This handmade framed paper cut features the first animal sign of Chinese Zodiac cycle, mouse.  Four mice are eating from a fruitful tree.  Each mouse has a Chinese word, together the words mean, 'Safe and sound for four seasons'. 

The Chinese animal signs are a 12-year cycle used for dating the years. They represent a cyclical concept of time, rather than the Western linear concept of time.  A cultural sidelight of the animal signs in Chinese folklore is that horoscopes have developed around the animal signs, much like monthly horoscopes in the West.  These horoscopes are amusing, but not regarded seriously by the Chinese people.