Overview
The Qinhuai District Library commissioned this work for an exhibition on traditional Chinese folk arts. I designed patterns and packaging based on two crafts: Jian Zhi (paper cutting) and Pi Ying (shadow puppetry). The patterns draw on Tang Dynasty decorative motifs, while each artwork tells a Nanjing story.
Target Audience
Library visitors and exhibition-goers interested in intangible heritage, as well as people who collect handcrafted, culturally meaningful keepsakes.
Design Problem
Two traditional crafts had to be shown accurately yet feel refined enough for a contemporary exhibition. The motifs needed to stay true to each craft's history while remaining simple enough for artists to cut by hand, and the packaging had to protect the work, travel safely, and open into a display.
Design Process
I researched Jian Zhi and Pi Ying through festival traditions and visual archives, then developed patterns from Tang Dynasty mural motifs: floral symmetry, flowing geometry, and repetition. Each theme became a hand-cut piece, held in foldable 300g packaging that stores flat and opens like a stage, echoing shadow puppetry.
Patterns inspired by Tang Dynasty motifs, extended for packaging design
Zou Bai Bing and the Ming City Wall
On the night of the Lantern Festival, people walk along the city wall or out of town to pray for good health, a custom called Zou Bai Bing. This design combines the festival's lanterns with Nanjing's Ming City Wall.
The Qinhuai River
Often called the lifeblood of Nanjing, the Qinhuai River is one of the city's best-known symbols. This design captures its night scenery, where water, lanterns and old architecture meet.
Wang Mian's Lotus
Wang Mian, a Yuan Dynasty painter, is remembered for a story long taught in Chinese school textbooks: as a boy herding cattle, he taught himself to paint lotus flowers. Borrowing the layout of those textbook illustrations, this design retells the story as a shadow puppet, with figures in the style of New Year paintings.
Packaging Design
- Two pieces of 300g specialty paper glued together, creased inside for precise folding.
- The artwork is held in the center: the box lies flat when closed and opens into a small stage.
- Each box is shrink-wrapped for protection.
- Every piece is cut by hand, so each pattern was made in an edition of 5.