Traditional Chinese paper-cut art

Paper-cutting is one of the most popular folk art in China which has always been loved by the masses in the form of art.Paper-cut can be traced back to the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, but some people think it's time to actually start even earlier than this for hundreds of years.

It is now regarded as a paper-cut works of art to admire, or decorative embellishment for the walls, doors and windows, the room column, mirrors, gifts such as lanterns and who knows, paper-cutting in a long time ago it was a funeral supplies, for Together with the dead for burial or burning at the funeral, in addition to paper-cutting has also been used as a god and ancestor worship used by the offerings of ornaments. This practice is now seen less.

Scissors cut paper cutting techniques and is divided into two kinds. The former one should use scissors, paste several paper-cut (generally not more than 8) together , and then use sharp scissors finish the final design of the processing. The latter one is overlap several papers on the ash from animal fats and composed of soft-mixed, then use a knife carve on them slowly .Compare with scissors, knife has an advantage that it can be processed into a number of paper-cutting patterns. Do not think paper-cut is only a pastime, entertainment thing, in some rural areas, paper cutting, but by each of the girls must have the skills, and people still judge a standard of the bride.

Paper-cut style in general can be divided into North and South factions. North immense simple paper-cut, extensive bold, exaggerated deformation, using pug, flour, also concise lines summary of distinctive characteristics of the character, the style is plain, simple, crisp, works on behalf of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei, Shandong provinces.Paper-cutting in the South, including the majority of the region, such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and the central region of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and other southern regions. The central region is a typical area of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
South of the traditional paper-cut style is the emphasis on realism, beautiful art style, mellow crisp, sophisticated technology, exquisite visible, Loujin painting, decorative style of heavy, so it needs a more complex processing and crafts .