Paper-cutting · Chinese Craft Stories

01 · Historical Records

Binzhou lies in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, on the shore of the Bohai Sea; the Yellow River and the Tuhai River flow through its territory. Papercutting spread with the formation, cultivation and market trade of the riverside villages, becoming a branch of the folk art of the lower Yellow River region. From rites of passage to seasonal festivals, from temple-fair gatherings to folk sacrifices, traces of papercutting can be seen everywhere in the towns and countryside of Binzhou. Window flowers, wedding flowers, lantern flowers, ceiling flowers and paper-effigy decorations each have their corresponding folk occasions, forming a system of patterns coordinated with the agricultural calendar. In 1975 Wang Derong of Guangra County, building on the traditional papercutting she had learned from her mother, took Wen Shaoqing as her teacher, studying modern papercutting composition and methods for creating figure papercuts. She had studied with her mother from the age of thirteen; when creating she cut entirely from memory, and her works were published in journals such as Chinese Women and Folk Papercutting.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Binzhou folk papercutting is an important component of these folk activities: from rites of passage to seasonal festivals, from temple-fair gatherings to folk sacrifices, traces of papercutting can be seen everywhere. Binzhou folk papercutting is a product nurtured by Yellow River culture; it has a long history, wide-ranging subjects, rich content and diverse forms. Binzhou papercutting gathers together the fine feelings of the working people, pouring out praise for nature, labour, life, love and life itself, and displaying their noble and plain sentiments and their optimistic, progressive spirit. The folk psychology and aesthetic ideas reflected in Binzhou folk papercutting show resoluteness within calm, tenacity within naturalness, courage born of suffering, and a pioneering spirit sought within stability. With the acceleration of urbanization, the environment in which Binzhou papercutting survives has sharply deteriorated; the phenomenon of the art dying out with its practitioners has appeared, and the matter urgently needs attention.

Window, wedding, lantern and ceiling flowers

The basic categories by occasion: window flowers for the New Year, wedding flowers for the bridal room, lantern flowers for the Lantern Festival, ceiling flowers for papered interiors.

Wang Derong cutting from memory

Wang Derong learned from her mother at thirteen and cuts entirely from memory without a draft, her patterns plain and distinctive.

Wen Shaoqing's figure-composition method

In 1975 Wang Derong took Wen Shaoqing as teacher to learn modern composition and figure cutting, a lineage leading from traditional patterns to modern subjects.

Transmission within families and masters' houses

Transmission runs mainly mother to daughter and mother-in-law to daughter-in-law, with apprenticeship alongside; workshop production was rare, so townships kept distinct repertoires.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The folk papercutting art of the Binzhou region of Shandong is widely distributed among the many villages and market towns of the Yellow River and Tuhai River basins, where the economy is prosperous and folk activities are diverse and frequent. It is the crystallization of the wisdom of the people who have lived on the land of Binzhou for a thousand years; through continual creation and enrichment over successive generations, through the tempering of Qi-Lu culture and the nourishment of the cultures of surrounding regions, it has finally formed its own distinct qualities, displaying a charm and style all its own.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Binzhou folk papercutting is transmitted from generation to generation mainly within families and between masters and apprentices, making it hard to form any scale. Wang Derong (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Female, Han ethnicity, born in January 1938, native of Guangra County, Shandong Province. From the age of thirteen she learned traditional papercutting from her mother; in 1975 she took Wen Shaoqing as her teacher, studying modern papercutting composition and methods for creating figure papercuts. She cuts entirely from memory; her patterns are plain and pure, with distinctive characteristics. She remains devoted to the transmission of folk papercutting, actively taking part in transmission activities of all kinds and promoting the development of Binzhou folk papercutting. She is a representative inheritor of Papercutting (Binzhou Folk Papercutting), an intangible cultural heritage project of the fifth national-level batch. Her works have won many awards and have been published in journals such as Chinese Women and Folk Papercutting.

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 ↗