Chinese Paper Cuts

(Paper cuts remain popular in China’s modern society, especially in the countryside. But what do they have to do with dead people? To find out, listen to You Ask Us Time. )

S: A listener from India, Dr. R. T. Elampooranan asks about a small gift he received from us. Dr. R. T. Elampooranan, the pictures we sent you are called paper cuts. We are very glad you like them, and are interested in them. So now we’ll tell you more about this Chinese folk art.

M: Dr. R. T. Elampooranan’s first question is the name of this art. We’ve answered that. Now for your second question, “how long has this art existed in China, and what is its origin?” Well, the history of paper cuts can be traced back to as early as the 6th Century AD. But some people believe that paper cuts appeared in China a few hundred years before that time.

S: The origin of paper cuts is believed to have a close relation with ancient customs and beliefs. The ancient Chinese believed that people lived on in another world after they died. And material belongings were as important in the Afterworld as they were in this one. Not only that, they also had to pay for them! No freebies. So when someone died, the family would burn some money for the dead to spend in the nether world. Try buying something with some ashes nowadays. “Honest, it’s a hundred dollar bill.”

M: Stuart, I think you need to explain a little bit here. They didn't burn real money, coz back then money was made from metal, no banknotes in those days. What was burnt was paper cut in the shapes of metal coins. And this is believed to be one possible origin of the art of paper cutting. Which reminds me. Stuart, do you still remember two idioms we taught in our past programs.

S: Oh, I remember every idiom we’ve taught. Which two are you referring to?

M: Qing guo qing cheng and shan shan lai chi.

S: Easy. The first one means “beautiful enough to cause the fall of a city and a country,” and the second one means “be late in coming.” Why do you mention these two idioms, Ming? Do they have anything to do with what we are supposed to be talking about, paper cuts?

M: They certainly do. Because historical tales and legends are believed to provide us with possible explanations for the origin of paper cuts. In those two idioms, we learned about the sad love story between Emperor Wu and his concubine Madam Li from the Western Han Dynasty. The idiom “beautiful enough to cause the fall of a city and country” referred to Madam Li’s beauty. But poor Madam Li died while still young. The Emperor missed her desperately. Then a guy came to the palace, and claimed he could call back spirits from the dead. Of course, the emperor asked him to call back the spirit of Madam Li. The chap cut out the image of Madam Li from a large piece of paper. Then, one night, he mounted the paper cut behind a curtain, and lit candles behind the paper. The man asked the emperor to sit a distance from the curtain. The emperor saw this vague image which looked like Madam Li. And people believe paper cut pictures have their origin in those paper ghosts.

S: Silly old emperor, falling for a trick like that. But maybe it cheered him up a bit. But there must be other theories about the origin of this folk art, since it has long been popular in almost every corner of China. Wherever I traveled in the countryside, I saw paper cuts on windows, walls, everywhere, especially during Spring Festival time.

M: True. And if you walk into a rural house you’ll see even more, on mirrors, posts, wardrobes, even on lights and lamp shades. Not surprisingly, many of these paper cuts were gifts from other people. They’re attractive, have all sorts of ‘good luck’ symbolism, and they don’t cost an arm and a leg. Paper’s pretty cheap, and so are the tools, scissors and knives.

S: Talking about the tools used, we’ve moved to the third question asked by Dr. Elampooranan. Are paper cuttings done by hand or by machine nowadays. We checked it out, and the answer is, by hand, with, as we mentioned just now, scissors and knives. We should say ‘scissors or a knife’: different tools, different techniques. For example, cutting with a knife also requires some wax and some powder.

M: Using scissors requires two pairs, one medium size, one small size. The medium sized is for cutting the outline, the small one is for delicate lines and details. The scissors need to be sharp, and have pointed blades. Unlike with using a knife, with scissors you can only make one paper cut a time. And its very tricky. The paper is usually folded, so that patterns are repeated over the paper, for example, mirror images of two kids playing with a ball. With the paper folded, the cutter has to clearly know what the picture will look like when the paper is unfolded.

S: I’ve seen them being made like that, as you say, M, very tricky if you want to get the result you’re looking for. And when using scissors the paper is held in one hand. When using a knife, the paper, several sheets on top of the other maybe – that’s how you can make more than one paper cut at a time, mass production! - is laid out on a thick piece of wax. And some powder is sprinkled on the wax. You can guess why. Right: the blade can penetrate the wax, which won’t blunt it, and the bottom sheet can be cut cleanly. And why the powder? Stops the paper sticking to the wax.

M: And the paper used in paper cuts vary. There are two basic types. The first is ordinary solid-color paper, which is thick and perfect for papercuts. The second kind of paper is quite thin, and is colored or otherwise worked after cutting. I think Dr. Elampooranan received paper cuts made on both types of paper from us.

S: And I’ve noticed that paper cuts have been used in advertisements recently.

M: Right. This common folk art has inspired not only designers, but also modern artists. The famous artist Lv Shengzhong has taken his “little red human” to some international modern art festivals.

S: His what? “little red human?”

M: It a paper cut image of a little person, cut out of a piece of red paper. I haven’t seen it, but apparently it’s quite neat, and very artistic.

S: Interesting. Well, I hope our brief introduction to the history, technique and art of paper cutting answers Dr. Elampooranan’s question ok. Those of our listeners who have received some paper cuts as a gift from CRI can look at them and remember the sad emperor of old who thought the ghost of his beloved was just behind a curtain. And those who haven’t can write us a letter and get some. No problem, happy to oblige.

M: Absolutely. Stuart, I think it’s time for us to listen to a Chinese folk song.