Wang Derong

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Wang Derong, Female, Han, from Binzhou, Shandong, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Paper-cutting (Ⅶ-16). The tradition is documented in Binzhou, Shandong. Within the regional tradition and school record of Paper-cutting in Binzhou, Shandong: The folk papercutting art of the Binzhou region of Shandong is widely distributed among the many villages and market towns of the Yellow River and Tuhai River basins, where the economy is prosperous and folk activities are diverse and frequent. It is the crystallization of the wisdom of the people who have lived on the land of Binzhou for a thousand years; through continual creation and enrichment over successive generations, through the tempering of Qi-Lu culture and the nourishment of the cultures of surrounding regions, it has finally formed its own distinct qualities, displaying a charm and style all its own. Binzhou lies in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, on the shore of the Bohai Sea; the Yellow River and the Tuhai River flow through its territory. Papercutting spread with the formation, cultivation and market trade of the riverside villages, becoming a branch of the folk art of the lower Yellow River region. From rites of passage to seasonal festivals, from temple-fair gatherings to folk sacrifices, traces of papercutting can be seen everywhere in the towns and countryside of Binzhou. Window flowers, wedding flowers, lantern flowers, ceiling flowers and paper-effigy decorations each have their corresponding folk occasions, forming a system of patterns coordinated with the agricultural calendar. In 1975 Wang Derong of Guangra County, building on the traditional papercutting she had learned from her mother, took Wen Shaoqing as her teacher, studying modern papercutting composition and methods for creating figure papercuts. She had studied with her mother from the age of thirteen; when creating she cut entirely from memory, and her works were published in journals such as Chinese Women and Folk Papercutting.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Female, Han ethnicity, born in January 1938 in Guangrao County, Shandong Province. From the age of 13 she learned traditional paper-cutting from her mother, and in 1975 she took Wen Shaoqing as her teacher to study modern paper-cutting composition and methods of creating figure paper-cuts. She cuts her paper-cuts entirely from memory, and her patterns are plain, sincere and distinctly characterized. She remains committed to the transmission of folk paper-cutting, actively taking part in various transmission activities and promoting the development of Binzhou folk paper-cutting. Within the documented technical tradition of Paper-cutting in Binzhou, Shandong: Binzhou folk papercutting is an important component of these folk activities: from rites of passage to seasonal festivals, from temple-fair gatherings to folk sacrifices, traces of papercutting can be seen everywhere. Binzhou folk papercutting is a product nurtured by Yellow River culture; it has a long history, wide-ranging subjects, rich content and diverse forms. Binzhou papercutting gathers together the fine feelings of the working people, pouring out praise for nature, labour, life, love and life itself, and displaying their noble and plain sentiments and their optimistic, progressive spirit. The folk psychology and aesthetic ideas reflected in Binzhou folk papercutting show resoluteness within calm, tenacity within naturalness, courage born of suffering, and a pioneering spirit sought within stability. With the acceleration of urbanization, the environment in which Binzhou papercutting survives has sharply deteriorated; the phenomenon of the art dying out with its practitioners has appeared, and the matter urgently needs attention. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Window, wedding, lantern and ceiling flowers": The basic categories by occasion: window flowers for the New Year, wedding flowers for the bridal room, lantern flowers for the Lantern Festival, ceiling flowers for papered interiors. "Wang Derong cutting from memory": Wang Derong learned from her mother at thirteen and cuts entirely from memory without a draft, her patterns plain and distinctive. "Wen Shaoqing's figure-composition method": In 1975 Wang Derong took Wen Shaoqing as teacher to learn modern composition and figure cutting, a lineage leading from traditional patterns to modern subjects. "Transmission within families and masters' houses": Transmission runs mainly mother to daughter and mother-in-law to daughter-in-law, with apprenticeship alongside; workshop production was rare, so townships kept distinct repertoires.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

A national representative bearer of Paper-cutting (Binzhou folk paper-cutting), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. Her works have won awards on numerous occasions and have been published in periodicals such as Chinese Women and Folk Paper-cutting.

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. Wang Derong · National Representative Bearer Archive