Liu Jieqiong

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Liu Jieqiong, Female, Han, from Yanchuan, Shaanxi, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Paper-cutting (Ⅶ-16). The tradition is documented in Yanchuan, Shaanxi. Within the regional tradition and school record of Paper-cutting in Yanchuan, Shaanxi: Yanchuan paper cutting is widely used in local social life; festivals, weddings, and funerals could never do without paper cutting. Among the local people, paper cutting and housework are important ways for working women to display their talents. A local folk proverb says: 'When a daughter is born, she should be skillful — pomegranate and peony patterns cut offhand.'

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Liu Jieqiong is anchored in the documented technical standards of Paper-cutting in Yanchuan, Shaanxi. Within the documented technical tradition of Paper-cutting in Yanchuan, Shaanxi: Yanchuan paper cutting is a folk art created mainly by women, reflecting a great variety of social customs and family life. Its techniques of expression include the freehand (xieyi) and the realistic (xieshi) styles, which are often related to the character of the maker. Subjects covered by Yanchuan paper cutting include the images of deities and Buddhas, auspicious and festive themes, farm work, seasonal customs, human figures, stories, birds and beasts, spinning and weaving, landscapes and flowers, and reproduction and fertility. They are commonly presented in such forms as window flowers, wall flowers, ceiling flowers, lantern flowers, and ceremonial flowers, with simple compositions, tight structures, and clear distinctions between primary and secondary elements. The images depicted have a plain and simple modeling; their outer contours are either square or round, and the lines are thick and strong, which makes them easy to cut with scissors as well as convenient for pasting and copying. They possess a rugged, vigorous, and exuberant local style. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Gao Fenglian's large-scale works": Born in Yanchuan in 1936, Gao Fenglian began creating in 1986 and cuts boldly and without hesitation, even on works several metres long. "Soul of the Great River, three generations of cutting": Her three-generation exhibition Soul of the Great River was held at the National Art Museum, and over two hundred of her works entered public collections. "Window, wall, ceiling and ceremonial flowers": Its formats: window, wall, ceiling, lantern and ceremonial flowers, simple in image, tightly structured and clearly ranked. "Freehand and realistic approaches": Two approaches, freehand and realistic, often matching the maker's temperament; forms are plain, outlines square or round, lines thick for easy cutting and copying.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Liu Jieqiong was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Paper-cutting, with Yanchuan, Shaanxi as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Paper-cutting in Yanchuan, Shaanxi: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2011 (batch 3), with Yanchuan, Shaanxi as its declared area, and Yanchuan County Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Transmission Service Center (Yanchuan County Shan Bei Dao Qing Research Center) as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

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. Liujieqiong (Yanchuan, Shaanxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Liujieqiong · China ICH Official Archive