Chinese Culture -- Zhōng guó jiǎn zhǐ, Chinese Paper Cutting

中国剪纸（Zhōng guó jiǎn zhǐ, Chinese Paper Cutting）

中国剪纸，又叫"刻纸"、"窗花"或"剪画"，是中国的一种传统艺术。创作工具有剪子和刻刀，载体有纸张、金银箔、树皮、树叶、布、皮革等片状材料。中国剪纸艺术流派众多，大体分为南方派、江浙派和北方派。南方派和江浙派剪纸的艺术风格多以细腻、秀气见长；北方派则以粗犷、大气著称。南方派剪纸以湖北沔阳剪纸、广东佛山剪纸和福建民间剪纸为代表。江浙派则以江苏扬州剪纸和浙江民间剪纸为主。北方派的代表性剪纸有山西剪纸、河北蔚县剪纸、陕西和山东民间剪纸。早在2006年5月，剪纸艺术就被列入第一批中国国家级非物质文化遗产名录。次年6月，河北蔚县剪纸的传人-王老赏的大弟子周兆明被认定为该文化遗产项目的代表性传承人。

Chinese paper cutting, also known as paper carving, window paper cutting or scissored painting, is a traditional art of China. Tools for paper cutting include scissors and knives, while material used can be paper, gold foil, tree bark, leaves, cloth, or leather. There are many schools of Chinese paper cutting, which are mainly the Southern school, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang school, and the Northern school. The school of the Southern and that from Jiangsu and Zhejiang are well-known for being fine and delicate; while the Northern school is known for its qualities of being rough and magnificent. The types of paper cutting that best represent the Southern school include the Mianyang paper cutting from Hubei, the Foshan paper cutting from Guangdong, and the folk paper cutting from Fujian. Those that represent the paper cutting from Jiangsu and Zhejiang include the Yangzhou paper cutting and the folk paper cutting from Zhejiang. The major northern types of paper cutting are the Shanxi paper cutting, the Wei county paper cutting of Hebei, and the folk paper cutting of Shannxi and Shandong. Early in May 2006, the art of paper cutting was officially approved and included into the first batch list of China national intangible cultural heritage. In June 2007, Zhou Zhaoming, the senior disciple of Master Wong Loshang, successor of the Hebei Wei county papercut was officially identified as the representative successor of the Wei country paper cutting.