Chinese Paper Cutting.pptx

Chinese Paper cutting history and activity.

1. Chinese Paper Cutting

2. History Paper-cuts represent a common folk art form that has a long cultural tradition throughout China. Folk artists of Pingyang County, Zhejiang Province, have been making paper-cuts for hundreds of years; it is still popular today as a pastime for rural women and girls.

3. History The important Chinese invention that makes this art form possible is paper, which the Chinese invented around the first century CE. Some of the earliest paper-cuts that have been found were traced back to the Northern and Southern Kingdoms (420-589 CE).

4. Needlework Paper-cuts, also called scissor cuts, were used for decorations. Often a paper-cut design would be created as a model for folk needlework, to test the design.

5. Chinese paper-cuts usually represent everyday life. Common subjects for the folk art form include the dragon, phoenix, signs of the zodiac, birds, trees, flowering branches, bamboo, peonies and other flowers, horses, fish, cats and kittens, landscapes, insects, pagodas, characters from traditional folktales, and traditional Chinese masks. The designs might be serious, stylized, or even whimsical, and appear in a variety of sizes and shapes, including rectangular, diamond, and oval.

6. The cutting must be done carefully. A skilled Chinese artisan uses powerful and smooth scissor strokes and completes each piece quickly without mistake.

7. Let’s try it!