One of China's most popular folk arts is Paper Cutting.  It is a traditional art that has evolved throughout the course of Chinese cultural development. Its origin should be closely connected with the invention of paper during the HAN dynasty (206 B.C.- 221 A.D.) The art of Paper Cutting first became popular in the royal palaces and houses of nobility as a favorite pastime among court ladies. 

Noble ladies in ancient times would often use paper cutting to practice their art during their leisure.  In contract,  ordinary folks involved giving paper cuts as gifts and using paper cut fancy likenesses for pretty adornment to signify auspiciousness.  Subsequently, mutual emulation and minute study led to a superb level of technique. By later generations, Paper Cutting art has developed from clipping complicated patterns using a tiny pair of scissors to often making cutouts into window decorations, clothes-making stencils, or embroidery patterns for shoes.

The themes of the subject have remained folk motifs, with two dimensional illustrations as the primary form although the Paper Cutting art has evolved throughout many generations. The technique that they display consists of a combination of trimming with scissors and carving with a knife.  The rendering of their visual appearance involves such methods as applying multiple layers of color, folding symmetrically, individually pasting, or uniquely engraving.  These diversified cutting methods could be said to be quite beautiful, but manifestation of the unique, lively beauty of Paper Cutting art still depends on the artistic mastery of every Paper Cut artisan.

Paper Cutting art are not produced by machine, but by hand.  There are two methods of manufacture: scissor cuttings and knife cuttings.  Scissor cuttings are fashioned with scissors.  Several pieces of paper--up to eight pieces--are fastened together.  The motif is then cut with sharp, pointed scissors.

Knife cuttings are fashioned by putting several layers of paper on a relatively soft foundation consisting of a mixture of tallow and ashes.  Following a pattern, the artist cuts the motif into the paper with a sharp knife which he usually holds vertically.  The advantage of knife cuttings is that considerably more Paper Cutting can be made in one operation than with scissor cuttings.

Beside using for decoration and as patterns, Paper Cutting art is also used for religious purposes and for sacrificial offerings to the ancestors and gods.

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