PAPERCUTTING

Since the Neolithic Era, papercutting has been a process employed to record, duplicate, and disseminate. It involves making a concatenation of holes into thin material substrates. It exists in a variety of permutations around the world, including Scherenitte in Germany, papel picado in Mexico, and kirigami in Japan. Historians concur that the technique originated from China, where papercutting is known as jianzhi.  

The earliest manifestation of jianzhi, the sacred Sun and Bird Gold Foil, dates back to the late Shang period (1200–650BCE). The earliest historical record of its application occurred during the Western Han Dynasty (1200 BCE–206CE): in the court of Emperor Wu Di, the presence of a deceased concubine was summoned using her likeness cut from hemp paper and a lamp. 

After the invention of modern pulp-strained paper in 105CE, jianzhi was embraced by both Buddhists and Taoists. Whereas Buddhists employed the medium as a tool for proliferating doctrine, Taoists and other shamanistic practitioners utilised it as a method of creating talismans. Jianzhi have retained the latter function to the present day. Subsequently, they continue to play an integral role in both community and private celebrations such as the Spring Festival, marriages, and births. The demand for jianzhi was serviced by practitioners operating in their local communities. This changed in the beginning of the twenty-first century.

The impact of computer-controlled cutting technology on the domestic papercutting industry was articulated in a recent article published by the China Daily that profiled Zhou Shuying, a practitioner from Yuxian in Hebei province, who is renowned for the vibrant colour of her jianzhi.[1] Zhou developed techniques inherited from her father, who was similarly applauded during his time for his ‘invention’ of Chinese opera mask jianzhi. According to Zhou, “small mills” require greater protection against their post-digital manufacturing counterparts.

Between 2003 and 2011, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in partnership with the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), recognised over sixty regionally specific traditions of jianzhi on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. These evolved between the fourth and nineteenth centuries, with distinct styles varying in technique, materials, and subject matter. Yu County papercutting, of which the Zhou family is categorised, emerged during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912).

Prior to the inception of the PRC in 1949, the Communists had utilised jianzhi to proliferate party values. It flourished, albeit with restricted content, during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976).  Communist papercuts, particularly portraits of Chairman Mao, remain popular items in street market stalls across China. Through the Folk Art Revival in the 1980s, a selection of jianzhi practitioners were also anointed into the museum and contemporary art sectors. New wave installation artist Lu Shengzhong and sculptor Hou Youmei are among the practitioners to have gained international recognition as a result of the PRC initiative.

(Pamela See, Aug. 2019)

[1] Tang Zhe, “Paper-Cut Artists Strive to Rise above Technology,” China Daily, 7 August 2013, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/art/2013-08/07/content_16876760.htm.

Whereas the seasonal demand for papercuts was previously met by local practitioners, the past decade has seen a proliferation of mass-produced cut-outs distributed through supermarket chains. These ornaments have been produced using computer numerical control (CNC) cutting. The substrates vary from foam to thin foils of metal. 

Inscribed below the image borderline: “Pictor Apellieâ pingas licet arte tabellam, / Quae modo pictores, et modo fallit aves, / Livor edax sed enim, nisi te fortuna bearit, / Auferret ingenio praemia digna tuo. / A. v. Ostade fecit.”

(Translation by Oliver Phillips: “Though you a painter, paint a painting with Apelles’ art which now fools painters, and now the birds. Yet, gnawing envy, unless fortune bless you, will take away the prizes worthy of your talents.”)