Maternal fertility symbols and queer reproductive narratives: ‘Mental images’ in the works of Ku Shulan and Xiyadie

This study offers a quantitative analysis of the symbolic representation of reproductive imaginaries in 60 papercut artworks created by Ku Shulan and Xiyadie. Through content analysis, key visual symbols such as floral fertility, hybrid animals, womb shapes, paired figures, metamorphic bodies, and queer intimacy were coded for their presence and intensity. The results reveal notable differences between the two artists. Ku Shulan's works prominently emphasize maternal fertility symbols with greater frequency and intensity, reflecting traditional themes of motherhood and continuity. Conversely, Xiyadie's papercuts incorporate more transformative and erotic imagery, conveying ideas of queer embodiment and alternative kinship structures. A factor analysis identified two core dimensions: one centered on maternal fertility and the other on queer transformation. Logistic regression analysis further demonstrated that these symbolic patterns strongly predict the authorship of each artwork. These findings highlight that reproductive symbolism in Chinese papercutting is far from uniform; instead, it emerges as a dynamic cultural language capable of representing both conventional maternal narratives and queer relational possibilities. This study represents the first statistical evidence demonstrating how maternal and queer reproductive systems form distinct yet interrelated symbolic frameworks within this folk art tradition.