China Culture and Standardization Chinese Paper-Cutting 中国剪纸 By Cao Xinxin 曹欣欣 Paper cutting is a popular and familiar folk art to every Chinese. Creating a jubilant and merry atmosphere, paper cutting serves as a symbol of festival, happiness and brand new beginning in the mind of Chinese. When celebrating the Spring Festival, Chinese families paste spring poems on the door frame and decorate windows, walls or inside doors with exquisite paper cuttings for joyous and cozy festival atmosphere. The design of paper cutting used in Spring Festival includes a magpie stepping on the branch (Chinese thinks 72 that magpie symbolizes happiness is coming), Chinese characters like “福（luck）” or “春（Spring）”. When getting married, Chinese also use red paper cuttings with elegant designs to decorate the new home, for example, Chinese character of “囍” which means happy events. In old times, if someone masters the skill of paper C HIN A S TA N DA RD IZ AT ION J a n ua r y / Fe b rua r y 2014 Chinese Paper-Cutting with different design styles, forming two main genres - the northern school and the southern school. The representatives of the northern school include folk paper cuttings in Qingyang, Shanxi, Yuxian, Shaanxi and Shandong, etc., in a concise and topic-prominent style. And the southern school is represented by the paper-cuttings in Mianyang of Hubei, Foshan, Fujian, Yangzhou and so on, which are typically elegant and exquisite. The different styles are estimated to root in the different personalities of the North and the South, i.e., northern folk people are usually frank and straightforward and those from the South are meticulous and graceful. Like painting and sculpture artworks, the styles of paper cutting reflect the varied personalities and tastes of the crafts artists. Paper cutting techniques and standards cutting, he will be cherished as a well-known paper cutting craftsman and required to make a variety of paper cuttings with different designs for festival decoration in the neighborhood. As a kind of ancient Chinese folk arts, paper cutting was listed into the first national intangible cultural heritage catalog in 2006. History of Paper Cutting Paper cutting was originated in Han Dynasty (202 B.C. - 220) when paper was invented and people at that time started to design various patterns on the paper. In Tang Dynasty, the custom of using paper cutting to call back the spirit of the dead prevailed in the folk. Also, people engraved designs onto thick paper and then dropped the dye through the model board onto cloth, and created the cloth with beautiful patterns. The paper-making industry of Song Dynasty blossomed with a variety of papers produced, providing a precondition for the popularization of paper cutting. Paper cuttings in different styles were used everywhere in people’s daily life, for instance, paper cuttings for decorating gift packages, windows, lanterns or tea cups. The art of paper cutting matured in Ming Dynasty and flourished in Qing Dynasty. Nowadays, paper cutting can be seen across China CHI NA STANDARD IZ AT ION J an uar y / Fe b r uar y 2 0 1 4 The material and tools of paper cutting are very simple, including paper, scissors and knives, but it allows larger space for creativity. So it is a skill which looks easy to learn but hard to master. Normally paper cuttings are made according to sketch patterns that have been carefully kept and passed on from generation to generation, and such sketches provide a kind of material standard. Though without any official standard yet, the time-cherished art of paper cutting has indeed some commonly respected technical requirements which are summarized as: Connection and severance of paper lines Te c h n i c a l l y, t h e method of engraving is required as papercutting patterns are cut or engraved on papers, so the paper lines of positive patterns must be connected and those of negative patterns are severed. The entire paper will be fragmentary if any of the lines are improperly cut 73 China Culture and Standardization as it would fail to create the expected images. Patterning of the layout and models The design of paper cutting is mainly based on the visualized relations of the content by adopting combined techniques. It often utilizes the exaggeration in shape and some techniques to make the patterns beautiful, i.e. symmetry, uniformity, balance, mix, continuous and so on. Image features: exaggerated, simple, graceful and rhythmic Limited by the tools and materials, the patterning of the paper-cut image requires to seize core characteristics and the connections of all elements so that the realistic approach is inappropriate and the major visual should emphasized to highlight the subject. Pure and sprightly color The color of paper cutting is required to be sophisticated and avoid using similar or adjacent colors. It stresses on the coordination of contrasting colors and the proportion of difference colors. “Steady, accurate and clever” ways of cutting The knife skills in paper cutting may create many features and diversified styles. When engraving more papers simultaneously, it is required to cut rather than scratch, so that you may have more vivid and stereoscopic papers. 74 C HIN A S TA N DA RD IZ AT ION J a n ua r y / Fe b rua r y 2014 Chinese Paper-Cutting What makes an artistic piece of paper-cutting There are common techniques to make paper-cutting, and then what are the criteria for an artistic work of paper-cutting? The paper-cutting artworks may be appreciated simply from the follow four aspects: Cutting techniques and paper impressions Excellent paper-cutting works must have their unique style and features. Paper cutting stresses on the cutting techniques and paper impressions. Neither a paper cutting imitating engraved prints or copying models with scissors would make a good artwork. An excellent paper cutting is required to use the language of paper cutting to visualize the artistic image. Light-admitting quality A very important feature of the paper cutting language is that all images are carved in the translucent model. In addition to paper-cutting tools and material properties, the paper-cutting is required to allow the transmission of light due to practical needs, especially for paper-cuttings used to decorate windows. Decorative function A good paper-cutting artwork should emphasize the decorative function, which are ref lected with symmetrical and balanced composition, elegant image, suitable cutting lines, bright and vivid color, soft design, coordination, etc. In addition, the materials and tools of paper cutting create some special cutting techniques, such as “crescent moon pattern”, “sawtooth pattern”, which are also key factors that contribute to its decorative features. Exaggeration and deformation Paper cutting emphasizes exaggerated designing and beautiful outlines. Despite the intrinsic ugliness in every image, the purpose of artistic exaggeration CHI NA STANDARD IZ AT ION J an uar y / Fe b r uar y 2 0 1 4 is to strengthen the outstanding beauty of the factors, reduce and simplify ugly factors, so that the image looks more delightful and graceful. For Chinese people, paper cuttings are decorative home accessories and can be pasted on the doorframes, windows, cabinets, ceilings, etc. During the festivals or weddings, special paper-cuts are used to decorate the inner house, praying for longevity, happiness and good luck. After millennial inheritance and development, the art of paper cutting becomes more creative with greater vitality. Paper-cutting is constantly deemed as an indispensable ornament for traditional celebrations as well as a cherished treasure of the Chinese folk culture. 75