China has been celebrating Cultural and Natural Heritage Day on the second Saturday of June since 2016, and June 10 marks the Day this year.
Currently, five items of UNESCO intangible cultural heritages are from Guangdong or include a branch from the province. The Cultural Heritage in Focus series will shed light on these items, and this chapter will introduce Chinese paper cutting (Guangdong paper cutting).
Present throughout China and in various ethnic groups, paper cutting is a popular art integral to everyday life. The paper can be cut or engraved with a chisel, colored, or left blank. Guangdong paper cutting is a branch of Chinese paper cutting, mainly composed of Foshan paper cutting, Chaoyang paper cutting, and Chaozhou paper cutting.
(Photo: Nanfang Daily)
According to the materials applied, Foshan paper cutting can be divided into nine categories, including paper, copper lining, wood engraving, and copper chisel. Cutting and carving are the most common paper cutting techniques used in Foshan.
(Photo: Nanfang Daily)
Chaoyang paper cutting refers to paper cuttings in the Chaoshan area, featuring themes of auspiciousness, festival celebration, and people's daily lives, with a symmetrical structure.
Furthermore, the themes of Chaozhou paper cutting primarily involve flowers, animals, figures, and landscapes. A category known as "zan zhi (literally means carving paper)", in which designs are placed on colored paper or gold foil and engraved with a carving knife, is a specialty of Chaozhou paper cutting.
Author| Holly
Poster| Mia
Editor| Wing, Olivia, Steven, Monica, James
