This paper is an ethnographic study on paper stencils of Shidong Miao society in Southeastern Guizhou Province. It aims to describe how Miao women demonstrate self-reflective thinking and construct self-identity through theatrical and female figures on paper stencils images. This paper outlines cultural and gender identification as it is present in the paper stencil images. These paper stencils, on the one hand, illustrate cultural history and social memory. On the other hand, from the perspective of political and economic boundaries, the images reveal the shifting and fluid boundary between Shidong Miao and Han Chinese. This paper will present four aspects of paper stencil images from Shidong. First, I will briefly recount the history of stencil techniques and decorative expression on paper stencils and embroidery in the Shidong Miao tradition. Second, I will examine and analyze a number of Shidong Miao myths and stories, such as the Butterfly Lovers, Snail Girl, the Tang Priest’s Journey West and Wud Maox Xid, to provide an understanding of the Miao female images represented through paper stencils. Third, I will explore how paper stencils portray woman’s self-identity within their cultural and social boundaries. Last, by situating Shidong Miao society within its historical context, I will attempt to understand the impact stencils have on women’s self-identity through theatre.