Paper-cutting · Chinese Craft Stories

01 · Historical Records

By the Qing dynasty, Yangzhou's commerce was flourishing and the number of paper-cutting artists had increased greatly; among the famous paper-cutting artists of the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns was Bao Jun, whose skill was exceptional and who enjoyed the reputation of the 'divine cutter'. In 1989, Mr. Zhang Yongshou passed away. Although his third-generation inheritors also achieved certain artistic accomplishments, neither their technical mastery nor their inspiration could surpass that of the previous generation.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Yangzhou is one of the regions of China where paper cutting became popular earliest; as early as the Tang and Song dynasties there was the custom of 'cutting paper to announce the spring'. On the day of the Beginning of Spring, the people of Yangzhou cut paper into flowers, making them into styles such as spring butterflies, spring threads and spring charms, 'either hung on the heads of beauties or attached beneath flowers', to be viewed as a delight. In addition, they cut paper money, paper horses and the like, used exclusively for memorial offerings. Yangzhou's paper-cutting artists also created embroidery patterns as needed, from door curtains, tent valances, bedding and pillowcases down to mirror bags, sachets, silk handkerchiefs and pen cases; wherever there was embroidery there had to be a paper pattern. The people of Yangzhou called artists who cut patterns 'pattern cutters' (jianhuayangde). Yangzhou paper cutting has clear, flowing lines, exquisite and elegant compositions, and images that are exaggerated yet concise; its technique seeks novelty within variation, forming a distinctive 'flavor of the cut and feel of the paper' and artistic charm. It is one of the representatives of southern Chinese folk paper-cutting art. Its paper is mainly hand-made xuan paper from Anhui, of moderate thickness, undyed, with a smooth, even texture. Zhang Yongshou practiced the art for more than seventy years; his paper cutting moved from utilitarian patterns to richly decorative thematic creation, and his works display the stylistic qualities of realism, variation, generalization and exaggeration. He distilled such paper-cutting essentials as 'round as an autumn moon, sharp as a wheat awn, square as a grey brick, broken as a saw tooth, linear as a beard', leaving later generations of paper-cutting artists a precious 'classic of creation'. The subjects of Yangzhou paper cutting are most commonly flowers, birds, fish and insects; chrysanthemums, orchids, plum blossoms, bamboo, peonies and all kinds of birds are the objects artists repeatedly depict. The size is unrestricted: large works can serve as hanging screens, small ones as bookmarks. The paper used is mainly hand-made xuan paper from Anhui — smooth in character, of moderate thickness, and free of fuzz at the cut edges.

Spring-bringing cuttings: butterflies, threads and sheng

From Tang and Song times Yangzhou cut paper flowers at the start of spring into butterfly, thread and sheng forms to be worn or hung and enjoyed.

Pattern cutting for embroidery

Yangzhou cutters made embroidery patterns from door curtains to sachets; where there was embroidery there was a paper pattern, and the makers were called pattern cutters.

Zhang Yongshou and his celebrated works

Working over seventy years, Zhang Yongshou moved cutting from practical patterns to decorative subjects; his Hundred Flowers and Hundred Chrysanthemums are considered consummate works.

The four maxims of Yangzhou cutting

Zhang Yongshou's maxims—round as an autumn moon, sharp as an awn, square as a brick, notched as a saw, fine as a whisker—became the standard for later cutters.

Zhang Xiufang and her works

Born in 1943, Zhang Xiufang's work is marked by nimbleness, elegance and grace, using openwork so the structure never falls apart; her works include Qionghua and Birdsong and Fragrant Flowers.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Yangzhou paper cutting centers on the urban area of Yangzhou and spreads toward Yizheng and Jiangdu. Its practitioners include both workshop artists who keep shops and sell patterns and itinerant cut-pattern craftsmen who wander the streets and lanes. In former times, with Yangzhou's hundred trades flourishing, embroidery shops, colored-lantern making, paper filigree and other industries had a strong demand for patterns, allowing paper cutting to develop continuously.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The principal transmitters of modern Yangzhou paper cutting are the father-and-son pair Zhang Jinsheng (stage name 'Old Zhang the Pockmarked', Lao Zhang Sanmazi) and Zhang Yongshou (stage name 'Young Zhang the Pockmarked', Xiao Zhang Sanmazi). Zhang Yongshou created several thousand works in his lifetime; among them, 'A Hundred Flowers in Bloom', 'A Hundred Chrysanthemums' and 'A Hundred Butterflies Lingering over Flowers' are of extremely high artistic value and have been called 'works at which one need look no further in the art of paper cutting'. Up to now, the trend toward a lack of successors to the Yangzhou paper-cutting craft has become increasingly evident; this ancient folk art is in an endangered state and urgently needs protection and support. Zhang Xiufang (recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): Female, of the Han ethnic group, born in 1943, a native of Yangzhou, Jiangsu. Her paper-cutting works have the artistic qualities of 'spirit, refinement and elegance'; she makes much use of openwork technique, through which the yang (positive) patterns must have every line connected and the yin (negative) patterns must have every line broken, producing a structure in which a thousand cuts never fall away and ten thousand snips never sever. Zhang Xiufang's paper cutting, while inheriting the traditional features of the older generation, incorporates her own innovations. Its content centers mainly on flowers, birds, fish and insects; its lines are winding and smooth, with stillness harboring motion; its compositions are exquisite and elegant, its images exaggerated yet concise. It truly attains the artistic standard of 'round as an autumn moon, square as a grey brick, linear as a beard, broken as a saw tooth, sharp as a wheat awn'. Her representative works include 'Qiong Flowers', 'Birdsong and Fragrant Flowers' and 'Hanging Screen of Fifty Cranes in the Clouds', among others. Representative inheritor of Paper Cutting (Yangzhou paper cutting), a project of the first batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗