Paper-cut patterns in historical relics

The earliest unearthed objects of paper-cutting were found in tombs of the Shang Dynasty. The "Sun Bird Gold Foil" from the late Shang Dynasty was unearthed in 2001 at the Jinsha site in Sichuan. The inner layer has 12 tooth-shaped whorls equally spaced, and the outer layer contains four birds flying counterclockwise with their heads and feet connected. The birds' flight direction is opposite to the rotation direction of the inner layer. The entire pattern is exquisitely carved, vividly reproducing the myth and legend of ancient mankinds "golden crow negative to the sun" described in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas", and embodying ancient mankinds worship of the sun and birds.

The "crow curl-shaped gold ornament" now in the Nanjing Museum is a gold foil piece from the Western Zhou Dynasty unearthed from the Qin Dynasty tomb in Li County, Gansu Province. Around 951, at the Warring States Period site in Guwei Village, Huixian County, Henan Province, "silver foil hollow and carved curved ornaments" were unearthed, consisting of complex scroll patterns with small holes on the edges. The "leather carved ornaments" unearthed from Chu Tomb No. 1 in Wangshan, Jiangling, Hubei in 1965 were mainly carved with fine circular, square and triangular patterns. The gold foil sheets unearthed from the Warring States Period tomb of Zeng Houyi in Suixian County, Hubei Province were mostly simple carvings, with zigzag patterns, crescent patterns, geometric patterns, etc., which are closer to the modern paper-cut vocabulary. The gold and silver foil and leather carving techniques that appeared during the Warring States Period have the same origin as the carving, chiseling, engraving and other production techniques of the Bronze Age. In terms of technology, production methods and tools, they are similar to the current paper-cut production techniques.

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The "gold and silver flat stripping technique" was popular in the Han Dynasty. That is to paste the engraved gold and silver foil patterns on the surface of the lacquerware or the back of the bronze mirror, then paint and grind them to reveal the gold and silver foils under the paint layer and show them on the lacquer floor. Patterned metallic luster. The lacquer fen unearthed from the Western Han Dynasty Tomb at Mawangdui outside Wulipai in the eastern suburbs of Changsha City, Hunan Province in 1972 used this process. The black lacquer surface is covered with the outlines of various bird and animal patterns. There are also such decorative pieces among the cultural relics of the Western Han Dynasty unearthed in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, Hepu, Guangxi, and Inner Mongolia.

The Jin Dynasty unearthed from the Jin Tomb in Huangnitang, Changsha, Hunan and the Jin Tomb in Nanchang, Jiangxi"Double Phoenix Pattern Gold Plates" is cut and carved from gold foil. A pair of phoenixes face each other, spreading their wings and looking back. The symmetrical technique is used, and the wings are represented by two rows of zigzag patterns, using a conformal composition layout.