[New Year Chronicle] Sichuan Mianzhu New Year Painting Village: Small crayons outline a new life

  [Explanation] The Spring Festival of the Year of the Ox is approaching, and Mianzhu, the "Hometown of Chinese New Year Pictures", has ushered in the most prosperous and lively time of the year.

Walking into the New Year’s Painting Village, rows of red lanterns are hung in the traditional houses in Western Sichuan. Brightly colored and vivid New Year paintings are painted on the white walls. In the studio, painters are rushing to make the last batch of New Year painting orders.

  As the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects in China, the Mianzhu New Year pictures originating in the Northern Song Dynasty, Tianjin Yangliuqing, Shandong Weifang Yangjiabu, and Suzhou Taohuawu New Year pictures are also known as the four major Chinese New Year pictures.

Mianzhu New Year picture painter Chen Qiang told reporters that in recent years, they have designed a large number of cultural and creative products based on Mianzhu New Year pictures, making New Year pictures no longer just art hanging on the wall.

  [Concurrent] Chen Qiang, Mianzhu New Year Painting Painter

  After designing the innovative elements of the New Year's painting, we still have to be rigid. After being rigid, we will make silk scarves, tablecloths or clothes, etc., to let children or adults experience it by themselves.

For example, he has a silk scarf. After he prints it, we will have a special color of the silk scarf and the color of special drawing paper. It is not only a kind of decoration that can be hung on the wall, but also an artwork. Let it be integrated into life, something we can bring out at any time.

  [Explanation] During the new crown pneumonia epidemic, non-genetic inheritors of Mianzhu New Year pictures at all levels jointly designed a series of New Year pictures wearing masks, and created many New Year pictures showing Chinese and foreign joint efforts to fight the "epidemic".

Some excellent anti-epidemic New Year paintings are not only collected by the local New Year painting museum, but also become popular as epidemic prevention emoticons.

  [Concurrent] Li Yue, Deputy Director of Mianzhu New Year Painting Museum

  Because the anti-epidemic propaganda cannot be relaxed in 2021, our anti-epidemic New Year pictures are more focused on the propaganda of epidemic prevention knowledge.

One is to enhance awareness of prevention and control to celebrate the New Year on the spot.

Because the New Year picture is originally a form that the people like to see most, so in addition to the festive and auspicious content, it actually plays a propaganda function, so we not only have anti-epidemic New Year pictures, but also clean government New Year pictures, patriotism education, etc. New Year pictures and so on.

  [Explanation] Xu Xiaoyan, deputy secretary of the New Year Picture Village Party Branch, introduced that there are more than 5,000 people in the village, and nearly 10% of the villagers are engaged in New Year painting creation.

  [Concurrent] Xu Xiaoyan, Deputy Secretary of the Party Branch of New Year Picture Village

  Now in our New Year’s painting village, we have about 15 New Year’s painting merchants, and we participated in about 400 New Year’s painting artists, and then they are all engaged in New Year paintings, and in our New Year’s paintings, in the cultural and creative community, our Women all know how to draw New Year pictures. In our (New Year Picture Village), the whole women hold pens in slack farming and carry hoes when they are busy.

  [Explanation] Xu Xiaoyan said that due to the epidemic, the number of tourists in the New Year’s painting village to experience rural tourism this year is not as good as in the past. Therefore, the villagers have increased the network and telephone sales of New Year’s paintings. Before the Spring Festival, they have received more than ten from Thailand, Japan, and the UK Country orders.

  Li Dejing, who has been in business for more than 20 years, was born in a well-known family of New Year paintings in Mianzhu.

In his view, the decline in sales of New Year pictures is related to the acceleration of urbanization and the decline in people's demand. This requires painters to explore the innovation of New Year pictures carriers in addition to the content of the new year pictures.

  [Concurrent] Mianzhu New Year Painting Painter Li Dejing

  Because China has gone through the process of urbanization for so many years, the demand for this piece may not be very large. We are now trying to find a way to integrate our Mianzhu New Year pictures into the daily needs of people's lives and normal.

If our New Year pictures re-enter people's daily needs, I believe that the future development of our New Year pictures is very promising.

  Reporter He Xi reports from Mianzhu, Sichuan

Editor in charge: [Lu Yan]