You've probably heard of the Chinese art of paper-cutting, also known as paper designs, and perhaps have even seen them displayed in a window.

But have you ever tried making paper-cuts?

In today's article, let's look at some key Chinese vocabulary that will help you create your own masterpieces and discuss them in Chinese.

剪纸 Paper-cutting

To begin, let's look at the Chinese name of the art itself:

剪纸

jiǎn zhǐ

paper-cutting

The name will make more sense if you break it down:

剪

jiǎn

to cut

纸

zhǐ

paper

工具 Tools

What tools do you need to create paper-cuts?

Just three! One of them we already know — paper (纸, zhǐ). The other two are scissors and a pencil.

剪刀/剪子

jiǎn dāo/jiǎn zi

scissors

剪刀 (jiǎn dāo) is the more official word for "scissors" while 剪子 (jiǎn zi) is more colloquial.

铅笔

qiān bǐ

pencil

步骤 Steps

Now that our tools are ready, let's start making our paper-cuts!

Step 01 Fold

折

zhé

to fold

The first step is to fold the paper. The more times you fold it, the harder it will be to cut through, but your work will look more intricate.

Step 02 Draw

画

huà

to draw

Once your paper (纸, zhǐ) is folded, you can start drawing your pattern with a pencil (铅笔, qiān bǐ). You can use your imagination and simple lines for a start — thanks to the folded paper, the result will look nice and symmetrical no matter what you do.

Feel free to search online for more advanced paper-cutting pattern templates (剪纸模版, jiǎn zhǐ mú bǎn).

Step 03 Cut

剪

jiǎn

to cut

The final step is cutting the paper following your pattern. Note that the more parts you cut out, the more intricate your artwork will be!

Your turn

Are you good at paper-cutting?

你会剪纸吗？

nǐ huì jiǎn zhǐ ma?

Literal translation: "You-can-cut-paper-[ma]"?

Source: That's Mandarin

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