Hello everyone, who knows the origin of paper cutting?

There are also various theories about the origin of paper-cutting:

1. "Relief blueprint": The blueprint used in the relief sculpture is placed on the stone slab or woodblock to engrave, and the hollowed-out paper forms various patterns, and then there is a paper-cut that is directly engraved or cut with paper;

2. "Blue Printing Blueprint": Jiangnan Water Town has always made blue calico, "Blue Printing Blueprint" is to first make paper-cut patterns, and then use wax or lime to print the paper-cut patterns on the white cloth, and then soak the cloth into the pigment slurry after drying, and finally wash the wax or lime with hot water, and the pattern with wax or lime becomes the true color of the cloth. The "blue print blueprint" is the paper-cut pattern.

3. "Broken window paper": The original windows have no glass, and the windows in the coastal areas are made into lattice windows, which can block part of the sunlight, or are inlaid in the lattice with shells, while the mainland directly uses paper to paste the windows. After the paper is broken, it is re-subsidized to form a variety of patterns.

For the sake of beauty, our ancestors came up with pre-cut patterns to decorate. Hence the "Broken Window Paper Theory".

Chinese paper-cutting was born from the ancient Chinese art of carving, and its paper-cutting nature is determined by tools (scissors, carving knives) and materials.

Therefore, the ancient art of carving coffins with gold leaf cut-outs, or modern shadow puppets cannot be called "paper-cutting". "Paper-cutting" in the true sense should be formed after the paper is produced.

As for the question of the origin of paper-cutting, I don't think it's necessary.

The origin of paper cutting:Legend has it that Chinese paper-cutting originated from the activities of the ancients to worship their ancestors and pray to the gods, and since then it has been rooted in the profound traditional Chinese culture. With a history of more than 2,000 years, paper-cutting condenses the traditional concepts of Han culture, and intertwines with other arts to convey ancient civilizations.

The art of paper-cutting is an important part of Chinese culture, the epitome of a nation's moral beliefs, and the inheritance of a folk culture.

China's paper-cutting craft has its unique formation and development process, and it is said that the earliest paper-cutting art appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period BC, that is, in the 3rd century BC. At that time, people used a variety of thin sheet materials to cut patterns on materials such as gold leaf, leather, silk silk, leaves, etc., through a variety of hollow carving techniques such as carving, carving, ticking, carving, and cutting, and made various handicrafts, which is the so-called early paper-cutting art.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, paper had not yet appeared, so the so-called paper-cutting handicraft at that time was only to lay the foundation for the emergence of the real paper-cutting process. The development of paper-cutting handicraft art in the real sense began with the emergence of paper. During the Han Dynasty, papermaking was invented, and the invention of paper really promoted the emergence, development and popularization of paper-cutting art.