Chinese Folk Art – Paper Cutting
Paper cutting is an ancient Chinese folk art that dates back to the Second Century in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was considered an affordable art since it only uses paper. The color of the red tissue paper is said to symbolizes luck and happiness. You will see a lot of red paper cuttings in the Chinese spring festivals. Many cuttings are pasted on doors or windows. In one source it said it was good luck to post a red paper cutting at your back door, so I hung my four vertical cuttings near the back of my French Doors.
Keep in mind that this art work is done entirely by hand by carefully cutting thin paper with a very sharp knife. My first framed art is of four dragons and four little boys who are trying to slay the dragons. All four cuttings use typical red paper and are perhaps a little faded by the sun. All the young Chinese boys look slightly different as does the four dragons.
The second paper cutting was done by using different colored paper. The giant panda bear sits in a circle of vegetation and what looks like fans. He is on a green background and looks like he is picking pine cones but I’m not totally sure about that.
I enjoy my Chinese Folk-Art cuttings and think about how much work went into each small cutting. I purchased both of these framed cuttings at second hand stores. I think it would take a great deal of patience to do paper cuttings, one wrong slip of the knife and you need to start all over. I hope by placing my vertical paper cuttings by the back door that it will bring me luck.