Text and picture/Wang Yuanchang
The year is gone with the sound of firecrackers, and the spring breeze brings warmth to the summer. In the sun, Cinema always replaces the old charms with new peaches.
——”New Year’s Day” by Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty
In the Lunar New Year, different regions have different folk customs; different families have different expectations. But the feelings rooted in the heart and praying for a better life are interconnected and difficult to change. The artistic expression that carries the profound feelings of Yan and Huang, interprets the folk customs and beautifies people’s lives, is indispensable for colorful New Year pictures.
The origin of Chinese New Year paintings can be traced back to the patron sacred paintings such as exorcism and evil spirits in the Qin and Han Dynasties or earlier, including Tao Talismans, Zhong Kui statues, Tianxing posts, etc. CinemaIn the Song Dynasty, with the rise and maturity of woodblock printing technology, New Year’s paintings gradually evolved from patron sacred paintings to colored and colored woodblocked New Year’s paintings, which was the first precedent for woodblock New Year’s paintings in the history of Chinese painting.
In recent years, there have been woodblock New Year pictures from 17 major domestic production areas including Tianjin Yangliuqing, Jiangsu Suzhou, Shandong Weifang, Sichuan Mianzhu, Henan Kaifeng, Shaanxi Fengxiang, and other 17 domestic intangible cultural heritage list.
In my more than ten years of searching for New Year pictures, I discovered that the birthplace of Chinese woodblock New Year pictures, the New Year pictures of “Zhuxian Town” in Kaifeng have a strong aroma of yin and yellow, full of emotions, and vivid folk customs.
The Suzhou Taohuawu and Tianjin Yangliu Youth Paintings, which are praised by the world as “Taohuawu in the south and willows in the north and south, are the most dazzling. They create based on real life, highlighting the character characteristics of the characters, and the pictures are prosperous and lively, full of expressiveness and attractiveness.
Today, woodblock New Year pictures with a long history and can be regarded as a classic Chinese cultural heritage have been picked up again by more and more people, from posting on the four walls of the house in the past to exquisitely produced and framed artworks, bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, including daily housewarming, newlyweds, etc., and setting up hanging hall shops.
Especially, some New Year’s paintings are produced in the courtyards of the streets and alleys, “always replace new peaches with old charms”, New Year’s paintings hanging in the hall and door gods posted outside the two courtyard doors, and Ji Rui’s blessingsThe couplets and the red lanterns of Babaylan formed a beautiful New Year scenery. It demonstrates people’s yearning for a better life and exudes the fragrance that is hard to let go of in the hearts of the people.
The earliest form of New Year’s painting is the door paintings posted on the door of the New Year, namely the “door god”, which uses colors and techniques in different regions. Figure 1 shows the door god New Year painting created by Yin Guoquan, the national inheritor of Zhuxian Town woodblock New Year painting; Figure 2 shows the door god New Year painting of Yang Liuqing; Figure 3 shows the door god New Year painting created by Tai Liping, the national inheritor of Fengxiang woodblock New Year painting; Figure 4 shows the door god New Year painting created by Yang Fuyuan, the national inheritor of Yangjiabu woodblock New Year painting. KomiksFeng Zhuxian Town. The pioneer of woodblock New Year paintings
In ancient times, Zhuxian Town was ranked one of the “Four Major Ancient Towns in China”. What made its reputation famous was the woodblock New Year paintings that were popular here and passed down through the ages. Zhuxianzhen woodblock New Year paintings, as an outstanding representative of traditional Chinese art, have been included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.
The day I went to Zhuxian Town, I was caught up with a rare heavy snowfall in Kaifeng. The flying snowflakes in the sky made the morning of the ancient town less noisy, and the sight of some shops and vendors cleaning the snow in front of the door. This ancient town that has been covered with wind and rain for thousands of years cannot imagine its glory.
The Yuewang Temple, which was built here during the Ming Dynasty, is located on the side of Yuemiao Street. It is a wooden New Year painting street in the ancient town. Now many old wooden New Year painting brands have been restored. On this old street, you can not only feel the charm of traditional wooden New Year paintings, but you can buy valuable works by your favorite New Year painting craftsmen for a few dozen yuan.
According to historical records, Zhuxianzhen woodblock New Year paintings, known as the “ancestor of Chinese woodblock New Year paintings”, was born in the Tang Dynasty, flourished in the Song Dynasty, and reached 300 in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The opening of the canal made Zhuxian Town a commercial center in the Central Plains, and the sales of New Year pictures were achieved.In its prosperity, many merchants gathered here from the current Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Fujian, Ningxia and other regions to buy two-thirds of the country’s New Year pictures.
The prosperity of woodblock New Year paintings in Zhuxian Town is inseparable from the fertile land of Kaifeng. Kaifeng during the Northern Song Dynasty was the center of politics, economy and culture in the country. The huge urban class activated the demand for folk culture and provided a rich soil and market for the creation of New Year pictures.
Meng Yuanlao’s “Dream of Tokyo” records that “in recent years, the market has printed door gods, peach boards, peach talismans, etc..” The “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” depicting the social life of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the guise of the “Wang Family Paper Horse” shop near the head of Babaylan is clearly visible.
Strive on a New Year Painting Street close to the ancient canal, the old houses on both sides are mottled, and the rugged eaves show the vicissitudes of the years it has experienced, and the original flavor is full of nostalgia.
A second-floor pavement is high with the “protect” with black background and yellow characters, and the “Tiancheng Old Store” is written on it. There is no decoration in the old house with peeling paint. The four walls are full of New Year pictures, including the mighty door god, the iron-faced and curly bearded Zhong Kui’s head, the five sons win the championship, the pine crane prolongs life, the lotus gives birth to a noble son and other representative themes.
Yin Guoquan, the fifth generation descendant of “Tiancheng Old Shop”, was dressed simply, sitting in front of the stage where various colors of paints were piled up. With the help of his grandson, he repeatedly applied different paints and printed New Year pictures in color. It took the old man a month to place a newly-engraved carving version on the stage.
The iron rack next to it is full of colorful greenery, and the New Year pictures that have just been printed and dried are very beautiful. Behind the counter is Mr. Yin’s wife, and the production desk is connected to the counter, a typical traditional workshop.
The peak period of New Year’s picture production begins in early December every year. The picture shows Yin Guoquan, who is fully focused on printing New Year pictures. In Yin Guoquan’s view, the truly authentic traditional skills are in danger of losing. Over the past few decades, he has inherited and created more than 300 sets of carved plates and more than 1,500 pieces. He said: “The pigments I printed in New Year’s paintings are carefully processed and boiled with plants such as pine smoke, locust rice, and Zhangdan. Although it is time-consuming and labor-intensive, it is color-corrected compared to today’s industrial pigments.” “The things passed down by the older generation cannot be lost. My two sons and grandsons are Komiks are all heirs.” Looking at his hands that were slightly rougher than ordinary people, and the wrinkles on his face that were gullyed by the years, a kind of shock filled his heart.
The “Tiancheng Old Shop” connected to the counter of the production stand is full of vicissitudes of time. The content of the woodblock New Year pictures in Zhuxian Town is mostly based on familiar historical stories, myths and legends. The printing technique is mainly woodblocked water color overprinting, six-page set, and some sets are as many as nine-page. The colors of red, yellow, green and purple are bright and exaggerated. The character has a big head and a small body, looking rustic and cute. Most characters use white faces and red eyelids on their faces. This is its unique technique and is also the representative style of Zhuxianzhen woodblock New Year pictures.
The vigorous and ancient lines, simple and symmetrical patterns, and the rough and thick atmosphere reflect the strong local art style of Zhuxian Town, the hinterland of the Central Plains. Mr. Lu Xun once commented on the woodblock New Year pictures of Zhuxian Town, “These woodcuts are simple, with thick and powerful engravings, and they are not stained with powder. The characters do not have the charming appearance, the colors are strong and very local.”
The special stamp of “Zhuxian Town Wooden New Year Pictures” issued in 2008 is taken from the classic story, Sanniang teaches her children, returning home with a full load, and Feng Xianglan. The real-life theme park Qingming Shanghe Park, which was opened to the public in 1998, is located on the west bank of Longting Lake, Kaifeng City. It is a large historical and cultural park with the theme of Song culture as a model of the realistic painting “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” by Northern Song painter Zhang Zeduan, and is now a 5A scenic spot.
The Zhuxian Town woodblock New Year pictures are sold all year round. You can learn about the traditional woodblock New Year pictures production in the retro New Year pictures store. Visitors can not only appreciate and purchase, but also participate in the interaction on site.
In the ancient and vigorous Zhuxian Town woodblock New Year pictures, the red, yellow, green and purple are colorful and rich, the characters are exaggerated, with a big head and a small body, and they look rustic and stupid.Cute
Suzhou Taohuawu
Cinema carries beautiful expectations
The ancient city of Suzhou is gentle and colorful, and has a thousand years of cultural heritage, giving Taohuawu woodblock New Year paintings a brilliant and outstanding character. During the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods of the Qing Dynasty, the prosperous period of Taohuawu New Year paintings. Hundreds of painters and printing craftsmen gathered here. The New Year paintings were sold to Southeast Asia, and “Taohuawu” became synonymous with Suzhou woodblock New Year paintings.
Looking through some books recording Suzhou’s cultural tourism or walking in historical districts such as Shantang Street and Pingjiang Road, you can see the shops of “Taohuawu New Year Pictures”. There is also a Taohuawu Street in Suzhou, which is a stone road that is not wide. Houses with pink walls and black tiles are arranged on both sides. The hanging lanterns and Spring Festival couplets exude the joy of the New Year.
In the shops on Taohuawu Street, it is not difficult to find the shadow of New Year pictures. In Puyuan on Xiaochangqiao Road, which crosses Taohuawu Avenue, the Taohuawu Woodcut New Year Painting Museum was found. Walking in, a fresh and elegant garden comes into view, and the New Year Painting Museum is quietly hidden in the lush green shade.
Small bridges and flowing water in Suzhou can be used in paintings
The museum currently collects hundreds of ancient New Year painting collections. The pictures of the word “Fu” are displayed, the pictures of the family, the pictures of Magu’s birthday, the pictures of the double beauty and the pictures of the mysterious view of Gusu, and other treasures. In the real scene display part, the living room is covered with “three stars shining” and “eight immortals crossing the sea”, which means the seats are full of guests; the bedroom is covered with “flowers bloom and wealth” and “becoming a noble son early”, which means the harmony of couples. These New Year pictures that reflect the living conditions of the people in ancient times are loved by modern people.
I saw a table with engraving tools such as engraving, engraving platform, printing platform, brown brush, brown rub, fist knife, etc., and several inheritors in their early thirties were engraving the version meticulously. Holding the knife in his right hand, skillfully carving lines on the woodblock, sweat oozing out of the tip of his nose, but he didn’t care to wipe it off. His concentration looked like he made the most precious treasure in the world.
The antique Taohuawu historical classic woodblock New Year painting “Flowers Bloom and Rich”
According to reports, a Taohuawu woodblock New Year painting is not completed by a painter alone. It requires three steps: painting, engraving and printing, and is created by a collective creation. Compared with New Year pictures in other regions, Taohuawu New Year pictures are characterized by printing entirely based on plate printing, and there is no need to write a single stroke after printing., knowing the excellence of his merit.
A fist knife that is just clenched by the palm can evolve into four methods: starting knife, placing knife, picking knife, and re-knife. It pays attention to “firmly launching the knife, picking the knife, and shoveling the bottom”. The lines should be natural and vigorous, clean and neat. Generally speaking, it takes 5 years to learn the paintings of Taohuawu New Year paintings, 4 years to engrave and 2 years to print.
One of the main steps of traditional Chinese woodblock New Year paintings. In early 2008, a New Year painting “A Mutual Qi” created during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty was successfully copied in Puyuan. This can be called the pioneering work of Taohuawu New Year paintings. “A Mutual” warns the people of the palace to live in harmony and spread to the people’s desire to unite and fulfill their wishes.
“A Bun of Harmony” is one of the representative works of Taohuawu woodblock New Year paintings
Since history, Taohuawu woodblock New Year paintings have carved a unique folk custom, that is, from content to social effects, it is called woodblock New Year paintings, but not limited to New Year postings and hangings. Instead, we should follow the seasons and express different beautiful expectations through woodblock New Year pictures when different festivals and solar terms come every year.
For example, when you bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, you should post a “Happy Picture”; when you are in the beginning of spring, you should post a “Mingyuan Picture”; when you are in the Mid-Autumn Festival, you should post a “Moon Palace Picture”… As you paste, the new year is coming again.
Yangliuqing, Tianjin
Thoughly influenced by multiculturalism
During the Spring Festival, when I came to Yangliuqing Town, Xiqing District, Tianjin, ancient buildings with carved beams and painted buildings immediately came into my eyes. The frozen ancient canal quietly “hibernated” in the town, and several beautiful arch bridges spanned the ice.
Yangliuqing, Tianjin, surrounded by Ziya River, Nan Canal and Daqing River, was an important wharf for the circulation of goods from north to south and overseas trade in the Qing Dynasty. Yangliuqing woodblock New Year pictures were therefore deeply influenced by multiculturalism.
Tianjin Ancient Cultural Street is a Scenery
According to historical records, Yangliuqing Chinese painting first appeared in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, and reached unprecedented prosperity during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. In 1958, the state established the Yangliuqing Painting Club to rescue the New Year painting art, andCinemaLiu Qing Nian Paintings were collected and organized, and a group of outstanding New Year painting artists were trained.
In recent years, with the prosperity of the cultural and tourism market, the demand for Yangliu Youth painting has expanded, bringing this ancient folk art back to the lives of the people. At the same time, Yangliuqing New Year’s Paintings have also entered the international art sales and collection market.
If Taohuawu New Year paintings are like implicit and beautiful beauty, then Yangliuqing New Year paintings are lively and straightforward men. From the picture of fat dolls holding carp and lotus in hand to the three-star picture of lucky and lucky longevity, a unique style of vivid, joyful and full of emotions has been created.
YangKomiks Liu Qingnian’s paintings inherited the tradition of Song and Yuan paintings and absorbed the forms of woodcuts, arts and crafts, and drama stages in the Ming Dynasty. The early craftsmanship is basically the same as Taohuawu New Year paintings, and both use the stereotyped overprint of the drawings; in the post-production, it takes a lot of time to be used for hand-painting.
Yangliuqing Nian Painting Five Sons Take Lotus was once selected as a stamp.
A New Year’s painting requires five main processes: drawing, carving and drawing, woodblock overprinting, hand-painting, and mounting, plus more than three monochrome overprinting. Because of the combination of printing and painting, it has a quiet, elegant and lively visual effect, which is beyond the reach of other folk New Year pictures.
The content of the picture is mainly based on folk life, fat dolls, maids and historical stories. The most classic one is “After Years of Life”, the baby face and Buddha body in the painting, and the body of the baby face and Buddha, with a carp in his arms and a lotus in his hand, catering to the folk’s beautiful wishes of “praying for blessings and blessings” and “many children and blessings”.
Yangliuqing Door God New Year’s Paintings
On the antique Ming and Qing Streets, Yuchengha, Yichengyong, Gu Liuxiang, Huayunzhai, etc. are dazzling. New Year’s painting workshops one by one. There are more than 60 New Year’s painting production workshops and sales stores in Yangliuqing Town. It is one of the best New Year’s paintings that have been restored. It seems that it has returned to the scene of “drawing every family and painting every household” during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Tourists buying New Year’s paintings are constantly coming.
The first woodblock New Year painting museum in Yangliuqing Town is held in the first month of every year.
The northern folk house in the exhibition hall on the first floor of the museum is posted with a “Kitchen Lord” representing good things to the heaven and the earth to ensure safety; on the water tank is posted with a big carp representing more than a year and lively and vivid shapes; in the middle of the main hall is posted with a painting of the Three Stars of Fu Lu Shou to protect the whole family;
The residences on both sides are posted with a painting of Fu Lu Shou and Sanxing Hall to protect the whole family; href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Komiks room, where my mother-in-law lives, there are New Year pictures with educational significance; the daughter-in-law lives, with New Year pictures with many children and blessings; the kang is surrounded by kang with strong local flavor. Visitors to the museum can also experience the production process of woodblock New Year pictures.
Walking out of the museum, what I imprinted most is the gorgeous and vividness of Yangliu Youth New Year paintings, which I can’t forget the local people’s persistence of “sticking New Year pictures is considered to be the New Year.”
Yangliuqing Nian Painting takes a lot of effort to paint by hand. The picture shows the painter of “New Year’s Painting” is focusing on the ending of the classic painting “Year of Years”
Now, the improvement and innovation of New Year’s paintingsBabaylan is a new issue faced by the elderly New Year’s painting craftsmen and young painters. Although it takes time and effort, it can be seen that there is a dense taste of life and abundant emotionsBabaylan/comicmov.com/”>Cinema and aesthetic taste, and the full expression of the Chinese culture and the dream of KomiksYanhuang for thousands of years.
With more than 2,000 years of history, woodblock New Year pictures created by Chinese local artists are the oldest painting type in the world, encyclopedia of Chinese folk customs and “living fossils” full of Chinese civilization elements.
Yangcheng Evening News February 3, 2022 A7 Evening Party Supplement
Chapter
The list of seventeen woodblock New Year paintings selected as representative national intangible cultural heritage projects
1. Woodblock New Year paintings in Zhuxian Town, Kaifeng, Henan:
The ancient and naive, with a long history, was born in the Tang Dynasty, flourished in the Song Dynasty, and was the ancestor of Chinese woodblock New Year paintings.
2. Tianjin Yangliuqing woodblock New Year paintings:
Celebrating the fun of the palace and the interests of the citizens.
Containing the meaning of auspiciousness and happiness, Yangliuqing painting “Hometown Happy Safe”
3. Wood-print New Year paintings in Taohuawu, Suzhou, Jiangsu:
Delicate and neat, with rich colors.
Small bridges and flowing water in Suzhou can be painted, nourishing and nourishing the spirit. href=”https://comicmov.com/”>KomiksShowing Taohuawu woodblock New Year Pictures
4. Yangjiabu woodblock New Year Pictures in Weifang, Shandong:
Unbound by nature, rich imagination, and express the theme with generalization, romance, symbolism and meaning; the composition is complete, full and symmetrical; the shape is exaggerated, concise and simple.
5. Sichuan Mianzhu woodblock New Year Pictures:
Write-texture and rich colors.
6. Wooden New Year paintings in Zhangzhou, Fujian:
The regional colors are rich and the themes of gods and Buddhas are rich and diverse.
7. Wooden New Year paintings in Foshan, Guangdong:
The image is delicate, rough and concise, strong and powerful, full composition, and it contains auspiciousness and a strong local characteristics.
8. Wooden New Year paintings in Longhui, Hunan:
The colors are unrestrained, orange-red and dazzling , matching the colors, round lines, strong sense of movement, and strong decorative flavor.
9. Hebei Wuqiang Wooden Paper New Year Pictures:
Rough and simple, full of rural atmosphere.
10. Chongqing Liangping Wooden Paper New Year Pictures:
The shape is vivid and lively, the color contrast is strong, and the atmosphere is full of life.
11. Shandong Liaocheng Dongchangfu Wooden Paper New Year Pictures:
The composition is simple, the overall Strong sense, exaggerated characters, plump and simple; round and smooth lines
12. Wooden New Year paintings in Pingyang, Linfen, Shanxi: Exaggerated shape, vivid image, and strong decorativeness.
13. Fengxiang Wooden New Year paintings in Shaanxi:
The style is rough and exaggerated, with large blocks of colors, dynamic characters, and powerful.
14. Zhang Qiu Wooden New Year paintings in Yanggu, Shandong:
>The composition is full and symmetrical and ancient.
15. Sichuan Jiajiang Wooden New Year Pictures:
Bright colors and exquisite craftsmanship, and was as famous as Mianzhu New Year Pictures and Liangping New Year Pictures.
16. Henan Huaxian Wooden New Year Pictures:
The printing process is detailed and complicated, the composition of the picture is balanced and symmetrical, the image is full and solid, and the lines are strong and powerful.
17. Hubei Laohekou Wooden New Year Pictures: Babaylan
The carvings are fine and smooth, the lines are rough and powerful, and the characters are vivid and exaggerated.