Papercutting

Have you ever wondered where the beautifully cut pieces of red paper hanging on windows came from, or how they were made? Well here’s the answer, they came from China. 

The first known appearance of papercutting was in the Han dynasty. In the story, the best singer of the time had a beautiful sister. He wanted to marry his sister off to the king. But the king already had a very beautiful queen who was a talented dancer. So the singer wrote about how beautiful his sister was in a song. His words were so alluring that the kings asked to meet his sister. The sister was married to the king as a concubine. 

But after she gave birth to her first child, she got really sick and knew she was going to die. The king had spoiled her because of her beauty, and asked to see her one more time. The concubine however said that she didn’t think that was a good idea because she didn’t have any makeup on and she was sick, so she didn’t look good enough for the king. 

The king was insistent though, so she said that the only way she would show him is if he promised to take care of their son and her brother. The king agreed immediately and promised to promote her brother and take care of their son. 

In the end, the concubine still didn’t let him see her one last time. When her maid asked why, she replied: “If a person’s love is based off of beauty, once that beauty fades, so will the love.” After her death, the king was devastated, and asked his followers to summon her spirit. 

One of his followers came up with a way to do that. He cut a piece of paper in the shape of a woman, and after setting up a wall with the king on one side, and candles on the other, he moved the papercutting forward so it looked as if a woman had walked out of nowhere. 

The king was sad, but thanks to his followers, he was finally able to let go.