Paper-cutting originated in the Warring States Period. In the Northern Dynasties, Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty, it gradually developed into patterns, engraving gold and silver foil paste, window paper-cuts, lantern decorations, shadow puppets, festival paper-cuts, etc. Artists use knives instead of pens, and create exquisite paper-cut works through painting, cutting, engraving and other techniques, plus dotting, dyeing and coloring techniques. Paper-cutting art is very popular in rural areas of various counties (cities and districts) in Jiaxing. The paper-cutting in Xieqiao Town, Haining, Weitang Town and Xitang Town, Jiashan are representative. The tools for paper-cutting are relatively simple, a pair of scissors (a carving knife) and a few pieces of colored paper (mostly red paper) are enough. There are three main types of paper-cutting techniques: one is folding paper-cutting. It is to fold a square paper three or four times, cut the pattern, and after unfolding, several identical patterns are repeated in a circle, and this form is called "tuanhua". There is no need to deliberately design the pattern for folding paper-cutting. You can cut unexpected beautiful patterns with your hands, which are varied and fun. The second is symmetrical paper-cutting. Fold a square piece of paper in the middle and draw a pattern on it. The left and right halves (or upper and lower halves) of the cut pattern can completely match each other. The third is the Yin-Yang paper-cutting method. Draw a pattern on a piece of paper and cut it so that the pieces of paper and the lines of paper are connected. Unfold it, and the pattern is hollow on one side for Yin and solid on the other side for Yang. The basic characteristics of Jiaxing paper-cutting are: it takes a wide range of materials, the content is closely related to the folk life in the south of the Yangtze River, mostly reflects folk customs, has a strong atmosphere of the water town in the south of the Yangtze River, and reflects the aesthetic preferences of the people. Common patterns are often traditional themes, including phoenixes, magpies, butterflies, peaches, flower baskets, fruits, birthday stars, lucky stars, gods of wealth, fairies, etc., as well as sericulture, field work, scenery, flowers, character modeling, etc. Some paper-cutting also uses legends and myths as content. In terms of expression, Jiaxing paper-cutting often combines the meanings embodied by borrowed objects, symbols and homophony. The most representative of the homophonic meanings is "Year after year of abundance", with lotus and fish as the pattern ("lotus" is homophonic to "continuous", "fish" is homophonic to "surplus"); "joyful eyebrows", with magpies and plum blossoms as the pattern ("plum" is homophonic to "eyebrow"). There are many folk paper-cutting artists in Jiaxing, such as Wang Qiansong from Haining. Under his instruction, more than 200 people in Xieqiao Town, Haining have initially learned the art of paper-cutting. The main problem facing Jiaxing paper-cutting art at present is the focus on carving or cutting and carving in the same way, lack of creation and innovation ability, and training is needed to improve. Jiaxing paper-cutting has been included in the second batch of Jiaxing City's intangible cultural heritage list. Information source: Jiaxing Library Information source: Jiaxing Library