An ox fat plate is also needed for paper cuts. Pine fat and ox fat are battered and boiled. Then the mix is poured on a 30 x 35 cm wooden plate and baked in the sun.

Patterns are sketched on the paper before it is cut. . In the past, moistened paper was stuck to the sample and smoked by coal oil light. When the paper dried, the pattern would appear. But such an approach did not produce a good effect, because the black smoke blurred the pattern. Now artists use a chemical solvent. They paste it on a piece of white paper and put a painted piece of paper on it. They then place a piece of glass on the paper and put it out in the sunshine. Using this method, the patterns are much clearer.

Ⅶ. Papercuts in Guangdong

Declarer：Foshan, Shantou andChaozhouCities in Guangdong Province

There were already papercut professionals in Foshan in theMing Dynasty(1368-1644). By the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), guilds had been set up in Foshan to produce papercuts. According to records, by the early 20th century, there were several hundred workshops with about 3,000 artisans related to the papercut industry. The paper produced by them was the material source for papercuts.

According to its raw materials and production methods, Foshan paper-cuts are divided into copper lining, paper lining, copper writing, silver writing, woodcut, and copper chiseling categories, etc. The copper lining material, copper painting material and copper carving material are most typical. Local copper foil and silver foil are used for cutting, carving and chiseling, and are lined with various color paper and printed with various patterns to create southern style papercuts. Foshan papercuts are both delicate and bold, and different materials are selected according to different demands.

In ancient times, the papercuts were mainly used as decorations for festival gifts, sacrificial ceremonies, embroidery patterns, and product trademarks.