Pingyang Woodcut New Year Pictures in Shanxi Province: Living Stone in Chinese Engraving Printing

In Pingyang Woodcut New Year's Painting Club near Gulou in Linfen City, Shanxi Province, “Post-90s” girl Chai Fei put a piece of paper on a carved version called “Treading Snow Seeking Plum,” and he felt the lines on his hand in order to copy the engraving and paper. The pattern on the alignment. This process is called "touch edition" and is a small process in the production of Pingyang woodblock printing.

Woodcut New Year pictures are a kind of Chinese folk art that integrates painting, sculpture and printing. Linyi was dubbed Pingyang, and the earliest existing woodcut New Year picture “Simei Tu” was produced here. It used to be the production center of traditional Chinese New Year pictures with Yangliuqing of Tianjin and Taohuawu of Suzhou. Pingyang Woodcut New Year pictures reached a great height in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. In 2008, it was included in the list of the first batch of national intangible cultural heritages. It can be called the “living fossil” of Chinese engraving printing.

“Learning to do woodcut New Year pictures is a fine task. Be patient and sit still.” Shirley learned only six months and mastered basic printing techniques. Before Chai Biao studied painting, he was interested in woodblock New Year pictures and went to Pingyang Woodblock New Year Painting Society to study. She said: “The more studies the woodblock New Year pictures are, the more interesting it is. A simple painting incorporates many traditional cultures.”

The Pingyang Woodcut New Year's Eve has a quaint and rustic farmhouse with a traditional woodblock New Year painting door on the door. The walls of the door are recessed on both sides of the door. Into the hut, the farmhouse-specific bandits, stoves, hand-drawn bellows come into view, the counter on the cupboard is divided into three layers, each layer is affixed with woodcut prints of ebony paper. There is a wood engraving on the stove on the wall of the cooktop.

“With the increasing enthusiasm of people for handicrafts, Pingyang Woodcut New Year's pictures have to be revived. In order to let more people understand its unique beauty, we have built this antique farmhouse.” Shi Junping, head of Pingyang Woodcut New Year Painting Studio, introduced Pingyang Wood The New Year pictures once withdrew from the historical stage. The most pressing task is to rescue old artists, ancient editions and original prints.

Shi Yuping said that the old artistes have been doing for many years. If they do not speed up their heritage, many skills are likely to disappear. The ancient and original prints were scattered and scattered, and most of them were poorly protected. They were in danger of being destroyed by prints. Pingyang Woodcut New Year's Era has spent more than 30,000 yuan and has about 90 ancient editions.

In recent years, the Pingyang woodcut New Year pictures have become very popular in the market, especially favored by Taiwan consumers and Singapore customers. However, the overall development of Pingyang woodblock New Year pictures cannot meet market demand. Shi Yuping said that the development of Pingyang woodblock New Year pictures is still in its infancy and needs the government to support them.

“Pingyang woodblock New Year pictures mainly reflect customs, folk customs, myths and legends, and sustenance of people's longing for and pursuit of a better life. As long as they can integrate the old elements with modern concepts well, it will surely reproduce a strong vitality.” Shi Junping said.