China · Paper Cutting; Ritual Paper Craft; Sericulture Customs
蚕花剪纸 (Cánhuā jiǎnzhǐ)
A paper-cutting tradition of the silkworm-rearing districts of northern Zhejiang, best documented in Deqing, Huzhou. Silkworm-rearing households cut auspicious images before Qingming, the early-April festival and start of the silkworm season: a money tree, a treasure basin, a silkworm cat, a tiger head, evergreen leaves, a gold ingot and a silkworm-flower chicken. The work runs from drawing the pattern, to cutting, to backing and pasting.
Risk level: Endangered · Not listed on its own. It falls within China's 2009 UNESCO inscription 'Sericulture and silk craftsmanship of China', which mentions flowers of silk or paper worn in April. China's national list includes related silkworm customs (蚕桑习俗, X-95, 2008): 'sweeping the silkworm-flower floor' (Deqing) and the Hanshan silkworm-flower fair (Tongxiang). The paper cutting itself is not named in the entries seen.
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