In the beginning,puffed New Year paintings mostly consisted of pictures of gods and flowers and plants on black screens and had a strong flavor of traditional freehand Chinese paintings.They were painted with light colors until the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty(1736–1795).By the reign of Emperor Jiaqing of the Qing Dynasty(1796–1820),under the influence of the woodblock New Year paintings of Yangliuqing of Tianjin and those of Yangjiabu of Shandong Province,progress was made in the tools and skills of making puffed New Year paintings,and the method of first printing the contours of rough sketches with carved woodblocks and then painting them by hand was adopted, that is,“semi-printing,semi-painting.”Later woodblock chromatographic printing appeared.The different forms of printing the puffed New Year paintings of Gaomi County resulted in the formation of two different schools:one consists mainly of ink-screen paintings,which uses the traditional methods of painting in an elegant style;the other uses a new type of painting,employing loud,bright colors,borrowing such application of color from the New Year paintings of Yangliuqing of Tianjin and Weifang of Shandong Province.The artworks present gorgeous and sharply contrasting features.
The images of puffed New Year paintings have bright colors but still retain their primitive simplicity and elegance with bold,uninhibited smooth lines and strong freehand style.The faces of the figures mostly consist of fat ears and big cheeks but still retain their beauty.The subjects consist mainly of beauties,fat babies and simple scenes from daily life.The looks and expressions of the figures are mostly imitations from dramatic figures.They generally depict scenes of celebrations and are very suitable for use in folk festivals.A Chat between Sisters-in-Law,Kick the Shuttlecock,Wealth,Rank and Safety,The Eight Immortals Celebrating Birthday and Screens with Flowers of the Four Seasons are representative works among puffed New Year paintings.
The special characteristics in making puffed New Year paintings are that they are inseparable from the traditional methods and skills of puffed printing and painting by hand.Therefore,making these paintings is time-consuming,the workmanship is fine and the output is limited.Today,puffed New Year paintings are found less and less often and what paintings remain of the two schools are extremely precious.
The New Year Paintings of Tantou,Hunan
Tantou is a little ancient town by the Zishui River in Longhui County,Hunan Province.The mao bamboo can be found all over hills and dales there and the streams are so clear that you can see to the bottom;the simple,kind folk customs have bred the New Year paintings of Tantou,which are a folk art treasure of China.
The New Year paintings of Tantou originated from the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty.According to legend,a scholar,Wang Dongyuan,lived in Changsha at the end of the Ming Dynasty.To escape the war he arrived in Tantou with his wife to join their relatives in seeking refuge.In order to make a living,the couple availed themselves of the bamboo paper and pigments produced locally to start a workshop of New Year paintings and created dozens of varieties of New Year paintings,including Generals Qin Shubao and Wei Chigong and Chinese Unicorn Presenting a Baby Boy and A Wedding Procession of Mice.They were sold to other parts of the country by peddlers of handmade paper and the name of the New Year paintings of Tantou spread far and wide.By the early days of the Republic of China period,the production of New Year paintings of Tantou reached its peak with a total production of over 20 million.In the old streets of Tantou then,almost all the houses owned by the local people were workshops that produced New Year paintings and handmade paper.
The most distinct feature of the paintings is that they are printed on pink paper.In producing a New Year painting,the whole process—from obtaining the raw materials to finishing the products—was completed in this place,unique in the whole country.Tantou abounds in bamboo and the paper for painting is processed from the pulp obtained from mao bamboo retted in limestone.
The layer of white powder is a plaster produced in a cave of the mountain gap of Tantou Gorge.The unique powdered paper of Tantou is made by brushing a thin layer of the fine white powder obtained from thumping,poaching,screening and precipitating on the paper for New Year paintings.Painting New Year pictures on this kind of paper results in a special effect with hearty impressive colors.The printing blocks are usually made by senior local artists.It requires more than 20 industrial processes,including seven hand-operated printings and seven steps of hand painting.
The subjects of the New Year paintings of Tantou come mainly from the people,especially from various legends.These include pictures of Qin Shubao and Wei Chigong,which are pasted on the door to guard against evil spirits,
The Sworn Brothers,which are placed in the sitting room,Borrowing an Umbrella,A Wedding Procession of Mice and Unicorn Presenting a Baby Boy,which expresses love,marriage and reproduction and is added in bedrooms.
A W e ddin g Pr oc ession of Mic e i s a n artwork worth mentioning.The harmony between the mice and the cat in the picture has a rich childish delight.The mice are all innocent and lively and the cat is simple and honest.They are no longer pure mice and cat but have been endowed with the characteristics of children.
There are more than 40 varieties of New Year paintings of Tantou at present.Almost every New Year painting has a moving story.They are an important witness to history and an important medium for passing on this culture.