Paper-cutting · Chinese Craft Stories

01 · Historical Records

During the Western Jin Dynasty, aristocratic families of the Central Plains migrated into Pu and settled there, bringing the art of paper cutting. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, paper cutting gradually became a common practice; after long development it reached its peak in the Ming and Qing dynasties, forming distinct stylistic characteristics, with gift flowers being especially predominant. The 'Rutian Suoji' (Trivial Records After Returning to the Fields), written by Liang Zhangju in the Qing Dynasty, records in detail the flourishing state of Pucheng paper cutting at that time. Pucheng's ceremonial customs made paper cutting a fixed 'craft of gift-giving': for marriages, birthday celebrations, childbirth, moving into a new home, and the opening of new shops, complete sets of gift flowers had to be attached — square, round, diamond-shaped, or in long strips — pasted on cakes and pastries, clothing fabric, and gift boxes, and distributed to relatives and friends. In former times, both in the county town and in the countryside there were women who made a living by cutting flowers, known as 'flower-cutting sisters' (jianhua sao). They maintained their lineages through transmission from mother to daughter, instruction by mothers-in-law to daughters-in-law, and exchanges of patterns among themselves; the accumulated traditional paper-cutting patterns numbered several thousand.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Pucheng paper cutting is one of the traditional forms of paper-cutting expression, predominantly monochrome, made through ink-wax pattern rubbing, paper-twist fixing, and hand cutting and carving; it is distributed in Pucheng County, Fujian Province. Pucheng County borders Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi provinces; historically it was the main passageway for Central Plains culture to enter Fujian. Pucheng paper cutting is mostly square or round in shape. Its traditional techniques include freehand cutting and carving, tracing-pattern cutting and carving, and rubbing-pattern cutting and carving; it is predominantly monochrome, made through ink-wax pattern rubbing, paper-twist fixing, and hand cutting and carving; its compositions mostly 'combine characters and pictures,' with pictures within characters and characters within pictures, using characters to form pictures. Images and content are constituted through saw-tooth patterns, crescent-moon patterns, hanging-coin patterns, hui-character key-fret patterns, plum-blossom patterns, and other motifs; themes expressing auspiciousness and beauty predominate, and the style combines both bold grandeur, plain solidity, and delicate intricacy with purity and refinement. Pucheng paper cutting retains the mode of hand cutting and carving; the traditional paper-cutting patterns number several thousand, reflecting a style in which Central Plains culture and Min-Yue culture blend. It has historical, folk-custom, and cultural value, and also has positive practical significance for enriching the people's cultural life, building beautiful homes, and strengthening the sense of identity of the relevant communities. The motif system of Pucheng flower cutting is composed of saw-tooth patterns, crescent-moon patterns, hanging-coin patterns, hui-character key-fret patterns, plum-blossom patterns, and the like; the compositions mostly take the line of 'combining characters and pictures,' with pictures within characters and characters within pictures, using characters to form pictures. The traditional techniques are divided into three: freehand cutting and carving, tracing-pattern cutting and carving, and rubbing-pattern cutting and carving. Most works are predominantly monochrome, made through ink-wax pattern rubbing and paper-twist fixing before hand cutting and carving.

Gift flowers

Its most representative class, accompanying presents at weddings, birthdays, births and house-movings, especially flourishing in Ming and Qing times.

The cutting sisters

The local name for women who cut for a living, transmitting the craft mother to daughter and mother-in-law to daughter-in-law, and among themselves.

Wax-rubbing and paper-twist fixing

The traditional sequence: rub a master with wax and ink, bind several sheets with paper twists, then cut and carve by hand.

Cutting without, from drawing, or from rubbing

Three methods: cutting straight from a mental design, drawing first then cutting, or cutting to a wax-rubbed master.

Combining characters and pictures

Its compositions nest pictures in characters and characters in pictures, built from saw-tooth, crescent, coin, squared-spiral and plum-blossom motifs.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Pucheng paper cutting is widely applied in the lives of the common people, has become a local custom, and continues to this day. The craft is transmitted in group and family lineages through transmission from mother to daughter, instruction by mothers-in-law to daughters-in-law, and exchanges among flower-cutting sisters, and is thus passed down from generation to generation.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The local community carries out the protection and transmission of the paper-cutting craft year in and year out, has established relevant practice venues and institutions for the display, research, transmission, and dissemination of paper cutting, and has formed a transmission echelon structure combining the old, the middle-aged, and the young, making positive contributions to the protection and promotion of Pucheng paper cutting.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Paper-cutting (Pucheng, Fujian) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗