paper Cutting - An Exquisite Art Form

The Art of Paper Cutting in China

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The art of paper cutting (Chinese: 剪纸; pinyin: jiǎnzhǐ) in China may date back to the 2nd century CE, when paper was invented by Cai Lun, a court official of the Eastern Han dynasty.

Chinese paper cutting is a highly valued traditional Chinese art form that originated when paper was first developed. As paper became more accessible, paper cutting evolved into a popular way of decorating doors and windows. These intricate designs, fashioned with scissors or craft knives, often feature symbols and animals. The art form gained importance as paper became more affordable, cementing its place as a significant type of Chinese folk art. Over time, this craft also spread globally, with each region incorporating its unique cultural elements. Due to their frequent use in decorating doors and windows, these cut-outs are often called "window flowers" (窗花; chuāng huā) or "window paper-cuts". Typically, they are glued to the exterior of windows, allowing the light from inside to illuminate the negative spaces in the cut-out. While red paper is predominantly used because of its association with festivity and good luck in Chinese culture, other colors are also utilized. Such paper-cut designs are commonly displayed during festivals like Chinese New Year, and significant life events such as weddings and childbirth, as they symbolize luck and happiness.

Origin

Chinese paper-cutting originated from the practice of worship of both ancestors and gods, a traditional part of Chinese culture dating back roughly two millennia. According to archaeological records, paper-cutting originates from the 6th century, although some believe that its history could be traced back as far as the Warring States period (around 3 BC), long before paper was invented. At that time, people used other thin materials, like leaves, silver foil, silk and even leather, to carve negative-space patterns. Later, when paper was invented, people realized that this material was easy to cut, store and discard, and paper became the major material for this type of artwork.

Tang Dynasty

Although paper was officially invented during the Han dynasty, techniques for cutting and carving thin materials such as gold foil, silk, and leaves were developed for decoration prior to the invention of paper. During the Tang dynasty, paper cutting developed rapidly and became popular in China, which typically combined paper cutting with painting to illustrate spiritual ideas. Paper-cutting as an artform matured during the Tang dynasty, where it became considered not only a type of handicraft, but also a type of artwork, as ideas and concepts were expressed through the pattern cut into the paper.

Song Dynasty

During the Song dynasty, Chinese papercutting developed into a more advanced technique, with trained artisans creating more complex artworks. The technique was used to decorate ceramics and make shadow puppets. By carving patterns onto oily cardboard and scraping patterns onto the fabric, blue-printed fabric came about.

Ming and Qing Dynasties

In the Ming and Qing dynasty, paper-cutting reached a developmental peak. Folk paper-cutting spread to a wider range of people and expressed an abundance of artistic expression. Paper-cutting was used to decorate doors, windows, and walls, to show happiness and celebrate festivals. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, papercutting became a more popular Chinese art form. There are a variety of uses, including lantern and fan ornaments, needlework patterns, and window flowers. The imperial family also utilized papercutting, with the Forbidden City decorated with papercuts during the emperor's wedding ceremony. Its continual appeal reflects the Chinese people's creativity, with designs expressing cultural ideas and values.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1912), this artistry witnessed its most prosperous period. For over a thousand years, people (mainly women) created cut-paper artworks as a leisure activity, creating different types of paper-cutting and passing this traditional craft onto their children, resulting in the art form becoming more popular. Paper-cutting is still practiced as an art form in modern-day China as a result.

As a material, paper mildews and rots easily. In the southeast of China, where it typically rains in May and June, this causes paper to mildew and rot especially quickly; as a result, people in the southeast typically did not engage in paper-cutting art, making it hard to find cut-paper artworks from previous centuries. In contrast, the weather in the northwest of China is usually dry, making it possible to find cut-paper art made in the Northern dynasties in Turpan, Sinkiang province.

How to Make a Chinese Paper Cut Art: 7 Steps

Tools: ruler and pencil

The drawing step will be divided into 5 sub steps. Please follow the instructions carefully.

1. Draw two straight lines through the paper using ruler and pencil: one at the 1/3 place and the other at the 2/3 place
2. Then turn the open edge side towards you and draw 3 rectangles with same sizes (width: height=1:2). One edge will line up with the edge of the paper and another edge will line up with the straight pencil line. Leave a space between two rectangles.
3. The space between two rectangles is about half of the width of a rectangle.
4. Leave a space after the third rectangle. Draw another two rectangles after that.
5. The space after the third rectangle will equal to the width of two rectangles.
6. Draw two rectangles. One edge will line up with the edge of the paper and another edge will line up with the other straight pencil line.

Now you are done with the drawing cutting line step.

You should have 7 rectangles in total-5 on one side and 2 on the other.

If you think you get the above result, move to the next step.

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