Newsletter No. 8

CUHK Newsletter Having collected years of experience. Dr. Shen is convinced that there is a theory to the art, and the theory, he says, is ultimately related to topology. Elsewhere in the world, people have investigated the mathematical factors in the art of paper folding, and have come up with preliminary results, mostly geometrical. Dr. Shen likes to compare paper folding to academic pursuits, saying that both are continuous and infinite. There is, however, one difference: academic pursuits do not always yield results, but paper folding will always end in a model. A great admirer of Plato, he always tries to apply Plato's thinking to his works, saying that every good model should be a perfect exemplification of a Platonic idea. The origin and the spread of paper folding No one knows for certain when and where paper folding began. The earliest documentation appeared at the end of the eighteenth century in Japan, but Dr. Shen believes that the art must have originated in China for the simple reason that paper was first made in that country. Unfortunately, in China paper folding has always been considered a children's game and has never been seriously taken by adults. Furthermore, the art was handed down through the generations from person to person and, children's memory being short, many of the ingenious folds have been lost on the way. This folk art has therefore never been able to enjoy full prosperity in China. The perpetuation of the art clearly requires adult devotion. In countries like Japan, UK , and the USA, as well as in Europe, the past thirty years have been the golden period of this folk art. A lot of new models have been created by devotees and books have been written about them. There have been exhibitions, conventions, TV shows, publications, and even research on paper folding. Because the boom began first in Japan and later spread to Europe and the United States, paper folding is often known as ‘origami' , a translation from the Japanese name for the art. In different parts of the world, paper folding tends to take up different characteristics. The Japanese tradition features a lot of animal models. In Europe, Spain has the longest tradition in the art, and models of utensils as well as animal figures have been predominant. On the other hand, in the UK and the United States, the art has been liberated from its traditional mode and a great variety of new models have been created over the past two decades. However, animal models are still popular because they are attractive and have an instant appeal; in fact, more and more difficult folds have been created for them. When it comes to China and Taiwan, there are only a few publications on paper folding and they are mostly translations from Japanese. Here in Hong Kong, Dr. Shen seems to be a lone paper folder. According to him, there is but one other creative folder besides himself. We asked Dr, Shen if he has considered running courses to promote the art, and he replied that it would probably take a few years for the subject to be covered adequately. He has taught some short courses in the past, but in recent years he has been so bound up in teaching and administrative work that he has only been able to manage a few introductory sessions. We suggested to Dr. Shen that perhaps he could work with UIMS and have a paper folding course video-recorded, thus helping it to spread in Hong Kong. He said he would give the idea serious consideration.。 7