Chinese Paper cuts: Originals Handcut And Handmounted By Farmers In Shanxi Province of China.

The originals of these Chinese Papercuts are about 35cms x 25cms, too large to scan so only sections are shown. The Chinese paper cuts were distributed by the China National Tourism Administration in the form of a special twelve picture calendar for the year 1999. The work of cutting and mounting all the Chinese Paper cuts was carried out by farmers in the Shanxi Province of China. The Chinese Chop is a title for the subject.

It is certainly not difficult to buy packets of small papercuts in Beijing shops, and usually all the papercuts in the packets are based on a theme eg; Zodiac animals, Xian Warriors, Chinese Dragons. When the calendar arrived in the post, it was amazing to find that such a large size calender should be made up of 12 very large papercuts of birds and animals. Previous papercuts bought, or received as gifts, had been no bigger than a hand-palm or two, but the calender papercuts were about as long as half an arm! The skill and patience needed to make such beautiful papercuts was beyond comprehension.

The art of paper cutting is a skill passed on through many generations of Chinese people, but it is not known what events occurred that brought about the making of the first papercut. Paper itself was invented by a Chinese man named Cai Lun, and without that invention, the art of paper cutting might not have developed to the present day art form. When the calendar of papercuts was hung in position on a wall, the papercuts looked like fine art paintings. To convince visitors that they were in fact papercuts, it was necessary to blow gently on the colorful papercut images, to produce a quiver and to find some of the very finest parts of the papercuts lifting off the backing paper.

Click the small sections of the Chinese Papercuts below to view larger copies which will open in new windows. Close all new windows to return to this page.

''''' Chinese paper cutting is a unique artform and has existed for thousands of years with a long history featuring both national and regional themes. Paper began as a precious commodity in the Han Dynasty. Most of the people with access to paper for an entertainment cause such as art were usually nobles in royal palaces. The Song Dynasty scholar Chou Mi mentioned several paper cutters who cut paper with scissors into a great variety of designs and characters in different styles, and a young man who could even cut characters and flowers inside his sleeve. The oldest surviving paper cut out is a symmetrical circle from the 6th century found in Sinkiang China.SRC: Wikipedia.org '''''