The Art Of Chinese Papercuts
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
Few folk art traditions carry the weight of centuries quite like Chinese paper cutting — a craft so precise, so alive with symbolism, that each snip of the scissors tells a story older than most nations. The Art of Chinese Papercuts, published under the esteemed Traditional Chinese Arts and Culture series, presents a rich and authoritative survey of this ancient craft, chronicling its origins in rural Chinese communities, its ritual significance in festivals and ceremonies, and the extraordinary regional diversity that has shaped its many styles across dynastic history. From the bold, graphic cuts of Shaanxi province to the delicate lacework of Guangdong, the work details the techniques, tools, and cultural meaning embedded in every carefully folded sheet of red paper. Published by Foreign Languages Press in Beijing, this volume stands as both an accessible introduction and a serious cultural document, reflecting China's mid-to-late twentieth-century effort to record and celebrate its intangible heritage for an international audience. The author's approach is methodical yet deeply appreciative, illustrating how papercuts function not merely as decoration but as a living language of auspicious symbols — fish for abundance, phoenixes for prosperity, magpies for joy. For collectors, artists, and anyone drawn to the intersection of craft and culture, this title remains an irreplaceable window into a world where art is made not with a brush, but with a blade — and the question it ultimately poses is: what does it mean to create beauty designed to be given away?
Author: Various
Format: Paperback
Genre: The arts
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
Few folk art traditions carry the weight of centuries quite like Chinese paper cutting — a craft so precise, so alive with symbolism, that each snip of the scissors tells a story older than most nations. The Art of Chinese Papercuts, published under the esteemed Traditional Chinese Arts and Culture series, presents a rich and authoritative survey of this ancient craft, chronicling its origins in rural Chinese communities, its ritual significance in festivals and ceremonies, and the extraordinary regional diversity that has shaped its many styles across dynastic history. From the bold, graphic cuts of Shaanxi province to the delicate lacework of Guangdong, the work details the techniques, tools, and cultural meaning embedded in every carefully folded sheet of red paper. Published by Foreign Languages Press in Beijing, this volume stands as both an accessible introduction and a serious cultural document, reflecting China's mid-to-late twentieth-century effort to record and celebrate its intangible heritage for an international audience. The author's approach is methodical yet deeply appreciative, illustrating how papercuts function not merely as decoration but as a living language of auspicious symbols — fish for abundance, phoenixes for prosperity, magpies for joy. For collectors, artists, and anyone drawn to the intersection of craft and culture, this title remains an irreplaceable window into a world where art is made not with a brush, but with a blade — and the question it ultimately poses is: what does it mean to create beauty designed to be given away?