Cai Lanying

Cai Lanying
蔡蘭英
Born	1918  Xian County
Died	2005  (aged 86–87)
Occupation	Papercut artist

Cai Lanying (蔡蘭英; 1918 – 2005) was a Chinese cut-paper artist.

Cai Lanying was born in 1918 in Xian County, Hebei, China. She was born into a peasant family and had little education; she was unable to read or write. She began papercutting at age eight and created over 10 thousand works.^[1]

Most of her works depict Chinese peasant life, including agricultural work, festivals, and folktales. Many of her works are autobiographical.^[1]

Her paper-cut of a rooster was selected for the annual Chinese zodiac stamp by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications for the 1993 Year of the Rooster.^[2] Her design features a rooster with cocked head and outspread wings above plum blossoms and a caption reading, "The rooster crows for the coming of spring."^[3]

Cai Lanying was invited to the World Conference on Women, 1995.^[1] Her work is in the collection of the National Art Museum of China.^[4]

Can Lanying died in 2005.^[5]

References

1. Biographical dictionary of Chinese women. Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe. 1998. ISBN 978-0-7656-0043-1.
2. Bottomley, Ruth (1994). Chinese papercuts : a selection. Singapore: Sun Tree Pub. ISBN 978-981-00-4410-7.
3. "The Year to Cock-a-Doodle-doo it" (PDF). First Cut: Guild of American Papercutters. 6 (4). 1993.
4. See, Pamela M (2020-10-01). "The Agency of Papercutting in the Post-Digital Era". doi:10.25904/1912/3981. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
5. Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: The Twentieth Century 1912–2000 (Chinese edition) (in Chinese) (REV - Revised, Chinese language ed.). Sydney University Press. 2016. ISBN 978-1-74332-522-3. JSTOR j.ctt1kzcbzj.