Before the invention of paper, our ancestors hollowed out or carved patterns on leather, gold, silver, foil, bronze and other objects, which was the prototype of paper-cutting art, and accumulated a lot of valuable experience. The oldest "paper-cutting work" in China is the "Tsushima Tuanhua" unearthed in Xinjiang in 1959, which has a history of more than 1,500 years. There is no exact historical data on when the paper-cutting art of An County originated. The inheritor Gao Yixu collected more than 500 paper-cutting works such as "Children's Patterns", "Girls' Patterns", "Pillow Patterns" and "Drumming Patterns" from the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. The exquisite shapes are closely related to daily life. It can be seen that the paper-cutting art of An County had been integrated into the lives of the people at that time. During the Republic of China, all the major towns in An County had flower merchants who specialized in paper-cutting crafts. They either set up stalls or went from village to village to sell various patterns. The girls chose the patterns they were satisfied with, and then embroidered beautiful and practical dowries, or daily necessities such as insoles and dog head hats according to the patterns. In addition, there are paper-cutting works used for weddings and decorations, funerals and sacrifices. For example, "big red double happiness" is often seen on weddings, "blessing" is often seen on the Spring Festival, "longevity" is often seen on the birthdays of the elderly, and paper people and horses are often seen at funerals and sacrifices. After collectivization in An County, flower buyers changed their professions to seek other ways of making a living. However, paper-cutting art still exists in urban and rural areas as the basis for embroidery patterns and as inexpensive and beautiful home decorations. Some people in rural areas secretly cut paper people and paper horses for sacrifices or funerals. Since the reform and opening up, the paper-cutting art of An County has become popular again. It is not only widely used in weddings and funerals, festivals and home decorations, but also has produced famous paper-cutting masters such as Gao Yixu, Xu Yang (now working in Beijing and enjoying special subsidies from the Beijing Municipal Government), and Huang Ying (currently the vice chairman of the Mianyang Folk Artists Association). When creating paper-cutting works, it is advisable to choose paper with strong toughness and fine paper quality. For festive occasions, red paper should be selected, but yellow paper and purple paper can also be selected. For funerals and sacrifices, white paper or green paper should be selected. For home, conference hall, hotel, restaurant decoration, warm colors should be used as the main color, and colors can be matched to make it beautiful, generous and creative. There are various tools for paper cutting: one is scissors. The size of the scissors varies with the size of the work. At the same time, the hand feel should be good, the scissors should be flat, the blade should be sharp, and they should be able to move freely; the second is carving knives and drills of various sizes. These tools can be made by yourself or purchased at a stationery store. The use of carving knives and drills can make the styles of paper cutting works more diverse; the third is the stereotype, also known as the pad. Many processes of paper cutting works are completed on the stereotype. In addition, some auxiliary tools are required. Information source: Mianyang Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center Information source: Mianyang Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center