Paper-cutting · Chinese Craft Stories

01 · Historical Records

Zhangpu, which in ancient times belonged to Zhangzhou, lies on the coast of southern Fujian. Folk paper cutting has been transmitted along with customs and rituals such as seasonal festivals, weddings and childbirth, and sacrificial celebrations, handed down from generation to generation since the Tang and Song dynasties, with styles constantly renewed. At weddings, paper-cut flowers were pasted onto dowries and gifts as decoration, and paper cutting thus became a craft by which a woman's needlework skill was measured.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Zhangpu in Fujian faces the Taiwan Strait to the east, looks toward Dongshan and Shantou to the south, and adjoins Zhangzhou and Xiamen to the north. Its folk paper cutting has a long history and a distinctive character, earning Zhangpu the title of "home of paper cutting". Since the Tang and Song dynasties, paper cutting has been very popular among the people of Zhangpu, passed down from generation to generation, with styles emerging in endless variety. Zhangpu paper cutting primarily uses positive cutting, with negative cutting as a supplement; its compositions are full and rich, and its style is fine and elegant. In the connectedness of its compositions, the refinement of its technique, the variety of its styles, and its adaptability to changing circumstances, Zhangpu paper cutting displays characteristics unlike those of any other school. Paper-cutting artists are frequently invited to lecture and demonstrate in various parts of the world, contributing to the promotion of cultural exchange between China and other countries. The patterns of Zhangpu paper cutting draw mostly on flowers, birds, fish, insects, and figures: where there is a bird there must be flowers, and where there is a fish there must be water. The picture stresses that every line be joined to the next, avoiding broken lines and scattered forms; a slightly larger work often takes several days to cut.

Positive cutting with negative support

Zhangpu cutting is mainly positive cut with negative support, full in composition and delicate in style, with a distinctive feel for connection and adaptability.

The connectedness of the composition

Lines must join without breaks, so the cutter plans the whole before the first snip; connectedness is the measure of skill.

Chen Qiuri and works such as A Rabbit Year

Chen Qiuri's works such as A Rabbit Year and Mouse Wedding have won prizes, noted for full, even composition and natural connections.

Teaching abroad in Japan and Fiji

Zhangpu cutters are regularly invited abroad to lecture and demonstrate, with Chen Qiuri sent by the Ministry of Culture to Fiji and Japan.

A hometown of paper-cutting with four generations

Zhangpu has earned the title 'hometown of paper-cutting', with four generations of makers in a plural style, though numbers are declining.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Zhangpu paper cutting primarily uses positive cutting, with negative cutting as a supplement; its compositions are full and balanced, its lines simple, its connections natural, and its style fine and elegant. Several generations of artists have emerged in the locality, including Chen Jin, Lin Tao, and Chen Qiuri; today four creative tiers — old, middle-aged, young, and juvenile — have taken shape, and the styles of the works are tending toward diversity.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Zhangpu paper cutting has research value in the history of folk art, the history of folk culture, and related fields, and can also play a role in cultivating national aesthetic tastes. At present, Zhangpu paper cutting has formed four creative tiers — old, middle-aged, young, and juvenile — and presents a diversified range of artistic styles. However, at present the number of people engaged in Zhangpu paper cutting is relatively small, and compared with the past it shows a tendency toward gradual decline. The prospects for transmission are worrying, and protection is urgently needed. Chen Qiuri (associated inheritor, official archival record): Female, of the Han nationality, born in October 1948, from Zhangpu County, Fujian Province. At the age of fourteen she attended the county paper-cutting training class and studied in succession under the older-generation paper-cutting artists Chen Jin and Lin Tao. Her work is known for its full and balanced compositions, simple lines, natural connections, and fine elegance. She attaches importance to the transmission of the craft, has held many training classes in Zhangpu County, and has trained more than a thousand paper-cutting enthusiasts of all ages. She is a representative inheritor of the paper cutting (Zhangpu paper cutting) project of national-level intangible cultural heritage, third batch. Her representative works, including Good Luck in the Year of the Rabbit and The Mouse's Wedding, have been exhibited on many occasions and have won prizes. She has been sent by the Ministry of Culture on many occasions to countries such as Fiji and Japan to teach the art of paper cutting. Chen Qiuri was born in 1948. At the age of fourteen she attended the county paper-cutting training class and studied in succession under the older-generation paper cutters Chen Jin and Lin Tao. Her works are characterized by full, balanced compositions, natural connections, and fine elegance; she has been sent by the Ministry of Culture on many occasions to countries such as Fiji and Japan to teach paper-cutting techniques, and has trained more than a thousand enthusiasts within the county.

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 ↗