The pig closes the Chinese zodiac — a round, cheerful animal that has stood for wealth, abundance, and a contented household for as long as farmers have kept count of their good fortune.
This page offers a traditional folk pig pattern as a free printable template. Download the PDF below, print it at 100% scale, and cut your own pig.
A traditional folk pattern, restored for printing. Free for personal and classroom use. Print at 100% scale.
What the pig means in paper cutting
The pig is the twelfth and last sign of the Chinese zodiac, paired with the earthly branch Hai (亥). In a farming culture the pig was wealth you could count: a family that raised pigs had meat for the winter and something to sell at market, so a fat pig under the roof meant a comfortable household. The character for "home" (家) itself pictures a pig beneath a roof. Wherever the pig appears in folk art, abundance is never far behind.
The pig's roundness is the point. A plump, round body reads as fullness — a full granary, a full table, a life with nothing lacking. Folk saying puts it vividly: 肥猪拱门, "a fat pig pushes open the gate." When fortune arrives, it arrives like a fat pig nosing your door open — uninvited, irresistible, and very welcome. Pigs are also generous mothers, raising large litters, so the animal carries wishes for a thriving family as well as a full purse.
Pig paper cuts are New Year decorations above all. In pig years they cover windows everywhere — round, smiling pigs with flowers worked into their coats, pigs carrying coins, pigs pushing at gates. People born in pig years are traditionally thought honest, good-natured, and lucky with money. The pig's easy good humor also makes it a favorite design for children — a plump paper pig on a bedroom window is a wish for a child who eats well and grows strong. To paste up a pig at Spring Festival is to make the oldest New Year's wish in its plainest form: may this household eat well, save well, and want for nothing.
About this template
This template is a single-piece traditional folk pattern in red. The pig is drawn round and cheerful, its back and flank decorated with small blossoms, framed by plum-blossom branches and fruit inside a scalloped round frame. The character Hai (亥), the pig's earthly branch, crowns the top of the composition.
The pattern is approachable for beginners. The pig's body and the outer frame are big, open shapes, and only the small blossom cuts in the coat and branches really call for a craft knife. The template is a traditional folk pattern restored for printing, and it is free for personal and classroom use.
How to print and cut
Print the template at 100% scale — do not fit-to-page or shrink it. Two PDF versions are provided, A4 and US Letter, so you can use whichever paper size your printer takes. Print on red paper for a traditional look, or print on white and back the finished cut with red paper.
Use small, sharp scissors for the outer contour, following the scalloped frame. Switch to a craft knife on a cutting mat for the interior cuts — the blossoms and the small spaces between the branches. In this red-on-white pattern, the red shapes stay and the white areas are cut away. Work from the center outward so the paper stays supported as you cut.
More zodiac templates
The pig is part of our full set of twelve Chinese zodiac paper-cutting templates. Each sign comes as a free printable PDF with its own meaning and cutting notes:
- Chinese zodiac paper-cutting templates — the complete set of all twelve signs
- Dog paper-cutting template — the eleventh zodiac sign, the loyal guardian
- Rat paper-cutting template — the first sign, clever and resourceful
FAQ
Can I use this template for commercial projects? The template is free for personal and classroom use. For commercial use, please contact us for licensing terms.
What kind of paper works best? Traditional Chinese paper cutting uses thin red paper, but standard printer paper, origami paper, or craft paper also work. Thinner paper is easier to cut cleanly.
Should I use scissors or a craft knife? Both. Scissors are enough for the frame and the pig's rounded outline; a craft knife gives cleaner results on the small blossom cuts. It is one of the friendlier patterns in the set for scissors-only cutting.
Why does a fat pig at the gate mean good fortune? It comes from the saying 肥猪拱门 — "a fat pig pushes open the gate." In a farming society, a fat pig was counted wealth, so one turning up at your door pictured fortune arriving on its own: unexpected, unstoppable, and welcome.
Author
This article was prepared by the team at ChineseFolkCrafts.com. We are not intangible-cultural-heritage inheritors or museum researchers. Our job is to find authoritative Chinese sources, understand them, and explain them clearly for international readers.
If you spot an error — a date, a translation, a misattributed custom — please let us know and we will correct it. Last updated 2026-08-02.
