Chinese Paper Cutting: A visit to the home of the traditional art

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It's a tradition in China to decorate homes with paper cut handicrafts during the Chinese New Year. Our reporter Ning Hong has paid a visit to Yu Xian, a place known as the home of paper cutting. Let's take a look.

Yu county's paper cutting art is known for its detail and color. Even a small piece like this. Master Zhou uses 40 kinds of different engraving knives to create the detail, and dozens of colors, to make a vivid creature.

ZHOU GUANG PAPER CUTTING MASTER "People used to make paper cuttings with scissors a thousand years ago here. They turned to engraving knives some 200 years ago. The core skill of paper cutting here is drawing, cutting and dyeing."

Zhou started to learn paper cutting from his father at eleven years old. He developed his skills by enriching the color and detail, introducing modern styles to the art, and inventing multilayer skills in the process.

NING HONG YU COUNTY, HEBEI PROVINCE "Chinese paper cutting work could be as simple as this one, or as complex as this one. The one you are seeing is not a painting, but a papercut. You can see the depth of field is vivid and ingenious, because this work is made of ten layers of paper cutting work. This is really a masterpiece of Chinese papercut work.

Paper cutting art is also evolving. While the traditional style is still popular, realistic styles are also gaining favor among visitors.

ZHOU GUANG PAPER CUTTING MASTER "While paper cutting can now imitate photos and paintings, it has its own styles as well. It is not just a Chinese new year tradition, but an art that represents China."

Zhou Guang is now a legend in his hometown. Many of his works have been given to head of states visiting China as national gifts. He is also teaching his skills to over a thousand students, while he himself was named as one of the three cultural inheritors of paper cutting work in China. Ning Hong, CGTN, Hebei Province.