Hou Xuezhao, a 56-year-old woman dubbed as Ansai's "master of folk arts", shows her paper cutting skills in Ansai county, Shaanxi Province.

About 100 meters from the office building of Ansai government, a county in Shaanbei，northwest China's Shaanxi Province, is situated a folk arts gallery, whose owner is Hou Xuezhao, a 56-year-old woman dubbed Ansai's "master of folk arts".
 
Of the two-story, 18-room, plain-looking building, five exhibit Hou's treasures: about 100 paper cuts, folk paintings and embroidery works.

"This is my favorite work", Hou said satisfied, pointing to one of her works depicting a woman riding a donkey with her husband running along.

"In the past, there were no other transportation tools but donkeys. Thus if a new bride wanted to go back home, she would have to ride the animal. Usually the husband would accompany the wife in demonstration of his love. This inspired me to create such a special painting", Hou explained.

The art family

As many women in Ansai in the past, Hou Xuezhao started learning paper cutting with her mom and grandmother when she was very young. But not every woman shows such skills towards Shaanbei folk arts as this now 56-year-old grandma.

Hou's works characterize ordinary Shaanbei people's lifestyle, representing the strong flavor of Huangtu folk culture which mainly concentrates in Shaanbei.

However, it was not until 10 years ago that Hou's works spread internationally. In 1994, under the recommendation of the Culture Affairs Bureau of Ansai County, Hou was invited to Austria for cultural exchange. About 10 years later, in 2005, Hou had the chance to bring her works to Thailand. The well-received folk arts exchange activities brought Hou confidence to continue her folk arts career. Since 2002, Hou's works have won her many awards, including the first place at the China's Second Grand Exhibition of Peasant Paintings and Calligraphy, the silver medal of China Paper Cutting Expo.

Not only Hou, other six members from her family are known for their talents on Shaanbei folk arts. Chen Piliang, Hou's husband, is an excellent dancer of Ansai Yaogu (Waist Drum). Currently, Chen not only trains people Ansai Yaogu in his homeland, but is also frequently invited for performances and training by other cities around the nation.

The couple's five children- 3 sons and 2 daughters- were all trained from their early ages for a certain skill within folk songs, Yaogu and paper cutting.

"My mom and my mom's mom (no longer among us) are all smart women. My mom taught me paper cutting and painting while my dad was my Yaogu teacher. I learned paper cutting when I was six, and at the age of eight, I could already cut a butterfly. ", Chen Hongmei, the fourth child of the couple said proudly.

"Most of my mom's works depict her life in Ansai, which is sometimes not familiar to me: the post-80 generation. I'd like to add some more modern elements to my works. In the future, of course I would definitely teach my children these skills,” the 23-year-old girl told the Global Times.
 

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