The other day we went to a class to learn about Chinese paper cutting. Paper cutting is an ancient Chinese tradition. Long before papercutting had begun, the Chinese had developed techniques for paper tearing. The practice of papercutting began during the Han Dynasty with Emperor Wu Di over 2,100 years ago. Emperor Wu Di had a paper cut image of Li Furen, a late favorite concubine, made in order to comfort him in his sorrows. During the Southern Dynasty, it was a custom to paste well thin silk cut into the shape of a person on screens during festivals. The oldest recovered papercutting dates back to 1,500 years ago.
After learning the history of Chinese paper cutting, the teacher taught us the five main symbols that one can use in paper cutting: sun, crescent, willow leaf, dripping, and saw tooth. The sun symbol is simply a circle and the crescent looks like part of a moon. The willow leaf is similar to an arc and dripping looks like a rain drop. The saw tooth is made up of triangles in a straight line to look like sharp teeth. After making each of these symbols, we put all these symbols together to create animals and designs. Using stencils, we each made different objects. I made a tiger and a monkey. It looks very easy, but it was quite difficult because there is so much precision and patience that goes into making paper cut images.
Later, when we were done making our paper cut images, the teacher shared her paper cut images that she has made. She had several portraits and they were absolutely amazing in their detail. She said that one of the images took her three days to do. I think it is astounding how much detail and effort goes into this tradition. It makes you appreciate the Chinese customs and traditions.
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