Qi Xiuhua

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Qi Xiuhua, Female, Han, from Gaomi, Shandong, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Paper-cutting (Ⅶ-16). The tradition is documented in Gaomi, Shandong. Within the regional tradition and school record of Paper-cutting in Gaomi, Shandong: Gaomi papercutting is transmitted in the area of Gaomi in Shandong Province and took shape during the Hongwu era of the Ming dynasty.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Qi Xiuhua is anchored in the documented technical standards of Paper-cutting in Gaomi, Shandong. Within the documented technical tradition of Paper-cutting in Gaomi, Shandong: In the early Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered a forced migration, and people from Shanxi, Henan, Hebei, Jiangxi and elsewhere moved into Gaomi. Folk artists among the migrants brought the different regional styles of papercutting to Gaomi; through a process of exchange and fusion, Gaomi papercutting gradually took shape — plain yet bold, with a strong epigraphic flavour — standing in a class of its own in China's papercutting art. Gaomi papercutting is used mainly to make window flowers, wall flowers, ceiling flowers, lantern flowers, door-way papercuts, wedding flowers, clothing patterns, shoe patterns and grave-offering flowers, among others. Its range of subjects is very broad: myths and legends, historical tales, opera figures, flowers, birds, grass and insects are all among its frequent subjects. Gaomi papercutting enjoys a high reputation at home and abroad, and its representative works have been collected by the National Art Museum of China and the Shandong Art Museum. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Copying by pinning and smoking": Gao Mi's chief means of transmission: a pattern pinned beneath several sheets to be cut in copy, or smoked onto paper to make a black master copy for further copying. "Window, wall, ceiling and costume flowers": Its main uses: window, wall, ceiling, lantern, doorway, wedding, costume, shoe and funerary flowers, with themes from myth, history, opera and nature. "Fan Zuoxin's freehand cutting": Gao Mi cutting is plain, bold and seal-like; Fan Zuoxin's work carries the flavour of Chinese freehand painting, and his Fu Shou Lu won first prize in the retrospective exhibition of the century of Chinese paper-cutting. "Publications and museum collections": Representative works entered the National Art Museum of China and the Shandong Art Museum, and several albums of Gao Mi patterns were published.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Qi Xiuhua was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Paper-cutting, with Gaomi, Shandong as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Paper-cutting in Gaomi, Shandong: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Gaomi, Shandong as its declared area, and Gaomi Gong Gong Culture Service 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. Qixiuhua (Gaomi, Shandong) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Qixiuhua · China ICH Official Archive