Patient seeks fun and confidence from paper cuts

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One must have seen different kinds of picture books or reference books with cartoons. However, a dictionary illustrated with Chinese traditional art of paper cutting should be something fresh for most people. Now, a girl in Chengdu – provincial capital of southwestern province of Sichuan, is working on such a project, which combines Chinese idioms, or chengyu and paper cuts.

Liu Yu works on a paper cut work. So far, she has made a lot of cutouts on a wide range of subjects. /CGTN Photo

"I found that many pupils nowadays don't know how to use chengyu properly. That's really a pity, as chengyu is also an important part of Chinese culture. So I hope my efforts can be a help in a special way,” said 18-year-old Liu Yu. The girl has stayed out of school since she was diagnosed with the nephrotic syndrome at the age of nine. The disease almost took her life that year.

A type of traditional Chinese idiomatic expression, most of the chengyu consist of four characters and derive from ancient literature. Liu handwrites the definition of each selected chengyu and illustrates them with an elaborate cutout.

"I believe the combination of two different traditional cultural forms can have a special effect," she said.

The handmade dictionary of chengyu by Liu Yu is distinctive with vivid paper cuts. For example, áo áo dài bû – a chengyu used to describe the state of infants suffering from great hunger, is illustrated with an image about a baby crying for milk. /CGTN Photo

Over the past few years, Liu has spent most of the time alone at home and paper cutting has been the greatest pleasure for her, a skill she first picked up at school. She later learned more about the traditional art form from related books and the Internet.

As one of China's oldest folk arts, the history of paper cutting dates back more than 1000 years. The artworks are mainly made of red paper and glued to the windows during happy events like Spring Festival or weddings to symbolize luck and happiness.

With different tools including scissors, knives, a small hammer, among others, Liu has made a lot of cutouts on different subjects, such as the Twelve Chinese Zodiac Signs, Chinese ethnic minorities, and human portraits. She told CGTN that her artworks are well received by her teachers and classmates, which brings her much confidence and courage to fight her disease. Now, she tries to sell some of her paper cuts as a way of supporting herself.

A piece of paper cut work made by Liu Yu, which is about one of China’s ethnic minorities. /CGTN Photo

"In the first few years, I just lived in despair and couldn't feel any fun from my life. Later, I found that I still could do something meaningful though I couldn't receive education at school," she said.

To cater to the tastes of different groups, Liu is trying to innovate her artistic creation. For example, she would take some popular cartoon characters as the prototype for her paper cutting.

A character from popular Japanese cartoon "Dragon Ball". To attract people of different groups, Liu Yu tries to use different images as the prototypes for her paper cutting. /CGTN Photo

Liu said her dictionary of chengyu is expected to be published by a local publishing house. After that, she would set foot in the Chinese ancient poems in a similar way.

"I think the younger generations are getting farther and farther away from our traditional cultures. I just hope more people can develop an interest in them, such as paper cutting, and feel their special charm," she said.