Ansai paper-cutting is a kind of Han folk art popular in Ansai County, Shaanxi Province. On festive days, women in Ansai will cut paper and paste window decorations. In the twelfth lunar month, women gather together to cut paper for the Spring Festival early. As the year draws to a close, red and green paper-cuttings are pasted on the newly pasted white window paper of every household. In this way, a village is a paper-cutting art exhibition. Ansai paper-cutting is not only beautiful in shape and exquisite in cutting, but also has profound historical and cultural connotations, including aesthetics, history, philosophy, folklore, archaeology, cultural anthropology and other aspects. It is known as "ground cultural relics" and cultural "living fossils". Ansai paper-cutting has various forms, simple and concise style, bold and bright lines, simple and unsophisticated meaning, and full of hope for peace and auspiciousness. On May 20, 2006, the heritage was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. Since the 1980s, Ansai paper-cutting has gradually developed from traditional use to an independent folk art, which is favored by people at home and abroad and is known as the "Mother of Flowers", "Ground Cultural Relics" and "Living Fossils of Culture". Through the sorting and production of a large number of folk paper-cuttings, more than 1,000 pieces have been collected by the National Art Museum of China, Shanghai Art Museum, Huyang Academy of Fine Arts and other museums. The large-scale modern paper-cutting "Memories of the Yan'an People" is permanently collected by Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. Many foreigners have bought and collected it, and it is called "the vital mountain chrysanthemum of the northern Shaanxi plateau". In 1993, Ansai County was named "the hometown of Chinese folk art paper-cutting" by the Ministry of Culture. In the winter of 1985, Cao Dianxiang, Bai Fenglan, Hu Fenglian and Gao Jin'ai were invited to teach and perform at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. In 1982, the French-Chinese Friendship Association invited Li Xiufang to visit France. Her performance at the International Exposition in Rennes, France, surprised the French mayor, who took out her scissors and watched them repeatedly to see if they were equipped with electronic computers. People lined up to buy her works. In 1995, Cao Dianxiang was awarded the title of Folk Art Master by the Ministry of Culture. After the 1990s, the subject matter of Ansai paper-cutting also developed significantly. It began to move from tradition to modernity, especially the paper-cutting and other artworks based on revolutionary holy places and leaders, which added new viewing content to Yan'an's tourism industry. Style characteristics The four river valleys in the territory have their own different styles. The Xingzi River in Yanhewan is represented by Bai Fenglan and Wang Zhanlan, whose paper-cutting is simple in shape, concise in artistic conception and simple in style; the Xihe River in Gaoqiao and Zhuanyaowan is represented by Cao Dianxiang and Chang Zhenfang, whose paper-cutting is concise and simple in appearance, so the interior decoration is gorgeous, and the combination of lines and surfaces is often used; the Yanhe River in Huaziping is represented by Hu Fenglian and Yu Buying, whose paper-cutting decoration is mostly abstract in texture and implicit in meaning; the Pingqiao River from Haojiaping to Wangjiawan is simple in shape, mainly in blocks, and is quite similar to the shape of stone-carved mountain statues, with an ancient flavor. In addition, the towns adjacent to Jingbian are more realistic in image, and the cutting method is delicate and delicate, similar to the Sanbian style. Ansai paper-cutting, in terms of interior decoration, is mainly based on random decoration and image decoration, and sometimes combines image and figurative decoration. The commonly used decorative patterns are sawtooth pattern, crescent pattern, spindle pattern, diamond pattern, cloud hook, swastika, wealth, brick-wrapped city, etc. There are double hinges, single hinges and zero hinges in terms of cutting methods. Double hinges, that is, folding hinges, cut some symmetrical patterns and partially symmetrical patterns; single hinges, for images that cannot be cut symmetrically, use single hinges. The combination of double hinges and single hinges is the traditional cutting method of Ansai paper-cutting. Zero hinges are to cut out the partial images of a paper-cut separately, and then piece them together into a complete pattern on paper. Most paper-cutting authors do not draw drafts, but cut boldly, cutting as they please. Ansai paper-cutting is quite particular about expressing emotions and meanings. Bai Fenglian said: "In ancient times, people cut flowers with particularity and stories, and they cannot cut them randomly." The sitting flower "Pomegranate Buddha's Hand" she cut means "Nine pomegranates, one Buddha's hand, Shou Ding Niang will never leave again." Gao Wenlian cut "Happy Flower" with butterflies (dialect sounds like "fan'er") and fish playing with each other, "butterflies, fish, fish, children entangled", which means many children. Gao Rulan cut "Baby Sitting on Lotus", which is said to be "Baby sitting on lotus, the couple has a good relationship".