Between Heritage and Market: How Chinese Paper-Cutting Artists Negotiate Regional Tradition and Style

Chinese paper-cutting is recognised as intangible cultural heritage, but regional variation is usually explained through geographic, cultural and economic conditions. This study asks how practitioners interpret these conditions and negotiate the continuity and value of local traditions. A narrative review provides context for eight semi-structured interviews with two artist–studio owners in Yu County, Hebei, and six artists, teachers and a curator in Quanzhou and Zhangpu, Fujian. Three tensions emerged from the analysis: preservation and innovation, collective and individual authorship, and symbolic and market value. Participants linked them to competitions, teaching, professional exchange, packaging, functional design and artistic experimentation. The study contributes an artist-centred account of regional tradition as strategic negotiation: situated, purposeful choices made under institutional and market constraints. It distinguishes formal change from strategies of presentation, protection and sale, and suggests that heritage and commercial aims can coexist.