Yang Guijun

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Yang Guijun, Male, Miao, from Luxi, Hunan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Paper-cutting (Ⅶ-16). The tradition is documented in Luxi, Hunan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Paper-cutting in Luxi, Hunan: Tahu zaohua is centered on Tahu Village, Heshui Town, Luxi County, Hunan Province; Heshui Town is called a "hometown of chisel-cut art," and its influence extends to Miao villages in the Yuan River valley and to the market fairs at the borders of Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, and Guizhou. Local zaohua, influenced by Panhu totem worship and Miao shamanic spirit culture, is used both for costume decoration and widely in sacrificial rites and wedding and funeral ceremonies, permeating every aspect of Miao life with a mysterious color.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Yang Guijun is anchored in the documented technical standards of Paper-cutting in Luxi, Hunan. Within the documented technical tradition of Paper-cutting in Luxi, Hunan: Tahu Village in Heshui Town, Luxi County, Hunan Province, is a "hometown of chisel-cut art"; Tahu zaohua is famed at home and abroad for its unique ethnic character, distinct artistic individuality, and exquisite craftsmanship, and has become a marvelous flower in the garden of ethnic folk arts and crafts of western Hunan. It has a long history, rich connotations, wide-ranging subjects, and diverse forms; it is the crystallization of the collective wisdom of generations of Miao people and fully reflects their spiritual pursuits and feelings. Tahu zaohua is applied not only to costume decoration but also appears widely in various sacrificial rites and wedding and funeral ceremonies in Miao areas. Influenced by Panhu totem worship and Miao shamanic spirit culture, it permeates every aspect of Miao life with a mysterious color. For a thousand years, Tahu Village of Heshui Town has produced batch after batch of zaohua artists. They have made this their livelihood generation after generation, shaking bell-drums in hand and carrying bamboo boxes on their shoulders, going from village to village and from market fair to market fair, selling chisel-cut flowers, their footsteps covering Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, and Guizhou. The art of Tahu zaohua has greatly enriched the amateur cultural life of the broad masses in Miao areas, raised their aesthetic taste, and made an important contribution to the spread and development of folk culture in the ethnic regions of southwest China. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Graver and wax board": Tahu work is graved on a wax board, several sheets stacked to produce identical patterns at once, giving even lines and clear solid-void structure unlike scissor cutting. "Bell drum and bamboo chest": The gravers' livelihood: a bell drum shaken, a bamboo chest carried, going village to village and market to market selling cut flowers across four provinces. "Panhu worship and Miao shamanism": Under Panhu totem worship and Miao spirit culture, Tahu graving served not only costume but rites of sacrifice, marriage and burial. "Embroidery patterns for costume": Used chiefly as embroidery drafts for sleeves, collars and aprons; the graved pattern is pasted to cloth and stitched, becoming the main ornament of Miao dress.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Yang Guijun was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Paper-cutting, with Luxi, Hunan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Paper-cutting in Luxi, Hunan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Luxi, Hunan as its declared area, and Luxi County Tahuzaohua Transmission Workshop 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. Yangguijun (Luxi, Hunan) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Yangguijun · China ICH Official Archive