Do New Year paintings belong to folk art

Nianhua belongs to folk art.

Nianhua is one of the forms of Chinese paintings, a unique Chinese artistic language, and a very representative Chinese folk art. Chinese New Year paintings depict what people see and hear, pray for a good harvest and a better life, and are a popular art among the common people. They are mainly posted during the New Year to decorate the environment, create an atmosphere, and imply the blessing of the New Year and the meaning of good luck and celebration.

Traditional folk New Year's paintings are mostly made of watermarks on wooden boards. The old New Year's paintings have different names because of the size of the painting and the amount of processing. The whole large called "Palace tip", a paper three open called "San Cai". Processing more and more detailed called "painting Palace tip", "painting Sanjai". Those painted with gold powder in color are called "Golden Palace Tip" and "Golden Sanjai". Products made before June are called "Green Edition" and those made after July or August are called "Autumn Edition".

History of New Year's Paintings

New Year's Paintings are an ancient Han folk art in China, reflecting the customs and beliefs of the general public, and holding people's hopes for the future. It is a special symbolic decorative art of Chinese folklore, which has been derived and formed with the evolution of New Year's festival customs over a long period of time, and its origin can be traced back to the concept of nature worship and the concept of belief in gods and spirits in the ancient times of mankind.

Early Chinese New Year paintings were closely related to the two main themes of driving away evil spirits and praying for blessings and welcoming good fortune, and in the process of customizing the New Year's festival customs such as praying for a good harvest, worshipping the ancestors, and driving away evil spirits and monsters, New Year's festival decorative art gradually appeared in line with them.

Broadly speaking, all paintings and drawings created by folk artists and engraved and operated by the workshop industry, characterized by depicting and reflecting the secular life of the folk, can be categorized as New Year paintings. The custom of New Year's paintings reflects the spiritual comfort and beliefs of the ancients.

Later, with the development of society, mankind's worship of nature was gradually transformed into the worship and belief in social personality gods, from the earliest peach symbols, reed ropes, golden roosters, and sacred tigers, to Shentian and Yubi, and later on Guan Yu, Zhao Yun, Yuchigong, Qin Shubao and other martial arts generals, and gods and goddesses such as Zhong Kui, Tianshi and Dongfang Shuo, during which there was a distinctive trajectory of development.

The late Eastern Han Dynasty's "Customs and Folklore - Rituals" said, "So the county officials often to wax the eve of the year, decorated with peach people, hanging reed water bamboo, painted tigers in the door, all to follow the example of the previous event Ji to defend the evil also." Cai Yong, "Dictatorship" said: "Shentan, Yubi and the body in its door, the main read leading the ghosts, the evil ghosts, the reed rope, eating tiger. Therefore, the December year after all, often the first wax night by removing it. Was painting the Tuan, base and hanging reed rope in the portal, in order to defend against the evil also." New Year's paintings became "New Year's words" in the Song Dynasty.

At that time, Song Huizong expanded the "Hanlin Painting and Drawing Institute", when the traditional painting and engraving and printing techniques, woodblock color overprinted New Year's paintings to maturity and popularity. At this time, the Spring Festival, every family posted the door god has become a fashion, the door god from the house to eliminate disasters evolved into a good wish to welcome the blessing of good luck.

Later, the custom of praying for longevity, good luck and fortune was gradually formed, and at this time, New Year's paintings completed the process of evolution to the blessing of the New Year's words. Meng Yuanlao's "Tokyo Dreaming Records", Zhou Mi's "Old Story of Wulin" and other canonical books, are recorded in the Song Dynasty capital during the Spring Festival sale of auspicious decorations such as New Year's paintings, the posting of New Year's paintings has been popularized in the towns and cities of the residents, from which we can see that New Year's paintings have been quite prevalent.