The Art of Living

By Wang Hairong

At the age of 66， Wang Jie is learning a new skill—papercutting. Every Monday and Thursday afternoon， she attends a class in her neighborhood in Beijings suburban district of Changping， with her toolkit. The kit， once a medicine box， now holds two pairs of scissors， a paper cutter， a pair of glasses， pencils， a big eraser and a roll of tape， all necessary for her lesson.

She was drawn into papercutting by its beauty but more so by Xia Hong， an inspiring armless craftswoman. Upon learning that Xia was going to teach the art in her neighborhood， Wang enrolled in the class.

“If she can cut paper so well without arms， I should be able to do it with my hands，” Wang told Beijing Review. “What I get from the class is not only a skill， but also a positive attitude toward life，” she said. “Thinking of the difficulties she has been through， now I feel many of the troubles I have encountered are nothing.”

Passing down heritage

“When I was a child， I lost both my arms in a car accident. It changed my entire life. Since then， all of my daily activities， including dressing and eating， have to be done with my feet，” Xia told Beijing Review. “But I dont want my disability to stop me from moving forward， so I have been doing things that others believe are impossible for me.”

One thing she has managed to learn is papercutting. “Papercutting has a kind of magic power. With a pair of scissors， a piece of paper is brought to life through your creativity and your cutting，”she said.

Chinese papercutting is a traditional art， with papercuts widely used as decorations in important events such as festivals， weddings and birthday celebrations. It was added to the UNESCOs intangible cultural heritage list in 2009.

Xia hopes her works can help more people become familiar with papercutting. Since 2012， she has been working as a volunteer teacher. “So far， I have taught more than 4，000 students， fulfilling my childhood dream of being a teacher，” she said.

Many of her students are seniors or persons with disability. The class that Wang attends has around 50 students， mostly residents of her neighborhood. In the class， Xia first sketched patterns on the blackboard， explaining to them which parts should be cut and which parts should be kept. Her students followed suit. Xia walked back and forth in the classroom， offering advice to students when necessary.

When the training program commenced this March， many students had no experience of papercutting. Three months later， every student had completed two or three pieces for display at an exhibition.