Chinese Paper Folding, or Zhezhi , is the art of paper folding that originated in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

.

The work of Akira Yoshizawa

Akira Yoshizawa

Akira Yoshizawa was considered to be the grandmaster of origami. He is credited with raising origami from a craft to a living art...

 widely popularized the Japanese name "origami"- however, in China, and other Chinese speaking places, the art is referred to by the chinese name, Zhe Zhi (摺紙). Traditional Chinese paper folding concentrates mainly on objects like boats or hats rather than the animals and flowers of Japanese origami. A recent innovation is Golden Venture where large representational objects are made from modular forms.

History

Paper

Paper

Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....

 was first invented by Cai Lun

Cai Lun

Cai Lun , courtesy name Jingzhong , was a Chinese eunuch. He is traditionally regarded as the inventor of paper and the papermaking process, in forms recognizable in modern times as paper...

 in the Eastern Han Dynasty in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. In the 6th century, Buddhist monks carried paper to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. The earliest document showing paper folding is a picture of a small paper boat in an edition of Tractatus de sphaera mundi from 1490 by Johannes de Sacrobosco. However it is very likely that paper folding originated much earlier that that in China and Japan for ceremonial purposes. In China, traditional funerals include burning folded paper, most often representations of gold nuggets (yuanbao

Sycee

A sycee was a type of silver or gold ingot currency used in China until the 20th century. The name derives from the Cantonese words meaning "fine silk"...

). It is not known when this practice started, but it seems to have become popular during the Sung Dynasty (905-1125 CE). In Japan origami butterflies were used during the celebration of Shinto weddings

Shinto

or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...

 to represent the bride and groom, so ceremonial paperfolding had probably already become a significant aspect of Japanese ceremony by the Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

 (794–1185) of Japanese history.

It is possible that paper folding came to Japan from China when paper was introduced but there is no evidence for this. The paper folding of China has typically been of objects like dishes, hats or boats rather than animals or flowers of Japan. The Japanese treasure ship model is probably derived from the Chinese junk model which uses an unusual fold that may have been inspired by the folded sychee, however in general the models of the two countries are quite different.

Significant early publications

Maying Soong's 1948 book, The Art of Chinese Paper Folding, helped popularized recreational paper folding in the 20th century, and was possibly the first to distinguish the difference between Chinese versus Japanese paper folding- where the Chinese focus primarily on inanimate objects, such as boats or pagoda

Pagoda

A pagoda is the general term in the English language for a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other parts of Asia. Some pagodas are used as Taoist houses of worship. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most commonly Buddhist,...

, the Japanese include representations of living forms, such as the crane

Crane (bird)

Cranes are a family, Gruidae, of large, long-legged and long-necked birds in the order Gruiformes. There are fifteen species of crane in four genera. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back...

. It contains a number of simple traditional designs, some of which are also found in the traditions of other countries. A number of the models are folded from the blintz base, a form also common in traditional European and Japanese paper folding. The Old Scholar's Hat is among the old Chinese models found in this book. and the main quote of this book.

Golden Venture folding

In 1993, a group of Chinese refugee

Refugee

A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...

s were detained on the ship Golden Venture

Golden Venture

On June 6, 1993, at around 2 a.m., the Golden Venture — a ship bearing 286 illegal immigrants from China along with 13 crew members — ran aground on Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York after a mutiny by the smugglers. The ship had set sail from Thailand, stopped in Kenya and circled the...

 and held in American prison, where they began making elaborate models combining traditional Chinese modular paperfolding

Modular origami

Modular origami, or unit origami, is a paperfolding technique which uses multiple sheets of paper to create a larger and more complex structure than would be possible using single-piece origami techniques...

 (utilizing materials such as magazine covers) with a form of papier-mâché

Papier-mâché

Papier-mâché , alternatively, paper-mache, is a composite material consisting of paper pieces or pulp, sometimes reinforced with textiles, bound with an adhesive, such as glue, starch, or wallpaper paste....

 (using toilet tissue); these models were gifted to those aiding the refugees and sold at charity fund raisers. Media coverage of the refugees helped popularize traditional Chinese modular folding worldwide- which became known as 'Golden Venture folding'.

This type of modular folding is often done with Chinese paper money

Paper Money

Paper Money is the second album by the band Montrose. It was released in 1974 and was the band's last album to feature Sammy Hagar as lead vocalist.-History:...

. Triangles are folded from mutlitple pieces of 1:2 aspect ratio paper, and connected by inserting a flap of one triangle into a pocket on the next. Popular subjects include pineapples, swans, and ships. This form of modular origami

Modular origami

Modular origami, or unit origami, is a paperfolding technique which uses multiple sheets of paper to create a larger and more complex structure than would be possible using single-piece origami techniques...

is commonly referred to as '3D origami'.

External links

• 3dOrigamiArt.com Learn how to 3d Origami, tutorials and artists network. by Jaxster.
• OrigamiTube.com A user friendly origami instructional and origami related video site.
• Origami Tutorial by ghetto77
• Beating Heart Origami Tutorial by ghetto77