Paper-Cuts--A spectacular folk art in China

A spectacular folk art	A spectacular folk art

Paper-Cuts is a popular folk art in china. During Spring Festival, many families decorate the window panes of their houses with pleasant-looking paper-cuts portraying Chinese opera characters, flowers, birds, insects and fish.
A piece of paper can be turned in the hands of an artisan, with the help of a knife or a pair of scissors, into any of a wide variety of patterns---landscapes, flowers, birds, animals and human figures. These simple works of art may be displayed in wll frams or pressed under glass table-tops to grace the room with their elegant lines and pleasing images.
In the old days, people of certain regions used to cut red paper and imitation fold foil into chickens, dogs, sheep, pigs, cattle and horses or pictures of “peaches of immortality” and “high-ranking person of fine horse” and decorate their offerings to the gods with these by way of praying for prosperity and happiness. Today, on festivals or festive occasions such as a wedding, paper-cuts are still made and pasted on doors, windows, walls, rice jars and stoves to brighten up the house and add to the jubilance.