Wu Shanzeng

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Wu Shanzeng, Male, Unspecified, from Pujiang, Zhejiang, is a third-batch national representative bearer of Paper-cutting (Ⅶ-16). The tradition is documented in Pujiang, Zhejiang. Within the regional tradition and school record of Paper-cutting in Pujiang, Zhejiang: Pujiang paper cutting has an elegant tone and beautiful patterns; it became all the rage in the Jiangnan region and gradually grew into an important stylistic school and typical representative of southern paper cutting. In Pujiang itself, talented paper cutters have emerged in large numbers, and the surviving body of work is rich, attracting attention from the world. Pujiang is one of the regions where paper cutting took hold earliest, not only in Zhejiang but in China as a whole. After the Qing dynasty began, local opera developed there to an unprecedented degree, giving rise to the distinctive Pujiang luantan. Under its influence, Pujiang paper cuttings of operatic figures with strong local color appeared, and through long development they formed a uniquely styled type of paper cutting: Pujiang paper cutting. Since the Republican era, the Pujiang paper-cutting field has produced more than a dozen representative figures, who have transmitted the craft in succession, and the techniques have been handed down to the present day. In 1993, the Ministry of Culture named Pujiang County a "home of Chinese folk (paper-cutting) art".

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, of Han ethnicity, born in October 1932 in Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province. Influenced by his mother, he took to the art of paper-cutting from childhood. During his years of work at the Pujiang County Culture Centre he carried out in-depth research into the art of paper-cutting. After retiring he devoted himself enthusiastically to paper-cutting, creating or co-creating a large body of work including Spring Fills the World, Mr Dongguo and The Return of Hong Kong, and winning gold and silver awards at provincial and national exhibitions on many occasions. His paper-cuts are vigorous and concise, archaic and elegant, stressing spirit and charm; he is especially skilled in paper-cuts of opera figures, which have a distinctive local character. He has published papers such as The Forms of Expression of Pujiang Paper-cutting Art and the monograph Chinese Pujiang Opera Paper-cutting. He has long been committed to transmitting and carrying forward the art of Pujiang paper-cutting, lecturing and teaching the craft at nearly a hundred schools, including primary and secondary schools in Pujiang, Jinhua and Hangzhou and universities such as Zhejiang University and Zhejiang Normal University. Within the documented technical tradition of Paper-cutting in Pujiang, Zhejiang: Pujiang paper cutting has distinctive forms and varied techniques, employing both negative cutting and positive openwork, folding as well as color backing, all with original ingenuity. Its artistic style can be summed up in twenty characters: "fresh and beautiful, exquisite and gentle, rich in content, vivid in image, and ingenious in composition". Traditional Pujiang paper cutting covers a wide range of subjects, among which operatic figures are the most prominent; the works draw mostly on local operas such as Wuju (Jinhua opera) and Yueju, as well as on historical stories. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Pujiang luantan and opera-figure cutting": As local opera flourished in the Qing, Pujiang developed its own luantan, giving rise to opera-figure cutting of strong local colour. "Positive and negative cutting, folding and backing": Pujiang cutting combines positive and negative work with folding and backing, its style summed up as fresh, delicate, rich, vivid and inventive. "Wu Shanzeng and works such as Spring Fills the World": Born in 1932, Wu Shanzeng produced works including Spring Fills the World and Mr Dongguo, his cutting firm, spare and classical, especially in opera figures. "Wuju, Yueju and historical-story subjects": Its subjects are wide-ranging but opera figures dominate, drawn from Wuju and Yueju and from historical tales.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

Representative bearer of Paper-cutting (Pujiang paper-cutting), a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Wu Shanzeng · National Representative Bearer Archive