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PAPERCUTTING HISTORY                       Back

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Chinese Paper Cuts

Historical / Cultural Significance

There are three catagories of Chinese paper cuts, each of which represent flowers, animals, and symbols. Window flowers were originally pasted onto paper windows to secure night time privacy and to allow daylight in. Happy flowers are pasted onto gifts, cakes, and candles. Paper lanterns used for festivals are frequently cut into animal shapes. Papercuts were originially used for silk embroidery, a highly developed, female-oriented craft in China dating back 4000 years. Papercuts were also used as stencils on porcelain and pottery. Patterns vary from district to district and frequently convey symbolic messages from Daoist, Confucist, and Buddhist philosophies. Papercuts also display calligraphy, the art form of writing which displays images and meaning instead of sounds.

Principles and Elements of Design

Papercuts include both geometric and organic shapes that can be either positive or negative. That is, paper can be cut into the shape of an object (positive) or the shape of the object can be cut out of the paper (negative). Form is achieved by applying papercuts to ceremonial masks and pottery. Depending on the materials used, flat papercuts can also have 3 dimensional attributes such as the appearance of shading.

Value is achieved through varying the thickness of cuts to imply lightness and darkness. Implied texture is achieved in much the same way as value. Space is also achieved in the arrangement of the papercuts.

Techniques and Methodology

You can use almost any type of paper - origami, wrapping, tissue, etc. Different papers suit different projects. Trace or photocopy your design onto your choice of paper. Carefully cut out the design using scissors (the finer the design, the more delicately the scissors must cut) from the center out. Now paste your design onto colorful tissue backing or onto a solid background. Hang it from your ceiling or tape to a window.

Integration with Music, Dance, Drama

Art, drama and music meld together through opera, the most popular form of entertainment in China. Papercuts created by master papercutters enhance the visual dramatic effects of opera masks. In China, opera incorporates singing, dancing, acting, poetry, recitation, mime, acrobatics, and martial arts skills.

a "LITTLE" History of Paper and papercutting

According to Chinese historical accounts, paper was first invented by Cai Lun, who lived in the Eastern Han Dynasty.  He presented the invention to Emperor He Di in 105 AD.  The materials he used were composed of tree bark, remnants of hemp, linen rags, and fishnets.

(A.D. 105 - Paper as we know it was invented by Ts'ai Lun, a Chinese court official. It is believed that Ts'ai mixed mulberry bark, hemp, and rags with water, mashed it into a pulp, pressed out the liquid and hung the thin mat to dry in the sun. Paper was born and this humble mixture would set off one of mankind's greatest communication revolutions. Literature and the arts flourished in China.)

During the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the Song Dynasty (960-1279), varieties of paper were developed for different purposes.  The varieties include hemp paper, hide paper, bamboo paper, and xuan paper.  Xuan paper is mostly used in Chinese paintings and calligraphy because of its smooth, durable, and whiteness of the paper.

Chinese paper making was later introduced to Korea and Vietnam and later to Japan at the beginning of the 3rd century.  By the end of the 7th century, it reached India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and spread throughout Europe.  In 1150, Europe's first paper mill was built.  By 1575, Mexico and Australia accepted the technique.  Chinese paper making technique spread throughout the world by the 19th century.

Some more links:

And yet another view...

http://www.fascinating-folds.com/paperarts/papercuttinghistory.htm

Paper was invented in China around A.D. 200. At some time during the fourth or fifth century, the Chinese started to cut paper embroidery patterns. Though these first artists were probably members of the royal entourage, papercutting quickly became a folk art, one practiced not by royalty but by commoners. Their cut work served both decorative and utilitarian purposes.

Cut paper patterns were used to place patterns on textiles and porcelains and to dye materials. Similar cut-outs played a part in funeral rites; paper replicas of the deceased’s belongings were burned so that they would follow their owner into the afterlife. Paper was cut for purely decorative purposes as well. Homes were (and still are) hung with paper cut-outs, especially during festivals. Today, cut paper designs are exchanged as gifts or greetings. Shantung province, famous for its silks, is particularly well known for this custom.

Chinese papercutters use different sets of tools and distinct techniques to create their intricate cut work. Some use large, oval-handled scissors with short, sharp blades. The artist incises and cuts interior lines first and then cuts the exterior borders by making on long, continuous sweep with the scissors.

The second Chinese method of cutting, and ancient one that is still practiced, allows a single cutter to make many cuttings simultaneously. First, the bottom of an open wooden box is covered with a mixture of fat and charcoal. This hardened cutting surface lasts for years and serves to prevent knife blades from being dulled. Each time cutting is about to commence, the artist scrapes this surface clean and coats it with a light dusting of flour. A stack of tissue-thin papers-sometimes as many as 50 or 60-is then placed flat within the frame; the flour prevents the bottom sheet from sticking to the cutting surface. Usually, a pattern is placed on top of the stack, but some professional cutters work with out one. All the sheets are held in place with nails or large stitches. Knives, chisels, stamps, and punches-often handmade-are then used to cut through the top pattern lines and down through all layers underneath. Great skill is required to do so accurately.

By the seventeenth century, papercutting had spread from China to Japan, Samurai warriors-proud members of the Japanese military caste-embellished their armor with many different designs. Mon-kiri, the Japanese art of papercutting, was used to cut these same emblems and crests from paper. Cut work also served to identify family belongings and to transfer patterns to textiles.

Mon-kiri was gradually abandoned as the art of folding paper (origami) became more widespread, but the Japanese are still famous for their papercut stencils. These are used in katazome-the ancient Japanese art of stencil dyeing.

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