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Culture and Art
Reference:

Jianzhi art in the works of Chinese artist Ku Shulan (analysis of the creative method on the example of the work "The Goddess of Paper Cutting")

Tszin' Fen

PhD in Art History

Postgraduate student at the School of Arts and Humanities, Far Eastern Federal University (Russia); Senior Lecturer at the Department of Art and Design, Heihe University (China)

690922, Russia, Primorsky Krai, Vladivostok, Russian Island str., FEFU campus, building 6.2, sq. 449

tczin.fen1@dvfu.ru
Fedorovskaya Natal'ya Aleksandrovna

Doctor of Art History

Professor, Director of the Department of Arts and Design, School of Arts and Humanities, Far Eastern Federal University

690922, Russia, Primorsky Krai, Vladivostok, Russian Island str., Building F, office 406

fedorovskaya.na@dvfu.ru

DOI:

10.7256/2454-0625.2024.4.70404

EDN:

YZYKBC

Received:

09-04-2024


Published:

17-04-2024


Abstract: The subject of this article is the study of the work of the famous Chinese master of folk crafts Ku Shulan (1920-2004), which demonstrates the trends in the modern development of the Chinese folk art of paper cutting (jianzhi). Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the collage technique of Ku Shulan, the identification of its creative method, the features of the technological process, the formal-stylistic and figurative-symbolic content of the carved paintings. The paper analyzes one of the most famous works of Qu Shulan "The Goddess of Paper Cutting", which demonstrates the characteristic features of her author's style. The key methods used in this study are historical-cultural, historical-comparative, and historical-biographical, which made it possible to show the work of Ku Shulan in the context of traditional jianzhi art. Also, to study the creative method of Ku Shulan and identify the figurative and symbolic specificity of the work under consideration, formal-stylistic and semiotic analysis was used. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that a detailed analysis of the technological process of creating works according to the method of Ku Shulan is carried out, revealing the specifics of her work with the jianzhi technique and the creative method itself. On the basis of the traditional technique of paper cutting, Ku Shulan created her own technology – she added collage, cutting, gluing and lining, thereby opening up new opportunities for the development of the art of jianzhi. The main conclusion of the study is that in the context of modern globalization, the art of paper cutting by Ku Shulan acts as a rich source of ideas for the preservation, development and popularization of Jianzhi folk art both in China and in the world.


Keywords:

Ku Shulan, creative method of Ku Shulan, paper cutting, jianzhi, traditional art, collage, Chinese Buddhist Symbolism, Goddess Jianzhi, color in jianzhi, ornament in jianzhi

This article is automatically translated.

The art of paper carving or jianzhi (Chinese: jianzhi) is a Chinese decorative technique that has been widely used in China for many centuries and is rightfully considered a folk tradition. In different periods of Chinese history, jianzhi art was popular among both ordinary and noble inhabitants of the Celestial Empire. According to Chinese research, the first mention of this technique is associated with the era of the Shang Dynasty (160-1100 AD), from where information came about the carving of decorative elements from gold foil, leather and silk fabrics for making jewelry. Currently, Jianzhi has not lost its relevance, the Chinese still cut out various patterns during the New Year holidays, paste them on windows, walls and doors to create a festive atmosphere. Paper cutting is a traditional folk art of women and children of different generations. It should be noted that paper cutting in recent decades for China is not only a tribute to tradition, but also a way to embody new artistic ideas.

Having gone far beyond the borders of the country, jianzhi has become part of the Chinese tradition broadcast externally, attracting attention in different countries, including Russia, both artistic and aesthetic, and practical components. We note the works of N.V. Martynova and D.R. Slipetskaya [1], Wang Keying [2], Wan Jianye [3], which consider jianzhi.

Along with the study of traditional Jianzhi forms, the study of modern trends in their development is of considerable interest. For example: "One of the master artists of the XX - early XXI century, who made a significant contribution to the development of Jianzhi art and filling it with new technological and expressive techniques, was the folk craftswoman Ku Shulan."

Ku Shulan (1920-2004), a native of Xunyi, Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, is one of the outstanding masters of the Chinese folk art of papercutting. A master of Chinese folk arts and crafts, known as the "Goddess of Papercutting"The goddess Jianzhi, the name of the most famous series of her works among Chinese artists, is now firmly associated with her name.

        The life path of the master is the story of the life of a simple Chinese woman. Born into a poor peasant family in 1920. Zhou Lu notes that it was her mother's influence that made Ku Shulan who she is. Because she started learning papercutting from her mother at the earliest.From early childhood, Ku Shulan tasted the suffering of the world: at the age of 9, her mother bandaged her legs, because "lotus feet" were considered the ideal of female beauty at that time. Ku Shulan got married at 17 by family decision, she gave birth to a total of 13 children, and survived only two sons and one daughter. She was disliked in her husband's family, she was subjected to domestic violence, suffering humiliation for more than 60 years [4.p.120].

An accident in 1985 changed her life forever, making her believe in divine powers. Ku Shulan accidentally fell into a ditch more than five meters deep on her way home, and was in a coma for more than 40 days, after which she miraculously woke up. She remembers that she met there with a certain Lady cutting flowers, sent by the gods to help the suffering. This image greatly influenced the craftswoman, filling her works with symbolic associations.

Since 1985, most of the images of Ku Shulan have been her own interpretation of the image of a Deity, a Goddess. Researchers of her work note that in creating the image of a Lady cutting flowers, this is no longer a realistic style of the past – this is her main symbolic composition: heaven and earth, the upper part of the work is the sky, the lower part is the earth, and the middle is a man, which in the picture are joined together, forming a path of unity between heaven and man. Regardless of whether they are sitting or standing, the common denominator is that they all have gorgeous and colorful headdresses and costumes, they sit on lotus flowers, in a temple hall with a triangular roof, and often hold scissors like Guanyin and like a fairy. The image of each Goddess of papercutting gives people a sense of grace, dignity and luxury, which not only emphasizes the position of a woman, but also expresses Ku Shulan's own desire for self-respect [5.p.162].

The master died in 2004, and at the end of her life the world learned about her and her unique technique. In 1994, her work won the gold medal of the Chinese Folk Art Exhibition.  In 1996, Ku Shulan was named the "Outstanding Master of Chinese Folk Art" by UNESCO, and she became the first Chinese woman to receive this title [6].

In 1997, a book titled "The Goddess of Papercutting Ku Shulan" (volumes I and II) was edited and published by the Taiwanese publishing house Hansheng. Ku Shulan's colored clippings have been included in the national List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. In 1989, Ku Shulan used her work to draw attention to folk art by relevant experts, scholars, and folk art workers from 23 provinces and cities across the country.

During her life, Ku Shulan made more than 1,000 paper-cut works, creating her own special artistic style and creative method, which distinguishes layering and multicoloration.

Features of the creative method (style, technology)

To understand Ku Shulan's contribution to Jianzhi art, let's pay attention to some of the most significant innovations. Traditional folk paper cutting in China mainly uses monochrome in the image (one color) or no more than two colors. Red paper is most often used, due to the special symbolic meaning of this color for Chinese culture. The Chinese love the color red, whether it's a five-star red flag or a paper clipping and red lanterns hung during the New Year. The red color symbolizes enthusiasm, warmth and celebration.

Ku Shulan uses more than a dozen different colors, cutting out a multi-figure collage from colored paper and is the recognized founder of color paper cutting. The saturation and brightness of the color, the combination of red and green. Chinese art historians have associations with the work of A. Matisse [7.p.120].

Thus, Ku Shulan's works go beyond the traditional monochrome jianzhi model, the cutting technique includes not only a planar two-dimensional image, but also an attempt to show a peculiar volume due to the contrasting division of a dark and light substrate, which was complemented by light and bright patterns. This, in particular, is written in an article by N.V. Martynova and D.R. Slipetskaya, where the authors point out that this technique created a volume effect similar to the art of shadow theater. The master uses this technique in the complementarity of color transitions, conveying the compositional space [1.c.16].

In many of Ku Shulan's works, four paper cutting techniques can be identified: cutting, collage, gluing and lining. Wang Yaqin, analyzing the creative techniques of Ku Shulan, notes that cutting with scissors is the main technological technique, it is used, among other things, for single cutting, folded scissors and overlapping scissors (example 1.2.3).

In the work "The Goddess of Papercutting", the small dots used as decorations are made using a single cutting technique. Fold all symmetrical patterns of paper in half, cut it with scissors. This method is called Folding the cut, For example, lotus flowers, figures, lotus-shaped lamps to the left and right of the figure and plants next to the figures are used in the work.  The overlapping cut is used to create patterns on the heroine's clothes [8.p.83].

The next technique of gluing is to connect different patterns layer by layer, gluing them to each other, creating a collage to collect a common composition. The lining is the base on which the image is assembled (example 2). The technology consists in gluing a large sheet of paper of different colors on the last layer of the cut composition, this is gluing the main background color so that the color of the lining can be seen through the cut places, which increases the layering and volume of the image. The lining connects the elements of the cut-out collage, scattered in color, into a single whole.

The technological scheme of Ku Shulan is given in Wang Yaqin's study "Analysis of artistic elements and connotations in cutting out colored paper clippings of Ku Shulan"[9].

 

 Example 1. Cutting [9]             

Example 2. Colored lining [9]    

Example 3. Collage [9]   

 

Formal, stylistic and symbolic features of the work

"The Goddess of papercutting"

One of Ku Shulan's most famous works was the decorative painting "The Goddess of Papercutting" ("", "Ji?n hu? Ni?ng Z?"), created in 1988, which includes many elements: a woman dressed in a rich costume, sitting, apparently, in the Buddha pose, flowers and plants etc., cut in different colors (example 4). Currently, this work is in the collection of the National Art Museum of China. Let's look at the details of the costume and headdress of the "Goddess of Paper Cutting".

The Goddess's clothing is a traditional Chinese wedding dress Fengguan xiapei (f?nggu?n xi?p?i), a type of Chinese Hanfu dress with a Fengguan headdress. This dress was worn by rich women when they got married in ancient times to show their social status, as well as during official events, it was worn by the wives of officials. The headdress is called the phoenix crown or Fengguan, a characteristic feature of it is the presence of long pendants [10]. Example 5 shows a photo of a girl in Fengguanxiapei. (example 5)

The phoenix crown and the red dress of Wu Ku Shulan bear a structural resemblance to the phoenix crown with pendants and the bride's dress. In addition to the base of the red color, multicolored decorative patterns have been added. On the shoulders and cuffs, their pattern is mostly repeated and arranged in such a way as to represent a perfect combination of dots and lines. The clothes are decorated with chrysanthemum patterns or a series of random combinations such as zigzags and small dots.

The lining of the painting includes a large area of white at the top and black at the bottom, which enhances the volume and three-dimensionality of the work (the Goddess is sitting on the floor), and also invisibly plays a guiding role in the viewing order, looking from top to bottom.

 

Example 4.

Ku Shulan. The Goddess of Papercutting, 1988. Shaanxi Provincial Museum of Fine Arts

Example 5.

Fengguanxiapei. The wedding dress is worn by actress Yang Mi, who participated in the series "Yanyuntai" (2020, directed by Jiang Jiajun).

 

The image of a woman in Ku Shulan is the embodiment of the ideal image of traditional Chinese women: with big eyes, a high bridge of the nose, a red cherry mouth, pink blush on the face, bangs of Qi and a pair of dexterous hands, the image is generalized and exaggerated. The figure is sitting cross-legged on a lotus flower, and the sitting position is similar to the figure of Buddha, In the eyes of Ku Shulan, the Goddess of papercutting, is also her idol and embodiment. [11.p.95].

Let's pay attention to the fact that the artist's painting is filled with symbols reflecting her religious beliefs. It is known that Ku Shulan's mother professed Buddhism, which strongly influenced Ku Shulan when she was a child. Not far from the school where Ku Shulan studied, there is the Chenghuangmiao Temple (chenhuang miao), which contained carved statues of gods and brightly colored frescoes that inspired her awe and subsequently inspired the creation of paper-cut images. [12.c.162].

In this example, the Goddess depicted is sitting in a lotus flower, where each petal is made in the shape of a fish. The traditional Buddhist plot in modern China acquires its symbolic meanings along with the generally accepted ones. So, the lotus symbolizes purity, can emphasize the sanctity and nobility of the characters. The appearance of fish as petals symbolizes excess, prosperity, long-term well-being, abundance.

The female character is dressed in a full suit, with a magnificent crown and a calm expression, holding scissors that symbolize her status and type of activity. The structure of the headdress: a black bang Qi as the first row, followed by a double row of red and green dots, followed by a series of floral patterns, with pink and red flowers alternately. The last row of the headdress is a pattern of green leaves. This creates five rows glued one after the other (example 6). The shape of the hair ornament in the "Goddess of Papercutting" is similar to the phoenix crown of an ancient Chinese woman, but papercutting is mainly expressed by patterns and dots [13.p.8].

 

Example 6. Ku Shulan. The goddess of papercutting. A fragment. Phoenix Flower Crown

 

 

Let's pay attention to another Buddhist symbol (example 7-8). The red dot in the center of a woman's eyebrows has many meanings. For example, in China, a red dot was applied to little girls as makeup, "for beauty." The red dot on Bodhisattva Guanyin's eyebrows has several meanings, firstly: As a religious symbolism, in Buddhist art, the red dot on the forehead of Bodhisattva Guanyin is sometimes interpreted as a symbol of Buddhist practice. Secondly, as makeup, in Chinese physiognomy, the red dot of Guanyin is sometimes referred to as the "beauty mole" and is considered a symbol of good luck. Thirdly, artistic expression, in some works of art, the red dot of Bodhisattva Guanyin can be used to enhance her external beauty, as a decorative element. Thus, the red dot on the eyebrows of the characters of Ku Shulan should not only reflect beauty, but also express worship of God.

Example 7. Zuo Dafeng as Bodhisattva Guanyin in the film Journey to the West (1986, directed by Yang Jie)

Example 8. A red dot on a little girl's eyebrows after makeup (Jin Feng's personal photo archive)

 

 

 

The depicted lotus position in which the heroine is sitting is also symbolic. The researchers note that the woman is represented in two images as a man and as a goddess. In China, along with Buddhist symbols, a woman sitting cross-legged symbolizes an elderly woman. Young people usually stand, while older people sit cross-legged[14.p.133]. Sitting cross–legged is a traditional custom when people did not have chairs, and this sitting position was designed to maintain the stability of the landing. In the painting by Ku Shulan, the Goddess of papercutting sits cross-legged, which emphasizes the age of the woman and at the same time the ancient Chinese culture.

In Ku Shulan's modeling, the interpretation of the character's hands is detailed: the shape of the hands is open, emphasizing their elegance, the presence of scissors, reflects the ingenuity of a woman and her "type of activity", the ability to cut paper.

Another Buddhist symbol is the lotus-shaped lanterns, which symbolize the light of the Buddha in China and represent the artistic realm of innocence and simplicity (example 9). The magic of lotus lanterns is used for prayer and worship at religious events. As a decoration in traditional Chinese folk events, especially during the Spring Festival and other traditional holidays, lotus lanterns are placed in homes or public places to create a peaceful and peaceful atmosphere.

Under the lotus-shaped lantern there is a plant that resembles a peach in shape (Example 10). Peach is a symbol of longevity and immortality in China, they represent longevity and health in the Chinese art of papercutting and are used to convey good wishes.

Example 9. Ku Shulan. The goddess of papercutting. A fragment. Lotus Lamp

 

Example 10. Ku Shulan. The goddess of papercutting. A fragment. Peach

 

Ku Shulan's life is inseparable from nature. The shape of the plant in her works arose from observations: peach flowers, pears, daffodils, begonias, plums, peony flowers, bergamot, pomegranate, lotus, chrysanthemums, plants, fruits and trees (grapes, peaches, persimmons, pomegranates, melons, etc.)[15.p.41]. All plants are symbolic for China and their appearance in the works is not accidental. So, pomegranate, for example, symbolizes many children and grandchildren, pines – immortality, peaches – longevity, peony – wealth, etc. For Ku Shulan, the introduction of these elements is her longing and prayer for a happy life.

The researchers point out that Ku Shulan's painting "The Goddess of Papercutting" shows the heroine's detachment from reality. In the life of ordinary people there is a domestic space and a spiritual, sacred space, in everyday space we must face firewood, rice, oil and salt, and in the spiritual world we can make guesses about the sun, moon and stars. Practical problems are inevitable in life, but there can be no fewer unearthly prayers and fantasies so that life complements each other between the virtual and the real, and it is not too specific and does not fall into some kind of mediocrity of life. The sacred space is turned to the spirit so that he obeys the call of divinity, allows his spirit to go beyond the limits of the concrete life of reality [14.p.143].

Having inherited the traditional folk art of papercutting, Ku Shulan introduced innovations into it using collage skills. Unlike monochrome clippings, her work is rich in layers and compositional elements. Vivid characters, animals, plants and flowers are applied layer by layer to give a three-dimensional feel to the image. "The Goddess of papercutting" is just one of the striking examples of the embodiment of a unique technique, an author's creative method for creating an important image for a craftswoman. Note that this is not the only decorative painting inspired by the images of the Goddess. Ku Shulan has created a series of repetitive works with a typified female image.

The use of Buddhist symbols in her paintings was important for the master. Each element of Ku Shulan's work translates the traditional culture of China, reflecting spiritual values. Ku Shulan conveys emotions with scissors, praises life. This is also the perception of the vast universe and the life of the Chinese for thousands of years. Ku Shulan paper cutting inherited and contributes to the development of Chinese paper cutting, and has made an outstanding contribution to the traditional art of China.

References
1. Martynova N.V., & Slipetskaya D.R. (2020). Phenomenon of Traditional Chinese Ornamental Art of Jianzhi: Traditions and Modernity. American Scientific Journal, 37, 12-17.
2. Wang, Keing. (2023).Development and Study of the Chinese Folk Art of Paper Cutting. Philosophy and Culture, 4.
3. Wan, Jianye. (2022). Symbolism in Jianzhi剪纸 Works of Art of the Jinzhou District. Philosophy and Culture, 4.
4. Zhou, Lu. (2018).Messenger of the Kingdom of Heaven-Goddess of Paper Cutting Ku Shulan. Minyi, 01, 120-125.
5. Zhang Jie, & Tian Longguo. (2015).Translation of the Image of the "Character" in the Paper-Cut Works of Ku Shulan. Evaluation of Masterpieces, 06, 161-162+173.
6. Xianyang Municipal People's Government. Folk craftsman Ku Shulan cuts paper//Baidu Encyclopedia [Electronic resources]. Retrieved from https://baike.baidu.com/reference/8092413/533aYdO6cr3_z3kATPOJn6_3My_AYo-v7eLbB7pzzqIP0XOpX5nyFJA74dkm__lgWgzEptZhbpkPnPCzFQMMp78Pc-0xQ70ngy67Dg
7. Chen, Li. (2017). Analysis of Paper-Cut Works of Art by Ku Shulan. Fine Arts Wide-Angle, 07, 119-120.
8. Li, Zhe. (2014). Analysis of the works of Ku Shulan The Goddess of Paper Cutting. Brand, 08, 83-84.
9. Wang, Yaqin. (2023). Ku Shulan: An Analysis of Artistic Elements and Connotations in Cut Paper with Colored Paste. Vision of Intangible Cultural Heritage, 10, 80-83.
10. Ôýíãóàíüñÿïýé“fèngguān xiápèi”. Ýíöèêëîïåäèÿ Baidu https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%87%A4%E5%86%A0%E9%9C%9E%E5%B8%94?fromModule=lemma_search-box
11. Lü, Fangyan. (2011). A Brief Discussion on the Life Force in Paper Cutting by Ku Shulan. Modern Communication, 05, 95.
12. Zhang Jie, & Tian Longguo. (2015).Translation of the Image of the "Character" in the Paper-Cut Works of Ku Shulan. Evaluation of Masterpieces, 06, 161-162+173.
13. Hao, Xiuli. (2022). A Color Iconographic StudyKu Shulan "The Goddess of Paper Cutting". Popular Color, 11, 8-10.
14. Zhang Xichang, Li Tengzi, Liu Juntao, & Guo Zhifan(2022). "The World of Flowers: A Research Exhibition of Ku Shulan's Works "Four People Talking". A Conversation by the Fireplace, 06, 131-135.
15. Zhang, Mengmeng, Guan, Zhongyi, & Ku, Shulan (2015). "The Art of Paper Cutting and Visual Symbols". Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology.

First Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The subject of the research in the article submitted for publication in the journal Culture and Art, as the author indicated in the title ("JIANZHI ART IN THE WORK of Chinese ARTIST KU SHULAN (analysis of the creative method using the example of the work "Goddess of Papercutting")"), is Jianzhi art in the work of Chinese artist Ku Shulan. Accordingly, the work of the Chinese artist Ku Shulan was chosen by the author as an object of research attention. The author pays attention to the brief biography of Ku Shulan, explaining to the Russian reader the relevance of the chosen topic and emphasizing the role of the mentioned biographical facts in the formation of the creative method of the Chinese artist. A brief historical summary of the traditional Chinese art of jianzhi emphasizes the connection of the creative method of the Chinese artist with the traditional culture of China, and a detailed analysis of the widely known work of Ku Shulan "The Goddess of Papercutting" (1988) reveals the unique features of the author's method, including individual techniques, worldview and artistic techniques. The author pays special attention to the symbolic meanings of color and ornament elements, which give the works of Ku Shulan the property of a cultural text, the semantics of which is revealed through the interpretation of historical cultural traditions associated, among other things, with Buddhism. The author's final conclusion is that "every element of Ku Shulan's work translates the traditional culture of China, reflecting spiritual values," since "Ku Shulan conveys emotions with scissors, praises life," which is characteristic of the traditional perception of "the vast universe and the life of the Chinese for thousands of years," as well as that "carving from paper, Ku Shulan inherited and contributes to the development of Chinese paper cutting, as well as made an outstanding contribution to the traditional art of China," is well—reasoned and deserves theoretical attention. Thus, the subject of the study is considered by the author at a high theoretical level, and the presented article can be recommended for publication. The research methodology is based on the synthesis of the historical and biographical method with the techniques of stylistic and semantic iconic analysis. Despite the fact that the research program is not strictly formalized in the introduction, the author's methodological complex is implemented quite logically in a sequence from general to particular, which allowed the author to analyze the creative method of Ku Shulan using the example of the work "The Goddess of Papercutting", revealing in it the common features of the unique style of the Chinese artist. The author reveals the relevance of the chosen topic in sufficient detail through the narration of the complex biography of Ku Shulan, who achieved high national and international recognition for her contribution to traditional Chinese art, despite the difficult vicissitudes of life. The scientific novelty of the work, consisting in the author's methodological solution to reveal the unique creative method of Ku Shulan in the development of traditional Chinese Jianzhi art, is beyond doubt. The style of the text generally corresponds to the scientific one, but the text itself needs additional proofreading and correction: there are commas instead of dots, extra dots in front of square brackets of references to sources, extra spaces before the dot, fused spelling of words and inconsistent phrases in sentences, a paragraph break in a sentence (for example: "One of the master artists of the XX - early XXI centuries, who made a significant contribution to the development of Jianzhi art and filling it with new technological and expressive techniques, became the folk craftswoman Ku Shulan", "... she was the earliest to learn paper cutting from her mother", "All symmetrical patterns Cut the paper in half, cut it with scissors. This method is called Folding the cut, For example, in work..."). The structure of the article corresponds to the logic of presenting the results of scientific research. The bibliography as a whole reveals the problem area, but the design of the list needs to be adjusted taking into account the requirements of the editorial board and GOST. The appeal to opponents is generally correct, although the author does not focus on acute theoretical discussions. According to the reviewer, the interest of the readership of the journal "Culture and Art" in the submitted article is guaranteed, and after a little revision it can be recommended for publication.

Second Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The author presented his article "Jianzhi Art in the works of Chinese artist Ku Shulan (analysis of the creative method using the example of the work "Goddess of Papercutting") to the magazine "Culture and Art", in which a study of the use of traditional Chinese decorative techniques in the works of modern artists was conducted. The author proceeds in studying this issue from the fact that the art of papercutting or jianzhi has been widespread in China for many centuries and is rightfully considered a folk tradition. Currently, Jianzhi has not lost its relevance, the Chinese still cut out various patterns during the New Year holidays, paste them on windows, walls and doors to create a festive atmosphere. Paper cutting is a traditional folk art of women and children of different generations. As noted by the author, papercutting in recent decades for China is not only a tribute to tradition, but also a way to embody new artistic ideas. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that, having gone far beyond the borders of the country, jianzhi has become part of the Chinese tradition broadcast externally, attracting attention in different countries, including Russia, both artistic and aesthetic, and practical components. The purpose of this study is to analyze the creative method of Ku Shulan. The subject of the study is the work of the modern Chinese artist Ku Shulan. In the course of the research, the author applied general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, as well as biographical, semiotic and art criticism analysis. The theoretical basis was the works of such Russian and Chinese art historians as N.V. Martynova, D.R. Slipetskaya, Wang Keying, Wan Jianye, etc. The empirical basis was the work of Ku Shulan "The Goddess of papercutting". Based on the analysis of the scientific elaboration of the problem, the author comes to the conclusion that there is a sufficient number of works of art devoted to the study of Jianzhi art, its history and modern incarnation. However, the author notes that the work of a famous modern craftswoman working in traditional techniques has not received sufficient scientific justification. A detailed study of the author's methodology and style constituted the scientific novelty of the study. Based on the biographical analysis, the author concludes about the strong influence of maternal upbringing and life experiences on the originality of the Ku Shulan style, which is characterized by multilayering and multicoloration. The author highlights the innovative techniques developed and applied by the craftswoman in her work: saturation and brightness, three-dimensional images, collage elements. In many of Ku Shulan's works, the author has identified four paper cutting techniques: cutting, collage, gluing and lining. In the article, the author presents a detailed descriptive and art criticism analysis of the work of Ku Shulan "The Goddess of papercutting". As the author notes, the image of a woman in Ku Shulan represents the embodiment of the ideal image of traditional Chinese women: with big eyes, a high bridge of the nose, a red cherry mouth, pink blush on the face, bangs of Qi and a pair of dexterous hands, the image is generalized and exaggerated. The author also studied the semiotics of the painting, which reflected the religious views of the artist: Ku Shulan's mother professed Buddhism, which strongly influenced Ku Shulan when she was a child. In conclusion, the author presents a conclusion on the conducted research, which contains all the key provisions of the presented material. It seems that the author in his material touched upon relevant and interesting issues for modern socio-humanitarian knowledge, choosing a topic for analysis, consideration of which in scientific research discourse will entail certain changes in the established approaches and directions of analysis of the problem addressed in the presented article. The results obtained allow us to assert that the study of the interaction of the artist's unique style with his life vicissitudes is of undoubted theoretical and practical cultural interest and can serve as a source of further research. The material presented in the work has a clear, logically structured structure that contributes to a more complete assimilation of the material. An adequate choice of methodological base also contributes to this. The bibliographic list of the research consists of 15 sources, which seems sufficient for generalization and analysis of scientific discourse. The author fulfilled his goal, obtained certain scientific results that made it possible to summarize the material, showed deep knowledge of the studied issues. It should be noted that the article may be of interest to readers and deserves to be published in a reputable scientific publication.