Singapore · Paper Craft / Structural Craft
纸扎 (Zhi Zha) / Kertas Mati
Chinese paper effigy making (zhi zha) is the craft of constructing three-dimensional paper objects — houses, cars, electronic devices, clothing, food, luxury goods — to be burned as offerings for the deceased in Chinese Taoist and Buddhist funeral and ancestral worship traditions. The most technically demanding form is the large-scale zhi zha — a full-sized paper mansion or vehicle, up to 3 meters tall, constructed from bamboo wire frame, tissue paper, and painted paper, capable of collapsing for transport and burning at a single ceremony. Francis Tan — identified by NHB's Craft X Design 2024–25 as a Singapore paper effigy maker alongside his woodcarving and lantern-painting skills — represents the multi-skilled urban craftsman who holds several disappearing craft traditions simultaneously. The zhi zha tradition is one of the least documented craft forms in Singapore and Southeast Asia despite its ubiquity at Chinese funerals.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Not inscribed
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