---
title: "Chinese Paper Cutting (剪纸): What the Patterns Mean, Its History and How to Cut 囍"
description: "Chinese paper cutting, 剪纸 (jiǎnzhǐ): what each pattern means (the fish, the bat, the magpie, the peony), where it comes from, how to cut a double happiness 囍 in one fold, and 32 words with pinyin and sound."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-paper-cutting"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

Free · 32 words

# Chinese paper cutting

[Print as flashcards](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-flashcards?level=mine&words=%E5%89%AA%E7%BA%B8%20%E7%AA%97%E8%8A%B1%20%E5%8F%8C%E5%96%9C%20%E7%A6%8F%E5%AD%97%20%E6%B0%91%E9%97%B4%E8%89%BA%E6%9C%AF%20%E9%9D%9E%E7%89%A9%E8%B4%A8%E6%96%87%E5%8C%96%E9%81%97%E4%BA%A7%20%E5%89%AA%E5%88%80%20%E5%88%BB%E5%88%80%20%E7%BA%A2%E7%BA%B8%20%E5%AE%A3%E7%BA%B8%20%E5%AF%B9%E7%A7%B0%20%E5%9B%BE%E6%A1%88%20%E9%95%82%E7%A9%BA%20%E6%89%8B%E5%B7%A5%20%E9%B1%BC%20%E8%9D%99%E8%9D%A0%20%E5%96%9C%E9%B9%8A%20%E9%B8%B3%E9%B8%AF%20%E8%8E%B2%E8%8A%B1%20%E7%89%A1%E4%B8%B9%20%E7%9F%B3%E6%A6%B4%20%E5%AF%BF%E6%A1%83%20%E8%9D%B4%E8%9D%B6%20%E5%87%A4%E5%87%B0%20%E9%BE%99%20%E7%94%9F%E8%82%96%20%E5%AF%BF%20%E8%91%AB%E8%8A%A6%20%E5%B9%B4%E5%B9%B4%E6%9C%89%E4%BD%99%20%E5%96%9C%E4%B8%8A%E7%9C%89%E6%A2%A2%20%E5%A4%9A%E5%AD%90%E5%A4%9A%E7%A6%8F%20%E5%AF%8C%E8%B4%B5)

Speed

## What the patterns mean

| | In Chinese | What it wishes you |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fish | 鱼 yú | A surplus every year, 年年有余: 鱼 sounds like 余, surplus |
| Bat | 蝙蝠 biānfú | Good fortune: 蝠 sounds like 福 (fú); five bats are the five blessings |
| Magpie | 喜鹊 xǐquè | Joy on its way: a magpie on a plum branch is 喜上眉梢, joy up to the eyebrows |
| Mandarin ducks | 鸳鸯 yuānyāng | A couple together for life; cut for weddings |
| Lotus | 莲花 liánhuā | Purity, and with a fish, 连年有余: 莲 sounds like 连, year after year |
| Peony | 牡丹 mǔdan | Wealth and honour, 富贵 (fùguì) |
| Pomegranate | 石榴 shíliu | Many children, for its many seeds: 多子多福 |
| Peach | 寿桃 shòutáo | A long life; cut for an elder’s birthday with the character 寿 |
| Double happiness | 双喜 shuāngxǐ | 囍, two 喜 joined: the sign of a wedding |
| Zodiac animal | 生肖 shēngxiào | The animal of the coming year, pasted up at New Year |

## Paper cutting

jiǎn剪zhǐ纸

paper-cut; paper cutting (folk art)

chuāng窗huā花

paper window decoration

shuāng双xǐ喜

double happiness

fú福zì字

good-fortune character (posted on doors at Spring Festival)

mín民jiān间yì艺shù术

folk art

fēi非wù物zhì质wén文huà化yí遗chǎn产

intangible cultural heritage

## Tools and making

jiǎn剪dāo刀

scissors

kè刻dāo刀

carving knife; graver

hóng红zhǐ纸

red paper

xuān宣zhǐ纸

Xuan paper (for calligraphy and painting)

duì对chèn称

symmetrical; symmetry

tú图àn案

pattern; design

lòu镂kōng空

openwork; hollowed out (carving)

shǒu手gōng工

handicraft; manual work

## Patterns

yú鱼

fish

biān蝙fú蝠

bat (animal)

xǐ喜què鹊

magpie

yuān鸳yāng鸯

mandarin duck

lián莲huā花

lotus

mǔ牡dan丹

peony

shí石liu榴

pomegranate

shòu寿táo桃

longevity peach (peach-shaped bun for birthdays)

hú蝴dié蝶

butterfly

fèng凤huáng凰

phoenix

lóng龙

dragon

shēng生xiào肖

Chinese zodiac animal (of one's birth year)

shòu寿

long life; longevity

hú葫lu芦

bottle gourd; calabash

## The wishes they carry

nián年nián年yǒu有yú余

may you have surplus every year (New Year greeting)

xǐ喜shàng上méi眉shāo梢

beaming with joy

duō多zǐ子duō多fú福

more children, more blessings

fù富guì贵

riches and honor; wealth and rank

## What is Chinese paper cutting called?

剪纸 (jiǎnzhǐ), cut paper. The paper cuts pasted on windows at New Year are 窗花 (chuānghuā), window flowers. It is a folk art, 民间艺术 (mínjiān yìshù), mostly of red paper, 红纸 (hóngzhǐ), and in 2009 UNESCO listed Chinese paper cutting as Intangible Cultural Heritage, 非物质文化遗产 (fēi wùzhì wénhuà yíchǎn).

## When was Chinese paper cutting invented?

Soon after paper itself, which was made in China under the Han dynasty. The oldest paper cut found is a round, symmetrical one from the 500s, dug up in Xinjiang; by the Tang and Song dynasties people pasted paper cuts on windows and doors and gave them at festivals, and village women passed the patterns down, mother to daughter.

## What do Chinese paper cutting patterns mean?

Most are a wish told through a pun or a symbol, the same as on New Year pictures. A fish, 鱼 (yú), sounds like surplus, 余; a bat, 蝙蝠 (biānfú), sounds like good fortune, 福 (fú); a magpie, 喜鹊 (xǐquè), brings joy; mandarin ducks, 鸳鸯 (yuānyāng), are a faithful couple; a pomegranate, 石榴 (shíliu), full of seeds, is many children. The chart above has ten of them.

## How do you cut a double happiness 囍?

Take a rectangle of red paper about twice as tall as it is wide and fold it in half from left to right. Against the fold, draw one 喜 (xǐ), joy, so that its strokes touch the fold, and keep every stroke thick so the paper holds together. Cut away the spaces between the strokes, then unfold: the two halves open into two 喜 side by side, 囍, double happiness, the sign hung at every Chinese wedding.

## What tools are used for Chinese paper cutting?

Scissors, 剪刀 (jiǎndāo), for one sheet at a time, folded for a symmetrical, 对称 (duìchèn), pattern; or a carving knife, 刻刀 (kèdāo), on a board of soft wax, which cuts through a stack of sheets at once, so a workshop can make dozens of the same pattern. The cut-away, see-through look is called 镂空 (lòukōng).

## What are Chinese paper cuts used for?

At New Year, 窗花 on the windows, the character 福 (fú), good fortune, on the door, and the coming year’s zodiac animal; at weddings, the double happiness 囍 on doors, walls and gifts; at an elder’s birthday, the character 寿 (shòu), long life. They were also patterns for embroidery, and today they are a favourite gift for visitors to China.

## Can’t hear it?

Play uses your device’s Mandarin voice. Edge, Chrome and Safari have one; a browser with none plays each character in our recorded voice instead.

## More Chinese culture

- [Chinese good luck charms and symbols](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-good-luck-charms)
- [Chinese New Year words](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-new-year-words)
- [Chinese wedding words and traditions](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-wedding-words)
- [Chinese calligraphy generator](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-calligraphy-generator)

Words, pinyin and meanings from our own dictionary; the history from Wikipedia’s Chinese paper cutting and UNESCO’s listing.