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| [ How Paper-Cuttings Are Made Out ] |
| As a traditional folk art, paper cutting is
practiced widely by folk craftsmen in China. Generally their paper-cut
works serve decorative purposes in many occasions - holidays,
wedding or birthday parties, assemblies, festivals, especially
Chinese Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, when paper cuts
in all designs and all colors are pasted on windows, doors, mirrors,
walls and many other articles for ornamentation.
Nowadays, usually women are involved in paper
cutting. It occupies a significant position in China's folk
activities. In the past, it used to be even one of the craftsmanship
that every girl was to master. Along with needlework, a girl's skill
in paper-cut would add much weight to her virtue as a bride.
The Chinese use thin rice paper for
paper-cuttings because it folds and irons well, accept paints and
colorings quickly and naturally, apt to cut even when several pieces
fold together, and is easy for preservation. Using rice paper for
paper cut has started at some time during 7th century in China.
Today, while some Chinese people create their own designs, many
still copy traditional patterns that are passed along from
generation to generation. Some folk artists are famous for their
ability to recreate traditional designs. The popular figures that
appear in their works include fish, flowers, dragons, birds,
butterflies, Chinese animal signs, and various images from Chinese
folktales.
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| Tools
• Scissors or cutting knife
• Rice paper
• Dye or watercolor
• Brush
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Making Process of
Knife-Cutting
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| 1. Designing a template: |
| Before cutting a template is usually
designed. Chinese paper-cuts are famous for the terribly fine and
complicated design. |
| 2. Stacking and
Air-drying: |
3.
Cutting: | |
The Chinese use thin
rice paper for paper-cuttings because it folds and irons well,
accept paints and colorings quickly and naturally, apt to cut
even when several pieces fold together, and is easy for
preservation.
By stacking, a stack of rice paper, as many
as 30, is pasted tightly together using clear water, with the
pattern template on the very top. Then this stack of paper is
put at a drafty place for air-drying.
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Paper-cutting requires extreme
patience and appropriate strength. The cutting knives are
tailor-made. The edge of each knife is different in its size
and shape from the others. People lay a paper stack flat on a
stencil plate or a basswood board, so that the paper stack can
be cut into perfect shapes on a relatively soft base. Then
cutting begins. One hand holds and controls the advancing of
the knife, and the other hand turns the stencil plate or
basswood board meantime following the design. |
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| The whole cutting process must be
carried out with extreme carefulness, since even the
smallest mistake can't be tolerated. As long as one
error comes up, the whole stack will be
discarded. | | |
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| When cutting is finished the paper
stack is still in white and needs dyeing. Chinese paper-cuts
are well known for their flamboyant colors. Each piece of
semi-finished paper-cut is separated from the stack. Then
several pieces, up to 6, are put together for dyeing. The
brushes for dyeing are in all sizes to coloring different
parts of the design. Dyeing also needs great carefulness,
since even a minor mistake may destroy the whole piece. |
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Now the making of a piece of
paper-cut comes to an end. It may need some finishing. Finally
a piece of finely-made paper-cut comes out, and it can be
pasted onto windows, doors, mirrors, walls, and many other
articles.
In some rural areas in China, the windows
are much different from those we use in city buildings. These
windows are made of wood and have many grids. People often
paste a piece of paper-cut into each grid. That's why
paper-cut is also called “WindowFlower” in China. |
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| Making Process of Scissors-Cutting
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| 1. Folding: |
The Chinese use thin rice paper for paper-cuttings
because it folds and irons well, accept paints and colorings quickly
and naturally, apt to cut even when several pieces fold together,
and is easy for preservation.
By folding, a piece of rice paper
is folded up before cutting, so that the pattern can be cut from the
paper in 2 or 4 or 8 even sides. |
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| Scissors-cutting
requires very patience and carefulness. The cutter controls
the scissors by one hand, holds the folded paper in the other
hand, and cuts according to the pattern. Skilled craftsmen
even needn't design a pattern beforehand. They just weigh the
potential patterns in their minds, and then begin cutting
deftly, as if the pattern were painted on the paper already.
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At last a piece of finely-made
paper-cut comes out, and it can be pasted onto windows,
doors, mirrors, walls, and many other articles. |
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