Introduction to Chinese Handmade Paper Cutting

Chinese Handmade Paper Cutting

Chinese paper-cutting is a folk art with a history spanning thousands of years. It involves using scissors to create patterns of flowers, animals, auspicious characters, and more on red paper. It is not merely decoration but also a medium for conveying blessings during festivals, weddings, and other rituals. The designs often carry cultural metaphors, such as "fish" symbolizing abundance and the character "喜" (double happiness) representing marital joy.

In the West, the closest counterparts are silhouette art and papercutting. However, the core difference lies in the fact that Chinese paper-cutting emphasizes "meaning over form," with patterns deeply connected to folk beliefs, while Western papercutting tends to focus more on realism or purely decorative purposes. Let us cut a Chinese "福" (fortune) character together.