Chinese paper cutting, shadow puppets and kites

Paper cutting is 剪纸 (jiǎnzhǐ) in Chinese, from 剪, "to cut with scissors", and 纸, "paper". According to Wikipedia, the art may go back to the invention of paper, credited to Cai Lun, an official of the Eastern Han, in the 2nd century. Before paper, people already cut patterns out of gold and silver leaf, and the practice lasted: Chinese Wikipedia mentions women who, under the Han and Tang, wore such cut-outs at their temples. According to Wikipedia, archaeological finds date paper cutting to the 6th century: the dry climate of the north-west has preserved paper cuts from the Northern dynasties at Turpan, in Xinjiang.

At first, paper cutting was used mainly in funeral rites and sacrifices. Chinese Wikipedia quotes a poem by Du Fu (杜甫), the Pengya Ballad (彭衙行), in which the poet, fleeing the rebels, is taken in by a friend who washes his feet and "cuts paper to call back his soul". The art matured under the Tang and peaked under the Ming and Qing.

The paper is cut with scissors or carved with a knife, often folded several times first and then opened out to reveal the pattern. A craftsman's tip reported by Chinese Wikipedia: on curves, "turn the paper, not the scissors". Styles vary: in the north, simple and vigorous shapes; in the south, fine and delicate patterns, as in Foshan.

In 2009, at its committee's 4th session in Abu Dhabi, UNESCO inscribed Chinese paper-cut on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. It describes a mainly female art, passed from mother to daughter from childhood, and especially common in the countryside.

Because they so often decorate doors and windows, paper cuts are often called "flowers" (花), in the sense of "patterns". The ones stuck on windows are 窗花 (chuānghuā), "window flowers". According to Wikipedia, windows are decorated with them to welcome spring and the new year, especially in northern China, a custom practised since the Song and Yuan. Red paper dominates, because red is associated with happiness and good fortune.

The characters most often cut are 福 (fú, "good fortune"), for New Year, and 囍, for weddings. It is the character 喜 (xǐ) of 喜欢 (xǐhuan, "to like") and 喜事 (xǐshì, "happy occasion, wedding"), written twice: it is read like 喜 and is also called 双喜 (shuāngxǐ), "double happiness". Chinese Wikipedia explains the doubled joy by the fact that a marriage brings joy to both families, the groom's and the bride's.

A popular legend credits its invention to the young Wang Anshi (王安石), who had come to the capital to sit the imperial examinations: on his wedding day he is said to have learnt that he had passed the imperial examinations and, to celebrate both joys, written a large golden 囍 on red paper. Chinese Wikipedia notes that the story has no historical basis: Wang Anshi's known wife, a Lady Wu, does not match the tale.

UNESCO adds that paper cuts also decorate beds and ceilings, and accompany birthdays, ceremonies and prayers.

Shadow puppetry is 皮影戏 (píyǐngxì) in Chinese, "skin shadow theatre": 皮 (pí) is skin or leather, 影 (yǐng) is shadow, as in 影子 (yǐngzi), and 戏 (xì) is a play. Flat, jointed puppets cut from leather are moved with rods behind a translucent screen lit from behind, while music, singing and dialogue tell the story.

Its origin is wrapped in legend. According to an often-repeated story, after the death of his favourite concubine, Lady Li (李夫人), Emperor Wu of Han (汉武帝) called on the magician Li Shaoweng, who promised to bring back her spirit: behind a lit curtain, the emperor saw a shadow that looked like her move. It is often said that the magician used a shadow puppet, but Wikipedia points out that the original text, the Book of Han, gives no reason to think so. A Shaanxi saying quoted by Chinese Wikipedia sums up the story its own way: shadow theatre "began under the Han, grew under the Tang and flourished under the Song".

What is better established is that it was already popular under the Song, when holidays were marked by many shadow plays. The Mengliang lu (梦粱录), Wu Zimu's (吴自牧) description of the Southern Song capital, relates that at first, in Bianjing (汴京), figures were carved from plain paper; then, as the craft improved, they were carved from sheepskin, painted in colours, which did not wear out. Loyal characters were given regular features, traitors ugly ones. Today, in China, cowhide, sheepskin and donkey hide are most common. Making a figure takes 24 steps and some 3,000 knife cuts. According to UNESCO, many puppeteers carve their own figures, which have between 12 and 24 movable joints.

According to Wikipedia, under the Ming the city of Beijing alone had 40 to 50 shadow troupes. Under the Qing the art reached its peak: many great families, Chinese Wikipedia notes, prided themselves on having their figures carved by masters and keeping their own troupe. There are many regional styles; Wikipedia distinguishes two main families, Luanzhou in the north and Sichuan in the south, and the shadows of Shaanxi, Shanxi and Gansu are also well known. Shadow theatre later suffered from war and then from the Cultural Revolution and its campaign against the "Four Olds", before reviving with the reforms. It can be seen in Zhang Yimou's 1994 film To Live.

The art also travelled. In France, such shows were advertised as "ombres chinoises" ("Chinese shadows"). According to Wikipedia, French missionaries brought shadow theatre back from China in 1767 and gave shows in Paris and Marseille that caused quite a stir; adapted to local taste, these "ombres chinoises" gradually became the "ombres françaises".

In 2011, at its committee's 6th session in Bali, UNESCO inscribed Chinese shadow puppetry on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. It describes large troupes of seven to nine people and small troupes of two to five, performing for entertainment or for religious rituals, weddings and funerals. Some puppeteers are professionals; others are amateurs who perform in the slack farming seasons. Many elderly masters know dozens of plays and have mastered improvised singing, falsetto, handling several figures at once and playing several instruments.

Chinese tradition credits Mozi (墨子) and Lu Ban (鲁班), in the 5th century BCE, with inventing the kite. The Han Feizi relates that Mozi spent three years making a wooden bird (木鸢), which flew for a single day before breaking. When his disciples admired it, Mozi replied that he was less skilful than the craftsman who, from a scrap of wood and in less than a morning, shapes the pin of a cart that can pull heavy loads.

With paper, under the Han, paper kites became common; they were called 纸鸢 (zhǐyuān), "paper birds". According to Wikipedia, the finest are made of split bamboo, covered with silk and painted by hand. Kites also went to war: in the 6th century, under the Liang, people tried to send a call for help by kite, and under the Song an incendiary kite was invented. According to Chinese Wikipedia, kites became toys from the Tang onwards; in the late Tang, whistles were attached that sang in the wind like a zheng zither (筝): hence the name 风筝 (fēngzheng), "wind zither".

Today Weifang (潍坊), in Shandong, is known as the "world kite capital". According to Wikipedia, it has the largest kite museum in the world. The first international kite festival took place there on 1 April 1984; it has been held every year since, usually in April. In 1989 the International Kite Federation was founded there and set up its headquarters in the city.