Yangzhou paper cutting, with a history of 2,000 years, can be dated back to the Sui Dynasty(朝代), making Yangzhou one of the places where paper cutting first became popular.
In the Sui Dynasty, the people of Yangzhou would cut colorful paper or silk and satin (缎子) to celebrate festivals. It is said that Emperor Yang came to Yangzhou three times. In winter, the flowers and trees in the garden became dry and weak. The emperor asked the girl servants to cut fine silk and satin into flowers and leaves and use them to decorate (装饰)the trees and lakes, copying nicely the looks of spring and summer. Since then, "colorful cutting" has become a popular art in Yangzhou.
In the Tang Dynasty, the paper cutting industry was highly developed and plenty of high quality(高质量)paper was made as gifts for the Court(宫廷). In the Qing Dynasty, because of the economic development, the people of Yangzhou became interested in wearing fine clothing, especially embroidered(刺绣的)clothing. The embroidered clothing were based on paper-cuts, the most well-known of them was from Bao Jun, a paper cutting master. He won a high reputation as Magic Scissors for his wonderful cutting skills.
After the People's Republic of China was started, the Chinese government accepted the importance of paper cutting like many other arts and skills. In 2007, China Paper-cuts Museum opened to the public in the back garden of the Wang's Residence(住所), Yangzhou, greatly helping the development of Yangzhou paper cutting.
