In folk paper-cuts, a symbolic Ietter Wan in a rotating pattern is usually added to the tail of male or yang animals like the ox, the tiger, the horse, the dog and the goat. It is not the natural way that these animals's tails rotate. Another example is the "clouds hook", or a letter Sheng, also a male symbol, on the back of roosters as the wings.
Instead of using symbols, Gao Fenglian in Yan Chuan, northern Shaanxi, incorporated the letter Wan into her paper-cub making the four legs of the totem animal turn into a shape of letter Wan. To display perpetuity of life in rotating posture other than adding a symbol on the tail carries even greater visual impact and special artistic appeal.
