Wang Yinfeng

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Wang Yinfeng, Female, Han, from Taiyuan, Shanxi, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Paper-cutting (Ⅶ-16). The tradition is documented in Taiyuan, Shanxi. Within the regional tradition and school record of Paper-cutting in Taiyuan, Shanxi: It has a long, deep-rooted history, and is now distributed with the city of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, as its core area. It decorates environments and heightens festive atmospheres, and is much loved by the general public; at the same time it has become a new way for local people to raise their incomes and develop the economy, playing a positive role in promoting local economic development and building a harmonious and beautiful society. The history of Taiyuan paper cutting is bound up with folk customs of the Jinzhong region — seasonal festivals, weddings, moving into a new home, temple fairs and market trips, first-birthday and full-month celebrations, and the like. In former times, women in the city's outskirts and in places such as Jinyuan and Qingxu commonly used cut-paper flowers to decorate doors, windows, bridal chambers, and ceilings. Traditional designs were mostly window flowers, wedding flowers, lantern flowers, and offering flowers set before household shrines; subjects covered human figures, animals, and pavilions and towers. Most works are monochrome, though multi-color, dyed, and backing-color techniques are also used. In recent decades the subject matter of Taiyuan paper cutting has kept pace with the times, and large works have appeared such as “The Splendid Taiyuan,” “Biaoli Shanhe” (A Land Guarded by Mountains and Rivers), “Solemn Scene of the Pure Land of Bliss,” and the long scroll “The Twelve Beauties of Jinling.”

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Wang Yinfeng is anchored in the documented technical standards of Paper-cutting in Taiyuan, Shanxi. Within the documented technical tradition of Paper-cutting in Taiyuan, Shanxi: Taiyuan paper cutting is a folk traditional art deeply loved by the people of Taiyuan. Using paper as its material and scissors as its tools, Taiyuan paper cutting expresses the artist's understanding of the world through the artistic form of openwork (hollow-cut) design. It is commonly used for folk occasions such as New Year and other festivals, weddings, moving into a new home, temple fairs and market trips, first-birthday and full-month celebrations, and daily life. With its deep cultural foundations, it is an encyclopedia of the humanistic history of Taiyuan. Taiyuan paper cutting is realistic without being literal, exaggerated without becoming absurd, and transformed without losing truthfulness; its lines are fluent and its images vivid and refined, offering a beauty that is reserved and natural, and concentrating the charm of Taiyuan's ancient culture and art. Its technical character is fairly complex, including process steps such as drafting the design, tracing the pattern, twisting the paper cords, pinning the sample in place, and cutting and carving. The finer a large work is intended to be, the more meticulous its draft must be; during pattern tracing, suitable adjustments are needed to prevent damage, so as to achieve a reasonable layout and aesthetic effect. Taiyuan paper cutting makes skillful use of the interplay of dots, lines, and planes, achieving a visual effect of softness containing strength and strength concealed within softness. Its subjects keep pace with the times and its content is wide-ranging, displaying both the ancient cultural character of Taiyuan and the real life of the present age. The works comprise more than a thousand patterns in decorative, religious-and-customary, and seasonal categories, with many kinds of motifs including human figures, animals, and pavilions and towers; commonly used techniques include folded cutting, hollow cutting, and knife carving. Most works are monochrome, though multi-color, dyed, and backing-color techniques are also employed. Representative works include “The Splendid Taiyuan,” “Biaoli Shanhe” (A Land Guarded by Mountains and Rivers), “Solemn Scene of the Pure Land of Bliss,” and the long scroll “The Twelve Beauties of Jinling.” Taiyuan paper cutting condenses the traditional concepts of Taiyuan's ancient culture and carries forward the humanistic spirit and intellectual pulse of its forebears; it is an epitome of traditional beliefs and ethics, and even more a window through which to observe and understand folk customs and culture. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Archival Records of Process Steps": Its technical character is fairly complex, including process steps such as drafting the design, tracing the pattern, twisting the paper cords, pinning the sample in place, and cutting and carving. "Drafting, adjusting, twisting and pinning": The working order: draft the design, adjust it against breakage, twist paper cords, pin the sheets and finally cut and carve; the finer the work, the more careful the draft. "The Guo and Wang families": Family transmission dominates, the Guo and Wang households being the representative lineages, now in their fifth generation. "Fold-cutting, hollow-cutting and knife carving": Cutting folded, hollowing and carving with a knife, the work interlaces dots, lines and planes to attain softness within firmness.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Wang Yinfeng was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Paper-cutting, with Taiyuan, Shanxi as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Paper-cutting in Taiyuan, Shanxi: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Taiyuan, Shanxi as its declared area, and Shanxi Shanglinyuan Traditional Jianzhi Art Research Institute 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. Wangyinfeng (Taiyuan, Shanxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Wangyinfeng · China ICH Official Archive