Question

One of China’s most traditional arts is paper-cutting. It started in the 6th century. Papercuttings were first used in the funeral (葬礼).

Today, papercuttings are mostly used as decoration. They are used to decorate walls, windows and doors in houses and also used for decoration on presents or are given as presents themselves.

They have special meanings at festivals and on holidays. During the Spring Festival for example, entrances (入口) are decorated with papercuttings which are pupposed to bring good luck.

Papercuttings are not produced by machine (机器), but by hand. There are two general ways in making papercutting: scissor (剪刀) cuttings and knife (小刀) cuttings. As the name indicates, the motif (图案) is usually cut with sharp, pointed scissors or a sharp knife. The advantage of knife cuttings is that more papercutting can be made at one time than with scissors.

In the countryside, papercuttings are usually made by women and girls. This used to be one of the skills that every girl is expected to learn and that were often used to judge brides (新娘).

When did they start?	In the 1. Century.
What are they used as today?	Decoration and 2. .
What are they supposed to do?	Bring 3. .
What are they made with?	By a sharp knife and sharp, pointed 4. .

Answer 1