Artifacts of historical significance are often kept in museums for scholars and visitors to study and view. But artifacts recently found at the University were kept in a more discreet place.

Staff at the University’s Center for Chinese Studies recently stumbled upon a complete set of papercuts — a traditional Chinese art — depicting key events from China’s Cultural Revolution during the 1960s and 70s. The papercuts had been stored in the basement of the center for years and were uncovered by staff members cleaning the area.

According to Mary Gallagher, director of the Center for Chinese Studies, papercuts are a traditional type of Chinese folk art that consists of images made from thin red paper that is cut into various designs. This particular set of papercuts tells the story of China’s Cultural Revolution and features key images and people who defined the time period.

Gallagher said while the papercuts are not rare artifacts themselves, it was special to find a complete set. She added that it was particularly unusual that some of the papercuts depicted Lin Biao, a controversial political figure in China who was supposed to succeed Mao Zedong as emperor before he was killed in a plane crash in 1971. Biao gained notoriety when it was later discovered he was fleeing China at the time of his death in an attempt to plot a coup against Zedong, Gallagher said.

“A lot of papercuts that were produced in the Cultural Revolution that showed Lin Biao would’ve been destroyed because his reputation was destroyed after his death,” Gallagher explained. “So it is also unusual that they had this aspect too.”

Gallagher said the papercuts were likely originally acquired by the late Prof. Mike Oksenberg during his visit to Hong Kong in the early 1970s. Oksenberg was a senior staff member in the U.S. National Security Council from 1977 to 1980 and worked during the Carter administration to improve relations with China after the Cold War.

While it is not exactly clear how Oksenberg obtained the papercuts, Gallagher said the center’s staff believes he either bought or was given the collection, and then proceeded to donate the set after he left the University in 1991.

Wang Zheng, a University professor of history and women’s studies, was able to contact the artist of the papercuts, according to Gallagher. Wang discovered the papercuts were created in a small art academy in Guangdong — a southern Chinese province near Hong Kong. According to Gallagher, the artist crafted the papercuts with knives, rather than scissors, which made them easier to replicate.

The center has digitized images of the papercuts so that people can view them online. Currently, the center is trying to find a way to display the papercuts, but it first plans to frame them so they are preserved and protected.