![1900s Nianhua The Spirit of the Doors woodblock print](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/1900s_Nianhua_The_Spirit_of_the_Doors_woodblock_print.jpg)
A New Year picture () is a popular
Banhua
Banhua () is the Chinese umbrella term for any printed art objects, and especially for those made by woodblock printing, the term used for woodcuts from Asia.
History
The direct translation of 'Banhua' is 'printed picture', it is a general ...
in China. It is a form of colored
woodblock print
Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...
, used for decoration and the performance of rituals during the
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...
Holiday. In the 19th and 20th centuries some printers began to use the genre to depict current events.
Background
The origins of the "New Year picture" are unknown, although the genre is thought to have begun with the printing of
door gods
Menshen or door gods are divine guardians of doors and gates in Chinese folk religions, used to protect against evil influences or to encourage the entrance of positive ones. They began as the divine pair Shenshu ( ) and Yulü () under the ...
during the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
. By the 19th century door gods were joined by other household protective and auspicious deities including the
Kitchen God
The Kitchen deity – also known as the Stove God, named Zao Jun, Zao Shen, Zao kimjah, Cokimjah or Zhang Lang – is the most important of a plethora of Chinese domestic gods that protect the hearth and family. The Kitchen God is recognized in C ...
, and the God of Wealth. Images of women and babies were common, as were depictions of New Year observances, popular narratives, and depictions of the theater. Customarily, as each
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...
arrives, every family replaces its New Year picture in order to "say goodbye to the Past and welcome the Future" (Chinese:
辞 旧 迎 新).
In the late-19th and early 20th century woodblock printers began to supplement traditional religious and folkloric themes with depictions of current events and modern themes including the
Sino-French War
The Sino-French War (, french: Guerre franco-chinoise, vi, Chiến tranh Pháp-Thanh), also known as the Tonkin War and Tonquin War, was a limited conflict fought from August 1884 to April 1885. There was no declaration of war. The Chinese arm ...
, the
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the po ...
, the
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...
, and railways. These themes and events have no connection with the New Year, and so the appropriateness of the New Year Picture nomenclature is questionable. Nonetheless, all images created by traditional printers are typically categorized as such.
New Year pictures were printed throughout China. The best known production sites include Yangliuqing (Tianjin), Yangjiabu (Shandong), Wuqiang (Hebei), Fengxiang (Shaanxi), Taohuawu (Suzhou), and Mianzhu (Sichuan).
Yangliuqing
Yangliuqing () is a market town in Xiqing District, in the western suburbs of Tianjin, People's Republic of China. Despite its relatively small size, it has been named since 2006 in the "famous historical and cultural market towns in China".
It i ...
, is widely regarded as being the most prominent and influential contributor to the New Year Picture industry.
History
Although there are few reliable records on which to base the early history of New Year pictures, Wang Shucun argues that they were popularized during the Ming dynasty.
This development can be attributed to Ming government policy, the spread of popular novels, the development of
woodblock printing
Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...
techniques.
and the development of large-scale production and marketing through New Year picture workshops (Chinese: 畫坊) (Pinyin:Huà fāng).
Given the seasonal nature and ephemeral quality of New Year pictures, very few authentic examples can be dated to before the 19th century. Nonetheless, it is believed that the industry flourished from the late-Ming dynasty and throughout the Qing. In
Weifang
Weifang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The city borders Dongying to the northwest, Zibo to the west, Linyi to the southwest, Rizhao to the south, Qingdao to the east, and looks out to the L ...
a workshop built in the Ming dynasty has been connected with the local production of New Year pictures. It contains a production room, a display room ''WangFang (''Chinese: 望房), an accountant’s office, guest rooms, and rooms for the workshop’s owner.
The organization of the workshop indicates the New Year picture artisans’ business model, whereby the artisans both produce and market their wares.
The introduction of mechanized printing and changing aesthetic preferences in the early 20th century posed a serious challenge to New Year picture printers, and production declined until by the 1930s only a few workshops could be found in the formerly prosperous printing centers like Yangliuqing and Yangjiabu. During the Anti-Japanese War of Resistance the Chinese Communist Party realized the propaganda potential of "peasant art" and began to promote "New New Year pictures". The traditional industry, however, did not recover and was nearly extinguished by the 1960s. Following the Cultural Revolution efforts were made to recover New Year pictures as a heritage industry, and workshops can now be found in most of the larger production centers.
Production method
Production method: hand drawn pictures, woodblock printing, watermark trapping,
Half-drawing and half-painting, lithography, offset printing and so on.
Usually, chromatic woodblock New Year picture production follows four steps:
First, the artist draws a rough sketch on paper,
Second, the rough sketch is carved in relief on a woodblock,
Third, separate blocks are carved for each of the colors to be added,
Finally, the printer inks the outline block and presses paper onto its surface using a stiff brush. The procedure is repeated for each of the color blocks. In some cases color may be added by hand. The chromatic woodblock New Year picture is complete.
In some production centers, most notably Yangliuqing, only the outline is printed while all of the colors are added manually. In other locations such as Mianzhu the pictures are drawn and colored entirely by hand. These traditional techniques survive in the present day, although most New Year pictures are now produced through chromolithography and color offset printing.
Themes
![Chang'e Flying to the Moon (Wu Shaoyun)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Chang%27e_Flying_to_the_Moon_%28Wu_Shaoyun%29.jpg)
The content of New Year pictures is diverse, but several main themes can be identified:
1. Immortals and Auspicious symbols
Commonly depicted immortals include Door Gods, Kitchen God, and God of Wealth. Auspicious symbols may include lions, tigers, deer, cranes, Phoenix and auspicious birds, lotus, peony and other flowers, money tree, pot of wealth and other objects that express wishes for good fortune and happiness.
2. Secular life
Some folk artists created idealized depictions of rural and domestic life showing productive agriculture, family life, festive customs, humorous anecdotes, etc.
3. Baby and beauty
Images of babies (typically male), alone or in the company of young mothers, are very common motifs, as are images of beauties, alone or in the company of babies.
4. Narratives
Narratives adapted from historical events, folk stories, myths, legends, novels, and dramas.
See also
*
Surimono
are a genre of Japanese woodblock print. They were privately commissioned for special occasions such as the New Year. Surimono literally means "printed thing". Being produced in small numbers for a mostly educated audience of ''literati'', ...
Further reading
*Madeline Yue Dong, “The Fortunes of a Folk Tradition: Yangliuqing New Year’s Pictures,” in James Cook, Joshua Goldstein, Sigrid Schmalzer eds., Visualizing Modern China. Rowman and Littlefield, 2009.
*James A. Flath, The Cult of Happiness: Nianhua, Art, and History in Rural North China. University of British Columbia Press, 2004.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Year Picture
Chinese painting
Chinese New Year
Printmaking