Paper-cutting · Chinese Craft Stories

01 · Historical Records

According to research, Manchu papercutting originated in the shamanic faith of the Manchu people and was first used for sacrifices.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Besides paper, the Manchu people can also use birch bark, tree leaves, corn husks (baomiwo), and other materials to make papercutting, which has a distinctive style. The subjects of Changbai Mountain Manchu papercutting are mostly drawn from Manchu shamanic beliefs, the fishing-and-hunting life, and mountain scenery. Mountain gods, tree gods, animals, and Manchu figures are common; the forms are plain and the symbolism direct. Local artists are skilled at using materials at hand: besides paper, they also cut and engrave birch bark, tree leaves, corn husks, and the like, giving the work a rough, natural charm.

Birch bark, leaves and corn husk as materials

Besides paper, Manchu cutters used birch bark, leaves and corn husk, giving the work a texture unlike Central Plains cutting.

Shamanic ritual and the origin of the cutting

Manchu cutting arose from shamanism and was first used in worship; in the late Ming Jianzhou Jurchen times home-made paper enabled its spread.

Ni Youzhi and works collected by the National Art Museum

Born in 1939, Ni Youzhi learned from her mother and grandmother at seven; in 2003 fifteen of her works entered the National Art Museum of China.

Its distribution in Tonghua, Baishan, Jilin, Yanbian and Yitong

The cutting is found mainly in Tonghua, Baishan, Jilin, Yanbian and Yitong across the Changbai mountain region.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Changbai Mountain Manchu papercutting has long circulated in the Changbai Mountain region of Jilin Province, distributed mainly in the Tonghua, Baishan, Jilin, Yanbian, and Yitong areas. Changbai Mountain Manchu papercutting has long circulated in the Changbai Mountain region of Jilin Province, distributed mainly in the Tonghua, Baishan, Jilin, Yanbian, and Yitong areas. The Changbai Mountain region's environment of forest seas, snowfields, and a fishing-hunting-gathering life has determined that both the subjects and the colors of the papercutting carry a mountain-forest flavor. Manchu households generally use papercutting to decorate windows, walls, and spirit seats at New Year and festivals, weddings, and sacrifices.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Changbai Mountain Manchu papercutting probably appeared in the Jianzhou Jurchen period at the end of the Ming dynasty, when the Jurchen people were already able to make paper by indigenous methods, laying the material foundation for the popularization and spread of Changbai Mountain papercutting. Changbai Mountain Manchu papercutting is highly unique in subject, form, and technique, displaying distinct ethnic and local characteristics, and has become a rare flower in the garden of Chinese papercutting art, with important artistic, historical, and cultural research value. At present there are only two Manchu papercutting artists in their seventies in the Changbai Mountain region; successors are scarce, the prospects are worrying, and urgent rescue and protection are needed. Ni Youzhi (recorded in the official archives of an affiliated inheritor): Female, Han ethnicity, born in January 1939, native of Tonghua County, Jilin Province. From the age of seven she learned papercutting from her mother and her maternal grandmother. In 1987 she joined the Jilin Province Folk Painting and Calligraphy Research Association and served as a council member. In 2003, fifteen of her papercutting works were collected by the National Art Museum of China. Representative inheritor of the papercutting (Changbai Mountain Manchu papercutting) project in the fourth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage. A master of arts and crafts of Jilin Province and recipient of the Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritor Xingchuan Award of the Chinese National Academy of Arts (China Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center). Her works contain primitive cultural information and totem worship concepts unique to the north, and have been exhibited and have won prizes on many occasions. She attaches importance to skill transmission: the younger members of her family have learned papercutting from her since childhood, and she has also brought Changbai Mountain Manchu papercutting into the classrooms of universities, middle schools, and primary schools, in order to cultivate the next generation of inheritors. Tonghua Normal University is the protecting unit for Changbai Mountain Manchu papercutting; it combines the project's investigation, collation, and teaching, bringing papercutting into the classroom to cultivate successors. At present there are only two Manchu papercutting artists in their seventies in the Changbai Mountain region, and the transmission situation is grave.

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 ↗