Shi Junfeng

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Shi Junfeng, Female, Manchu, from Fengningmanzuzizhi, Hebei, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Paper-cutting (Ⅶ-16). The tradition is documented in Fengningmanzuzizhi, Hebei. Within the regional tradition and school record of Paper-cutting in Fengningmanzuzizhi, Hebei: By content, Fengning Manchu paper cutting can be divided into auspicious paper cutting, flower-bird-fish-insect paper cutting, landscape paper cutting, and paper cutting of figures, basins, baskets, plates and bottles, melons and fruits, animals, and flower-character designs, among other categories. By specific use, it can be further divided into window flowers; memorial hanging tags for worshipping gods and ancestors (guaya); 'sky-sweeping crones' (saotianpo) for overcast days; festival paper cuttings; ceremonial flowers (festive red paper cuttings for weddings, plain white ones for funerals, and so on); and ceiling flowers, wind-vent flowers and kang-surround paper cuttings for everyday interior decoration. The making of Fengning Manchu paper cutting goes through the process steps of drafting, smoking the pattern, cutting or carving, and dot-dyeing: first an oil lamp is used to smoke the draft design onto thin paper, leaving a black outline pattern; then scissors are used to cut along the pattern, or a knife to engrave it; finally a brush dipped in dyes blends the color in layer by layer. Most women in the local towns and countryside can handle scissors, and oral instruction with hands-on demonstration between mothers and daughters and between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law is the most common mode of transmission. Fengning Manchu Autonomous County in Hebei Province lies north of the Great Wall. Fengning Manchu paper cutting, circulating among the people, began in the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty; by the Qianlong reign it had formed a new and distinctive style with regional characteristics and ethnic features. It is based mainly on yang carving (leaving the lines standing) with yin carving (cutting the lines away) as a complement; its feathered edges (pimao) are long and fine, and the cutting is meticulous. In the late Qing and early Republican period, Fengning Manchu paper cutting entered its heyday; after 1949 its form and content developed further, coming closer to real production and life. After 1960, paper-cutting creation fell into a low ebb. In 1982, the Fengning folk paper-cutting contingent was re-established, and its works, through various exhibitions and performances abroad, exerted a wide influence at home and overseas. In 1993, Fengning was named a 'Hometown of Chinese Folk Paper-Cutting Art' by the Ministry of Culture. Fengning lies north of the Great Wall; paper cutting was already circulating there in the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty, and by the Qianlong reign a new and distinctive style combining regional and ethnic features had formed. Local Manchu households customarily paste 'guaya' hanging tags (memorial streamers for worshipping gods and ancestors) on window paper; for New Year festivals, weddings and funerals, paper cuttings in different color tones are chosen according to etiquette and custom, and paper cutting is thus deeply embedded in daily household life.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Shi Junfeng is anchored in the documented technical standards of Paper-cutting in Fengningmanzuzizhi, Hebei. Within the documented technical tradition of Paper-cutting in Fengningmanzuzizhi, Hebei: By form of expression, it includes single-color paper cutting (red, white, black, etc.), dot-dyed paper cutting, filled-color paper cutting and multi-color composite paper cutting. Among the many folk paper cuttings of China, Fengning Manchu paper cutting holds a place of its own through its distinctive artistic charm. The cuts of Fengning Manchu paper cutting retain long, neat feathered edges (pimao), with clean blocks of area and crisp, upright lines, giving an overall impression of openness and ease; its dot-dyeing demands that the color not spill beyond the lines and that gradations of light and dark be clearly distinguished. The subjects center on Manchu local conditions and customs, rich in the flavor of daily life, and commonly include figures, flowers and birds, domestic fowl and livestock, and auspicious patterns. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The long 'batch hair' cut": Fengning Manchu paper-cutting is mainly positive carved and keeps long, even fringes of 'batch hair' along the cut edges. "Drawing, smoke-copying, cutting and dyeing": The full process: drafting, smoke-copying the design, cutting to the copy, and finally dyeing with a brush in layered washes. "Hanging tags, rain-sweeping figures and kang-wall cuttings": By use it divides into window flowers, ancestral hanging tags, rain-sweeping figures, seasonal cuttings, ritual flowers and ceiling, vent and kang-wall decorations. "Zhang Dongge's pieced and filled colour cuttings": Zhang Dongge began systematic research in 1974 and from 1987 developed pieced-colour and filled-colour cutting, producing works such as Opera Figures and A Hundred Blessings.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Shi Junfeng was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Paper-cutting, with Fengningmanzuzizhi, Hebei as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Paper-cutting in Fengningmanzuzizhi, Hebei: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Fengningmanzuzizhi, Hebei as its declared area, and Fengning Manchu Autonomous County Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding 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. Shijunfeng (Fengningmanzuzizhi, Hebei) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Shijunfeng · China ICH Official Archive