(New Year Goes to the Grassroots) "Old Colors" and "New Colors": Fengxiang's woodblock New Year paintings are full of New Year's flavor

　　China News Service, Shaanxi, Baoji, February 7th: "Old Colors" and "New Colors": Fengxiang Woodblock New Year Pictures Full of New Year's Flavor

　　Author Li Yifan

　　"As the saying goes, 'a BMW brings a thousand times profit, and a money dragon brings wealth from all directions.' This year, the traditional 'money dragon brings in' style is the most popular, which means bringing wealth to the home, increasing blessings and auspiciousness. Currently, this New Year painting has been overprinted by hand There are more than a thousand pieces." At the home of Tai Liping, a master of Chinese arts and crafts and the representative inheritor of Fengxiang woodblock New Year paintings, a national intangible cultural heritage project, Tai Liping's daughter and Fengxiang woodblock New Year painting craftsman Tai Gaoyuan told reporters from China News Network while printing the New Year paintings.

　　Fengxiang woodblock New Year paintings, which began in the Tang and Song Dynasties and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, have a history of more than 500 years. However, in the 1970s, Fengxiang woodblock New Year paintings were once in danger of being lost, and many traditional engravings were damaged. Tai Liping regards "rescuing and restoring" woodblock New Year pictures as his own responsibility, and has excavated, sorted, researched and reproduced more than 400 types (sets) of Fengxiang New Year pictures. "Qianlong Introduction" is one of them.

The picture shows the calendar production process with Fengxiang woodblock New Year paintings as the main element. Photo courtesy of Tai Liping

　　“When I was a child, after the autumn harvest every year, my family would start busy making New Year pictures. The three of us, siblings, were also busy hanging out and counting pictures. Before the New Year, we would follow our parents to the New Year’s market to sell New Year pictures. As soon as they were laid out, people would flock over. Choose and buy. After the 1990s, the emergence of low-cost offset New Year pictures had a greater impact on handmade woodblock New Year pictures." Tai Gaoyuan recalled.

　　Talking about the reason why he still insists on purely hand-made production, Tai Liping said: "Hand-carved and produced New Year pictures cannot be replaced by machines. The New Year pictures carry the warmth and enthusiasm of the craftsmen. The ink lines of the hand-made woodblock New Year pictures can tell the difference between the makers. His true skill, the angle and strength of each sword strike."

The picture shows "Selection of Fengxiang Woodblock New Year Pictures". Photo courtesy of Tai Liping

　　"Producers need to make adjustments based on the thickness and water absorbency of the paper. They need to pay attention to the amount of ink applied and the strength of the printing to ensure that the colors of the New Year pictures are complete and the lines are clear." Tai Gaoyuan explained to reporters that each New Year picture has slight differences. As if they have their own lives, the traditional Fengxiang woodblock New Year pictures are currently mainly purchased by collectors and collected in museums due to the limited number of prints.

　　How to make traditional New Year pictures "new" from the "old" is also a topic of "Keeping Artists". At the beginning of the year, Tai Liping's daughter-in-law Wang Yixuan chose the traditional dragon style and conceived and designed the New Year painting style "Dragon Walking Lulu", with two half-standing dragons on the left and right, holding fireballs on their front paws, surrounded by auspicious clouds. There are expectations for a prosperous life and blessings for the prosperity of the country.

Tai Gaoyuan teaches the production skills of woodblock New Year pictures in colleges and universities. Photo courtesy of Tai Gaoyuan

　　"More and more young people are fascinated by traditional cultural elements. Watching the children experience it with great interest in elective courses, and the New Year pictures with strong local flavor colliding with college classrooms, I feel both gratified and hopeful." Tai Gaoyuan He said that in his spare time, he teaches the production techniques of woodblock New Year pictures in colleges and universities, hoping to attract more young people to understand and fall in love with this traditional technique.

　　"The original patterns and colors of Fengxiang woodblock New Year pictures show people's long-cherished wishes for life. What we want to inherit is not only a skill, but also the traditional Chinese culture contained in it. Intangible cultural heritage is not just a gorgeous cultural business card, nor is it We promote the cross-border integration of New Year paintings as "old objects" for self-admiration, and lead young people to have an in-depth understanding of the charm of traditional Chinese culture," said Tai Liping.

　　Today's New Year pictures no longer only have a "home" in village doors and windows. Traditional New Year pictures are actively embracing new fashions and trends, allowing "Intangible Cultural Heritage+" to inspire unlimited creativity and integrate into modern life.

Creative couplets in the gift box of Fengxiang woodblock New Year pictures cultural and creative products. Photo courtesy of Tai Gaoyuan

　　In order to welcome the Jiachen Year of the Dragon, variations of the main pattern of the traditional New Year painting "Qianlong Introduction" have emerged, not only Spring Festival couplets, blessing characters, red envelopes, etc., but also daily necessities such as calendars, tablecloths, night lights, etc., which contain New Year painting elements. The sales of cultural and creative products have been booming recently and are very popular among young people.

　　“Intangible cultural heritage contains historical heritage, Chinese wisdom, and oriental aesthetics. People can perceive the cultural value contained in products that integrate traditional culture and modern life. This is of far-reaching significance for enhancing cultural confidence and promoting the integration of traditional culture into modern life. ." said Wang Xiaoyong, an expert from the Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences. (over)