The Chinese paper-cut artform originated, along with the invention of paper, in around 100 BC. In addition to paper, there were also works, made with craft scissors or a knife, in leather, silver, gold and copper foil, fabric, leaves and bark.  Red has always been the most popular color for paper-cuts as it is considered auspicious in traditional Chinese culture. 

The concept of paper-cuts and their designs, inspired by daily life and folk culture, however, represent a departure from tradition. Their hand crafted, precise lines and ingenious patterns make them individually distinctive and recognizable as the works of a particular artist. As these works are in monochrome, papercut artists give free rein to their imagination, using a bold style of graphic art to give a three-dimensional impression of their papercut works of art.
 
As a main art form in ancient China and one of the most popular traditional folk arts today, papercuts have been a woman's pastime for thousands of years, because the main material and tools needed to create it are cheap and widely available. It is also easy to learn.

Paper cutting techniques were often the yardstick for assessing the general capabilities of rural women. Their works embraced a wide scope of subjects, including everyday articles, traditional folk culture and the allegorical implications inherent in it that have been passed down over generations. Painstakingly recording aspects of their daily life and reproducing images of folk customs have inured women in the intrinsic spirit of the art. All-round, decorative and elegant auspicious motifs celebrated in paper-cut artworks reflect native Chinese aesthetic tastes and the essence of the country's folk culture.
 
Papercuts in auspicious patterns and of stock characters often ornament walls, windows, doors, columns, mirrors, lamps and lanterns, and are also presented as wedding gifts and dowries. They appear on doors  and windows in North China, and on pillars and lintels in South China to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits. Paper-cuts express best wishes for prosperity, health, abundant harvests and a happy life at traditional festivals, holidays and solar terms as well as at weddings and funeral ceremonies.

Examples include red paper-cuts of the character "fu" (blessing) or the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac that are pasted on doors and windows on the eve of the lunar New Year. No celebration of an elder family member's birthday is complete without papercuts of the character "shou" meaning longevity, and the big red "shuang xi" (double happiness) character, pasted on doors or as a gift, is an indispensable feature of weddings.

Chinese paper-cuts are in main three schools: the Northern school, including the styles of Shanxi, Hebei's Wei county, Shannxi, and Shandong; the Jiangzhe school which originated in areas of Zhejing Province; and the Southern school, including Guangdong's Foshan, Hubei's Wuhan and Fujian's Zhangpu. But no matter to which school the paper-cut artist belongs, he or she has a basic repertoire of papercut themes. They fall under the three main categories of daily life scenes, such as raising children and tending plants and animals; hopes and wishes represented by the motif of a carp leaping through a dragon gate; and scenes from legends and local dramas.  

Traditional Papercut Tools and Procedures
Scissors
Pencil
Xuan paper
Wax Board
Engraving knife
Needle and Thread
Dye or ink and brush
Kerosene Lamp
Iron

First, use the brush to paint the Xuan paper red, and the iron to smooth the paper when dry. Use the pencil to draw the motif on a board and the knife to engrave it as a pattern. Place a sheet of moist red paper over the pattern and use a kerosene lamp to let it dry. The blanks that appear on the red paper are the papercut template. Place the template on top of a stack of 20 sheets of paper and cut the pattern out using a pair of long handled sharp scissors.

The paper-cut art was added to the list of national intangible cultural heritage approved by the State Council on May 20, 2006. Zhou Zhaoming, a former student of  famous papercut artist Wang Laoshang, was included on the June 5, 2007 list of 226 inheritors of Chinese folk arts. And the Shanghai Li Shoubai Paper-cut Studio was awarded the first Ministry of Culture Cultural Heritage Day medal on June 8, 2007. 

(Source: baike.baidu.com/ Translated by womenofchina.cn)