ed . ▁At ▁that ▁time , ▁people ▁used ▁other ▁thin ▁materials , ▁like ▁leaves , ▁silver ▁fo il , ▁sil k ▁and ▁even ▁le ather , ▁to ▁car ve ▁h ollow ed ▁patterns . ▁Later , ▁when ▁paper ▁was ▁invent ed , ▁people ▁realized ▁that ▁this ▁material ▁was ▁easy ▁to ▁cut , ▁store ▁and ▁disc ard , ▁and ▁paper ▁became ▁the ▁major ▁material ▁for ▁this ▁type ▁of ▁art work . ▁During ▁the ▁M ing ▁and ▁Q ing ▁dynast ies ▁( 1 3 6 8 – 1 9 1 2 ), ▁this ▁art istry ▁witness ed ▁its ▁most ▁prosper ous ▁period . ▁For ▁over ▁a ▁thousand ▁years , ▁people ▁( main ly ▁women ) ▁have ▁been ▁making ▁paper - cut s ▁as ▁part ▁a ▁le is ure ▁activity . ▁They ▁created ▁different ▁type ▁of ▁paper - cut ting ▁and ▁shared ▁and ▁passed ▁this ▁traditional ▁craft sm ans hip ▁to ▁their ▁children , ▁so ▁that ▁this ▁traditional ▁art ▁style ▁became ▁more ▁and ▁more ▁popular ▁and ▁is ▁still ▁pract iced ▁to ▁this ▁day . ▁ ▁P aper ▁is ▁a ▁kind ▁of ▁material ▁which ▁mil de ws ▁and ▁ro ts ▁easily . ▁In ▁the ▁sout heast ▁of ▁China , ▁it ▁usually ▁ra ins ▁in ▁May ▁and ▁June , ▁which ▁makes ▁paper ▁mil de w ▁and ▁rot ▁quickly . ▁As ▁a ▁result , ▁people ▁in ▁sout heast ▁did ▁not ▁keep ▁them , ▁and ▁it ▁is ▁hard ▁to ▁find ▁paper - cut ting ▁from ▁that ▁time . ▁On ▁the ▁contrast , ▁the ▁weather ▁in ▁the ▁north west ▁of ▁China