Ku Shulan, Goddess of Paper Cut
Ku Shulan was born in 1920 to a poor peasant family in a small Chinese village called Wang in Xunyi County, Shaanxi province. At the age of 9, her feet were bound by her mother and after leaving school at 15, she began to learn embroidery and jianzhi (papercutting) as part of her training for marriage. She was married at the age of 17 to a husband who regularly abused her throughout their life together, and gave birth to 13 children, 10 of whom died of starvation or disease before they reached adulthood.
In spite of the extraordinary privations and hardships she endured, Ku Shulan, who never learned to read and write, persisted with her papercutting throughout her adult life and in 1980, her extraordinary talent in jianzhi was discovered by Shanxi Province Cultural Center, after which she was invited to teach and direct papercutting in her province. Soon after, her reputation rose immensely, and Ku was bestowed many domestic awards. In 1996, Ku was designated “Master of China Folk Art and Crafts” by UNESCO. Ku Shulan died in 2004 aged 84, but her popularity and reputation continue to grow.
The above information are extracted from: https://www.facebook.com/stephen.ellcock/media_set?set=a.10152282427180337
Transcending the Mundane
In 2006, a sculpture of coloured papercutting art – Jiangwa la ma Meixiang qi (Jiangwa leads the horse while Meixiang rides) stood at the newly built Xunyi County Central Cultural Square. This sculpture showcased the great artistic charm of the regional Xunyi style of papercutting. The handcrafted piece originated from a native rural woman, Ku Shulan, who was born and raised in Xunyi County.
Ku Shulan (1920-2004),
Master of China Folk Art and Crafts
(click to enlarge)
Over her long career of creating papercutting arts, Ku Shulan mastered the collage technique, which combined different layers of colourful papers. This created a unique artistic style of folk papercutting.
Ku Shulan is the best representative of the colour papercutting art of Xunyi County, the hometown of papercutting art.
On October 12, 1920, Ku Shulan was born in Xunyi County. At the age of 17, she was married off to Sunjiatai Village in the same county. Her husband, Sun Baoyin, was a typical farmer. Due to the large number of people in her in-laws’ family and the small amount of cultivated land, it was difficult to maintain a decent standard of living. In March 1948, Ku Shulan and her husband moved with their children to her native village, and made a living by renting and cultivating land. After the founding of New China, her family received their own land, which drastically improved their lives.
Ku Shulan was a well-known and busy person in her local area. During festivals, she was asked by the villagers to produce papercuttings or embroideries. When there was a wedding, she was never left out in the preparation of the dowry. Whenever a new house was built in the village, she would work hard to cut patterns for the wall borders, ceilings, and windows. She also used colourful papercuts to dress up the cave-home she lived in. On the ceiling of her cave-home, there are papercuts of the sun, the moon and stars, as well as birds and beasts. On the wall, there were peony flowers, lotus lanterns, images of bodhisattvas, in addition to fishes surrounding lotus plants, grape vines with small mice and more. These stunning works of art are resplendent in various colours. Her dwelling was an astonishing art palace.
Unique Xunyi Style
Ku Shulan’s extraordinary talent in papercutting was discovered by Shaanxi Province Cultural Centre during the second papercutting survey in Xunyi County in 1980.
Ku Shulan was a folk papercutting artist discovered during the second papercutting survey in Xunyi County in 1980. Her inspired creations utilised colourful wax paper through cutting, sticking, lining and other techniques.
Ku Shulan’s papercutting works broke away from the traditional monochromatic papercutting model: its methods of expression and composition are pluralistic and two-dimensional.
The portrayal of flowers, trees, humans and animals are very symbolic, adding depth to what could have been an exclusively decorative art. In the treatment of apparel and finery, she imitated shadow art, pursuing complexity and brilliance, laying the foundation of dark colour and matching them with light colour patterns, imitating the effect of hollow space one might see in carvings.
Her expert use of colour contrast, intervals, and complex colour changes on white paper all made her works appear vibrant and lively with their various layers. This complex, gorgeous and colourful papercutting art combined multiple interesting features so her works had a greater emotional and visual impact.
Songs and Arts
Jiangwa la ma Meixiang qi 《江娃拉马梅香骑》, Jiangwa Leads the Horse While Meixiang Rides. Produced in 1990.
(click to enlarge)
Ku Shulan’s works are intricately connected to folk songs. She used folk songs to interpret her works, and used papercutting to express her heart’s songs. This is another feature of Ku Shulan’s papercutting art.
Jiangwa la ma Meixiang qi is one of the best representations of Ku Shulan’s works. In the middle of this papercutting picture is the wife, called Meixiang. She rides sideways on a red horse and holds the stem of a flower.
The groom, Jiangwa, leads a horse and holds a whip in one hand. The characters are surrounded by the idyllic scenery of birds and flowers, and the whole picture is filled with a happy and festive atmosphere.
Ku Shulan sang the following folk song to interpret this paper cut:
“Woodpecker, pecking at the bark,
Jiangwa leads the horse and Meixiang rides it.
Jiangwa takes the whip and hits Meixiang on the tip of her toe.
Meixiang says, ‘Oh, it hurts!’
Jiang Wa then says, ‘Meixiang and I will get along just fine!”
This folk song describes the scene of the young couple’s flirting on the way back to the bride’s family home, which greatly enriches and expands the content of the papercutting work, giving the viewer a better understanding and appreciation of the context.
Kong Kong Shu 《空空树》, Empty Tree. Produced in 1999.
(click to enlarge)
Another papercutting work by Ku Shulan, “Empty Tree” is also related to a folk song.
The whole work of “Empty Tree” is a dead tree cut out in black.
The dead branches stretch on the tree, crisscrossing, and the bees that dance between the dead branches seem to buzz from their place on the paper. The picture, though static, is dynamic and full of vitality.
Although there is no subject to represent “I” in the papercutting piece itself, this piece of art actually represents the scene of the fight between the bees and the human, which is supplemented by the folk song Ku Shulan created, giving the people who admire her papercutting a rich sense of association of ideas and what you don’t see in the picture. Many of Ku Shulan’s paper cuts are complemented by the local folk songs, and in their synthesis, evoke a lively and dynamic melody.
When Ku Shulan created this piece, she snipped and sang:
“In the middle of the month, in mid-February,
I went to the vegetable garden to work on the leeks.The vegetable garden has an empty tree,
Empty tree, tree empty.There are bees on the empty tree.
The bees sting me, I cover the bee,
and the bees sting my head till it swells and I’m dizzy.”
The Awakening
One day in the early spring of 1985, Ku Shulan accidentally fell from a cliff of more than 5 metres in front of a house, causing multiple injuries to her body and knocking her unconscious for more than 40 days. Just as her family was preparing for the worst, she miraculously survived. After recovery, Ku Shulan eagerly took up the scissors, cutting and singing:
“The papercutting goddess passed the words,
it’s embarrassing to not have a temple,
climbing the ravine and strolling on the slopes.On hot days, one has to take shades on tree tops,
and on cold days, one has to go under the sun to keep warm.Entering my home, it’s free and easy,
simply admire the beautiful view in the garden”.
“The paper cuts of others are of chess, art, music, literature and paintings, the eight treasures and auspicious symbols, while what I cut are the red paper and green circles, ” she said. Immersed in the creations day and night, Ku Shulan worked on her unique art tirelessly. She and her two assistants spent 45 days to complete the “The Goddess of Paper Cut.” With a height of 400 cm (157.5 inches) and a width of 171 cm (67.3 inches), “The Goddess of Paper Cut” was one of her best creations during her artistic peak.
Jianhua Niangzi 《剪花娘子》, The Goddess of Paper Cut. Produced in 1989 (click to enlarge)
“The Goddess of Paper Cut” undoubtedly brought glory, confidence and strength to Ku Shulan. In the interviews with experts and journalists, Ku Shulan in her later years often said with her hands on her hips. “I am the papercutting goddess. You see that I am audacious!” Then she laughed.
“The Goddess of Paper Cut” is rich, colourful, and majestic in composition. In a magnificent house under the illumination of two lotus lamps, the Goddess of Paper Cut is adorned with a phoenix crown and a beautiful cape. She holds silver scissors and sprinkles beauty into the world. Distributing the elixir of life or wondrous medicine, she brings health and tranquillity to the world.
Ku Shulan skilfully borrows the artistic image of “The Goddess of Paper Cut” to present human dignity, and the elegance and nobility of women. Thus, the folk papercutting expresses the sublime beauty, sanctity, and grandeur of the feminine. Ku Shulan’s colour papercutting art was near perfection– it attracted the attention of the local art scene in China and entered the galleries of global art.
Awards & Recognitions
Ku Shulan’s artwork, Jiangwa la ma Meixiang qi, was featured as one of China Post’s papercutting series of stamps, released in 2018 (click to enlarge)
In May 1986 and May 1988, in the Xunyi Folk Papercutting Exhibition held by Xi’an Artists Gallery and the National Art Museum of China, Ku Shulan’s papercutting works were exhibited.
In 1989, relevant experts, scholars, and folk art workers from 23 provinces and municipalities across China made a special trip to study the papercutting creations of Ku Shulan.
In 1992, in the 2nd China National Culture Expo and Folk Art Exhibition, Ku Shulan’s works won the Special Award.
In 1994, in the Great Exhibition of Chinese Folk Art, Ku Shulan was awarded the gold medal by the Ministry of Culture.
In 1995, when the World Women’s Congress was held in Beijing, the special papercutting works of Ku Shulan were exhibited at the Central Academy of Art.
In March 1996, Ku Shulan was awarded the title “Master of Chinese Folk Art and Crafts” by UNESCO.
In March 1997, “Papercutting Goddess Ku Shulan” (upper and lower volumes) were published by Taiwan Hansheng Publishing House, and at the same time, a papercutting exhibition and an expert symposium were held in Taipei for Ku Shulan.
In November 1997, Ku Shulan was invited to the Hong Kong Chinese Folk Traditional Arts Festival to conduct papercutting performances and academic lectures.
In October 2000, the Japanese director and the executive director of the Media Center in the Central Academy of Fine Arts accompanied Lu Shengzhong to interview Ku Shulan, and made a feature film to be broadcasted in Japan and Southeast Asia.
In 2001, Ku Shulan’s papercutting participated in the Art Exchange Exhibition of the United Nations member states and received wide acclaim.
In 2003, “Ku Shulan·Papercutting Goddess Legend” was published by Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House and distributed in the whole of China.
On December 19, 2004, Ku Shulan died of illness at 84 years old. Ku Shulan has forty or fifty successors in Xunyi County. Their ages are now between 60 and 70 years old and they have worked with Ku Shulan for more than 20 years.
What Others Said About Her Work
“Ku Shulan is a leader among the many women in China’s vast countryside. She is a unique individual and is one of the treasures of the Chinese culture and the pride of China. To this day, my belief in that becomes stronger. I can tell you that she is the first seed among the folk artists I have found so far. A real master appears every few hundred years. Matisse also created beautiful paper cuts. If he is a real artist, I believe he will show respect to Ku Shulan if he were to meet her. ” Ku Shulan and her coloured paper cuttings are the jewel of Chinese folk art and will remain forever so.”
Professor Yang Xianrang, the former director of the Department of Folk Art at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, in the article “Ku Shulan Passes, the Papercutting Goddess Lives on Forever in the World”
“Ku Shulan’s works do not simulate nature’s image, but in the method of conceptual modelling, profoundly expressing the sublime and longing of a spiritual self.”
Lu Shengzhong, Professor of Central Academy of Fine Arts
“Ku Shulan is good at combining various images through collages to highlight the main characters. The overall sense and rhythm are very strong, and through these romantic, optimistic and fictional images, one can see the purity and kind-heartedness of the artist. And her amazing artistic mind.”
Zhang Fenggao, President of the Chinese Papercutting Society
“Ku Shulan is an outstanding representative of Chinese women. She is both a great mother and a recognised world-class papercutting artist.”
Professor Zhang Daoyi, Department of Art, Southeast University
“Ku Shulan’s papercutting is unprecedented, and the artistic image she created is raw and vivid. The composition is sturdy and simple, and the colour contrast is strong yet harmonious.”
Zuo Hanzhong, Editor of Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House
A Humble Soul
Ku Shulan suffered a life of hardship. On top of that, she has long suffered from the pain caused by bound feet and lower back pain. She has to kneel down to cut vegetables and cook.
Life’s difficulties did not make Ku Shulan lose hope. She called herself “Papercutting Goddess”, a symbol of spirit, which gave her the courage to overcome life’s hardships. This is a valuable spiritual quality of rural women in China.
After the publication of her papercutting works, they strongly resonated with the whole community, and the media made many glamourous reports about her. However, Ku Shulan’s life never changed despite her world-class honours.
For Ku Shulan, papercutting was her heartfelt passion, which manifested in endless inspiration. Her works are colourful, full of images, and vibrant in colours, which can’t be created by a mind of mental distress or pessimism. Her legacy was not only the papercutting arts of great artistic value, but also her spirit of tenacity, perseverance, and not giving up in the face of difficulties.
Xunyi Ku Shulan Papercutting Memorial Hall (旬邑库淑兰剪纸纪念馆)
Xunyi colour papercutting is a folk art that developed from monochrome papercutting towards the end of the Qing Dynasty to the early days of the Republic of China. It is more than 1000 years old. It is influenced by folk embroidery and papercutting. The artworks are mainly used for weddings and festivals in rural areas. Attached to and displayed at prominent indoor locations, such as wall enclosures, doors and windows, kiln roofs, and on top of cabinets, they add a festive atmosphere to the events.
In 1984, the Xunyi Ku Shulan Papercutting Memorial Hall was established. The memorial hall has built-up area of 400 square metres (4305 square feet). It displays over 6,000 pieces of work. The Xunyi colour papercutting art has been commended in China and abroad for its unique artistic style.
The works have been collected by the National Art Museum of China, and various museums and art galleries in Shanghai, Hunan, Guangdong, Shaanxi, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.
Her papercutting works have been exported to more than 20 countries including Japan, the United States, Canada, and Singapore. In 1997, the Xunyi colour papercutting exhibition was held in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The Ministry of Culture awarded Xunyi County as the “Culturally Advanced County”, “Hometown of Chinese Folk Papercutting”, “Chinese Modern Folk Painting Township”, and “Hometown of Chinese Folk Culture and Art”.
The Ku Shulan Papercutting Memorial Hall is located on the second floor of the Xunyi County Cultural Promotion Center (旬邑县文化宣传中心). The hall has a wide range of works. At present, all the works of colour papercutting created by Ku Shulan have been included in the provincial and national intangible cultural heritage protection list.
Here are more pictures of the memorial hall:
How to get there
You can reach Xunyi County in Shaanxi province via an international flight to Xi’an Xianyang International Airport. Xunyi County is 1 hour 20 minutes away from the airport.
At Xunyi County, you can drive, take a taxi or a bus to the Memorial Hall.
Route: Yinbai Expressway → 306 Provincial Highway Branch → West Street → Zhongshan Street
Location
Zhongshan Street, Xianyang City,
Xunyi County,
Shaanxi province.
Opening hours
9am – 5pm
Admission Fees
Free admission
Ku Shulan’s Artworks
Below are more artworks from Ku Shulan that we would like to share with you.
Sources:
- 小栗子，“【看道民艺】一个女人的史诗·剪花娘子库淑兰”, September 30, 2016, https://m.taihuoniao.com/topic/view-113881-0.html (accessed: 15 May 2019)
- 相约久久，“咸阳古豳文化博览园旅游攻略之库淑兰剪纸纪念馆”, https://www.meet99.com/jingdian-gubinwenhua-131834.html （accessed: 15 May 2019)
- 半夜三更看视界，“品古豳風，解讀剪花娘子庫淑蘭！”, September 17, 2018, https://kknews.cc/culture/yeg3olk.html (accessed: 15 May 2019)
- 长冰影像，“陝西旬邑剪花娘子庫淑蘭困苦一生民間工藝美術大師享譽國內外”, November 11, 2017, https://kknews.cc/culture/y2ynz9k.html (accessed: 15 May 2019)
- Ellcock, Stephen, “Ku Shulan, Goddess of Paper Cut”, https://www.facebook.com/stephen.ellcock/media_set?set=a.10152282427180337 (accessed: 15 May 2019)
- 旬邑文库, “民间美术卷”, http://new.snxunyi.gov.cn/wcm.files/upload/CMSxy/201611/201611090530027.pdf (accessed: 15 May 2019)
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The incredible story of the Chinese paper cut artist Ku Shulan. She is one such inspiring lady in the Chinese world of paper cutting. Been born in poor peasant family, doesn’t deter her from doing what she loves most. She had come along way of struggles and hardship to be where she was. She only showed her talent in later life following awakening from a coma after a head injury, discovered by Shanxi Province Cultural Center. Ku Shulan was designated “Master of China Folk Art and Crafts” by UNESCO and was bestowed many domestic awards for her beautiful paper cuttings. Sadly Ku Shulan passed away in 2004 at age 84, but her popularity, and reputation continue to grow . Her unique coloured paper cuttings are the jewel of Chinese folk art and will remain forever so.
Thank you Rinpoche for this inspiring post of a talented lady.
Ku Shulan was called a Goddess of paper cut , as her paper-cutting works have won her several rewards.She was designated as “Master of China Folk Art and Crafts” by UNESCO.
Even though her life was miserable, but she had a very strong passion for papercutting arts. Perhaps this was how she could express her feelings and bring some joy in her. Thank you for inspiration article.
Wow… Ku Shulan is really an inspiring lady. Looking at her living condition one will ever think of skill with a papercut. Her works are really amazing. She really put in her effort and focuses on her work in order to produce such a wonderful outcome. I don’t think anyone would think of cutting paper will produce such amazing work. Paper cutting is a common art in Chinese culture but in order to achieve such a great result, it really needs huge determination and creativity.
I just feel sad for Ku Shulan’s pain caused by bound feet and lower back pain. She should live a better life.
Thank you, Rinpoche and the blog team for sharing the story of KuShuLan. She is indeed a talented artist with a strong mind. From her artwork, we can see that she is a person that has a lot of imagination and joy within her despite the condition that she lives in.
People from the same area will not be able to do what she did because of the difficulties that they face in their daily lives. That is a place that is full of dust, and almost everybody is living in poverty. She is tormented by her bound feet and low back pain that she suffered in.
With her talent, she can create her little paradise, and her talent is being recognised widely. This is due to her tenacity in creating something beautiful out of her difficult life.
Ku Shulan is such a talent. Having gone through such a difficult live and still kept this talent going is an amazement in itself. It is such a dying art as nowadays most things are already machine made. Therefore we should be appreciative to talents as as Ku Shulan who kept it alive and passed the paper cutting methods on to her students, who are mostly also in their senior years. China is such a big country and within each pocket, there are talents of all sorts. I am glad that China sees the importance in the preservation of these arts that are fast loosing to the modern living, either disinterest in learning or loosing out to mass production factories. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing Ku Shulan’s story and beautiful talent.
Ku Shulan’s art is very beautiful and she deserves to have a museum of her own. I think Ku Shulan is a very inspirational person. She did not have much education, live in poverty, she had suffered quite a lot in her life but she was still able to produce art that is so vibrant and colourful.
Ku Shulan had 2 choices, be defeated by her destiny, feeling sorry and bitter for herself all the time and living in misery or she can change her focus and make her life more bearable. She had chosen the latter. She found comfort in art, even though what she had experience in life were not pleasant, but her art was a true expression of how she felt deep down. She chose to be happy and she chose to share her happiness with people.
Life may be tough but the toughness in life is created by ourselves, we have created the causes for it so we have to accept it, change our action now if we desire a different outcome. Life is actually hopeful if we truly accept karma. Knowing we will get what sow, we better sow good seeds now. Be regretful of the wrongs we have done and not to repeat them and cultivate good habits and good quality so that we will start creating positive causes for positive results.
I may not be artistic enough to appreciate her work, but one thing for sure, Im inspired by her life and her determination, many people these days, when we face problems and difficulties, we tend to give up easily and always change our path due to the convenience of the situation, I admire Ku Shu Lan for her persistence and her consistency in her work despite with all the hardship she is going through. The abuse from her husband did not defeat her, the sickness she has does not defeat her, her living condition does not defeat her, her poverty does not defeat her, Ku Shu Lan is a very strong lady I would say and her passion towards her paper cutting work keeps her alive.
Clearly an original piece from China to derive inspiration from. It would be nice to see more unique pieces as these. People find many ways to cope with hardships faced in life. And the sufferings endured by this talented artist led to the creation of artworks that carries the colourful stories of her experiences. Nice!
Inspiring article of a such a courageous and determination lady who has suffered and go through a lot of hardship to be where she was. All the hardships she endured pays off when her extraordinary talent in paper cutting was discovered by Shanxi Province Cultural Center. Ku Shulan was called a Goddess of paper cut , as her paper-cutting works have won her several rewards. Wow …… she was designated as “Master of China Folk Art and Crafts” by UNESCO. Even though she has passed away yet her popularity and reputation still continue to grow. She has created a unique coloured paper-cutting art works throughout all her life till her passing. Her special paper cutting works were exhibited in many parts across of China.
Thank you Rinpoche for this inspiring and wonderful article.
Ku Shulan is a inspiring women as i know and i realized this after reading this article. She doesn’t have a good marriage life but she has a very good talent in paper cutting. Even though she doesn’t have a good backbone, she still cuts vegetables for her family.
She is very creative and her creativity is known worldwide but her life didn’t change by that. She didn’t waste her life by worrying about her family situation but she get up by using her creativity. Thank you.
“当我迫不及待地问她剪纸作品的内涵时，库淑兰说不出什么道道儿，不过老大娘有更为绝妙的表达方式。她指着那“剪花娘子”的作品，脱口唱了起来：“剪花娘子把言传，爬沟溜渠在外边。没有庙院实难堪，热里来了树梢钻，冷里来了烤暖暖。进得库淑兰家里边，清清闲闲真好看，好似庙院把景观⋯⋯人家剪的琴棋书画八宝如意，我剪花娘子铰的是红纸绿圈圈。”此时的她神情灿烂得像一朵花，心里充满阳光，手舞足蹈，如痴如醉。”
感谢仁波切的分享，让我第一次留意到这位民间剪纸艺术家。这是从别处看到的一段关于库淑兰的侧写。我觉得写得很有画面，就抄了下来跟大家分享，看看这位淳朴的大娘是怎么看待剪纸的。我不懂艺术，但我想，一个用生命去热爱，去创造，把对生命的热情融入作品中，再让作品反过来带给生命色彩的作品，应该都会是令人感动的作品。
A truly inspiring bittersweet life story of Ku Shu Lan. She finds true joy and happiness from her unique papercutting from her hardship . Her papercutting designs are very colorful and beautiful. Very different from the ones we normally cut for festivals. This is the first time i have seen such beautiful and colorful papercutting. Thank you very much Rinpoche and blog team for sharing such an inspiring story. ?????
Ku Shulan was not born in a good family. She did not sound to have a good life. She didn’t have the opportunity to get an education and she was married to a husband who always abused her. Her life was just miserable.
Even though her life was miserable, but she had a very strong passion for papercutting arts. Perhaps this was how she could express her feelings and bring some joy in her. Her works are very vibrant and full of energy. She was not defeated by her tough and difficult life.
I think everyone needs to have a passion for something. Passion keeps us going and gives us hope. When we have passion, we are motivated to find ways to achieve what we that. Passion is the reason for us to wake up every day and actually looking forward to another day. I guess this was how Ku Shulan managed to get through the difficulties in life.