Xia Zukang

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Xia Zukang, Male, Han, from Ezhou, Hubei, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Paper-cutting (Ⅶ-16). The tradition is documented in Ezhou, Hubei. Within the regional tradition and school record of Paper-cutting in Ezhou, Hubei: In 1935 the Echeng Paper-Pattern Cutting Union was established, headed by Dai Hansheng and Liao Yunpeng, with membership reaching 150; the activities of paper-cutting artists extended across five surrounding provinces, and a fairly large-scale paper-cutting industry took shape over the broad region centered on Ezhou.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Xia Zukang is anchored in the documented technical standards of Paper-cutting in Ezhou, Hubei. Within the documented technical tradition of Paper-cutting in Ezhou, Hubei: Carved-flower paper cutting, popular in Ezhou, Hubei Province, is a traditional folk decorative art; the early Wuchang County Gazetteer already contains records of the development of carved-flower paper cutting during the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty. In 1885 a carved-flower paper-cutting industry began to form in Echeng, with masters taking apprentices and specializing in the making and sale of paper patterns. Ezhou carved-flower paper-cutting artists carried pattern boxes on their backs and shook peddlers' drums in hand as they went from village to village and door to door selling "patterns" (huayang). Ezhou carved-flower paper cutting is an important carrier of local folk customs in Hubei; its subjects and content involve every aspect of life and display distinct regional characteristics. These carved-flower paper cuts mainly include such varieties as cap patterns, shoe patterns, slipper patterns, sock-sole patterns, fastening-strap patterns, vest patterns, pocket patterns, bib patterns, pillow patterns, and bed-curtain border patterns; both knife and scissors are used in their making, and the finished works have balanced compositions, a fluent, delicate, and vividly lifelike style, combining practicality and decoration in one. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, mutual-aid groups for carved-flower paper cutting were established in Yanji, Huarong, and other places known as "pattern nests" (huayang wozi), and more than two thousand paper-cut patterns were successively created. In recent years, Ezhou's carved-flower paper-cutting artists have grown old, and very few of them remain alive. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Hat, shoe and bed-curtain flowers": Its range: hat, shoe, slipper, sock-sole, button-strap, vest, bib, pillow and bed-curtain flowers, mostly embroidery patterns, made with both knife and scissors. "The pattern chest and the pedlar's drum": A cutter's kit: a wooden chest of patterns on the back and a pedlar's drum in hand, going house to house to supply embroidery models. "Every pattern has a meaning, every meaning is auspicious": In Zhang Jiazhong's work relief lines connect and intaglio lines break, nothing falls away in a thousand cuts, and every plain-looking pattern carries an auspicious sense. "The Wuchang gazetteer and the trade of 1885": The old Wuchang gazetteer records the craft in the Guangxu reign; by 1885 Echeng had a trade of apprentices making and selling patterns, turning motifs into merchandise.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Xia Zukang was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Paper-cutting, with Ezhou, Hubei as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Paper-cutting in Ezhou, Hubei: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Ezhou, Hubei as its declared area, and Ezhou Mass Art 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. Xiazukang (Ezhou, Hubei) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Xiazukang · China ICH Official Archive