Chinese folk woodblock brush painting is a big world. Not only the history of a long time, the number of large, but also a variety of forms. Why the woodblock prints and crowned with the word "folk"? Its target is also very obvious, that is, it is regarded as the basic culture of the nation to be comprehensively examined. From the historical point of view, folk woodblock prints is relative to the court, literati and religious woodblock prints; from the reality, folk woodblock prints are mainly different from the dry professional (specializing in, wood engraver's creations.). Of course, the connotation of the word "folk" has always been not very precise, the true extension is also scattered. The woodblock prints of the "folk" and "non-folk", but also mixed together, some of which is difficult to distinguish. It depends on the tendency of its art and the aspect it is about to be. If we observe from the perspective of the history of Chinese printmaking, it is not difficult to find in the study of the inclination; a mention of ancient woodcut, is the novels and operas of the "embroidered image", "full map" and the literati used "paper"; a mention of folk woodcut, is the "New Year's Eve". Over the past half century, the study of folk woodcuts more than the "New Year's Eve" generalized everything. Of course, this is part of the achievements of Chinese woodblock prints, can not be ignored; however, on the other hand, a large number of folk woodblock prints and even richer styles are excluded from the study. In order to change this situation, we put forward the concept of "Chinese folk woodblock prints" to make a comprehensive examination. The aim is to sort out the lineage of traditional Chinese woodblock prints, and to find out the basis for the development of official engravings at the court, the literati and religious propaganda. Only in this way can we see the whole picture of the development of Chinese woodblock prints. In this paper, only on the history of folk woodblock prints, types, circulation and artistic characteristics to briefly explain. The history of Chinese folk woodblock prints, with the invention and use of printing in China is basically synchronized and go, even if a little later, will not be too far apart. The rise of woodblock printing is precisely adapted to the folk beliefs and production, the needs of life, because practical, convenient, beautiful, has attracted the attention of the upper echelons of the attention of the literati, so to the Song Dynasty, engraving and printing is generally blossomed, almost nowhere to use. From the record of urban life in the Song Dynasty, "Tokyo Dreaming Records", "Metropolitan Chronicle", "Dream Sorghum Records" and "Old Story of Wulin" and other books can be seen, folk printing is very active. Jin Dynasty Pingyang (now Linfen, Shanxi) Ji family engraved and printed "four beautiful pictures", the subject matter of its own secularization, but with the characteristics of the later folk yearbook. From the Song and Yuan to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the country appeared a number of engraved printing centers, printing book illustrations, hanging pictures, as well as statues of gods, paper horses and decorations, imitation of a single, cardboard and so on, to form a large world of printing. It lasted for twelve hundred years. In fact, the invention of printing is not accidental and isolated. Before there is printing, there have been a lot of similar printing process, such as seals, printing and dyeing and later topography. The use of seals was already common in the Qin and Han dynasties. In Hunan Changsha and Gansu Wuwei unearthed silk fabrics of the Han Dynasty, there are half-printed and half-painted patterns; that pattern is stamped with a small woodblock (press seal), a method that is still passed down among the Uyghur people in Xinjiang. By the Tang Dynasty, large-scale engraved plate folder printing has appeared, can print rich screen. However, these were not printing. Despite some ****similarities in the nature and characteristics of the process, they are not equivalent. In the successive relationship, there will even be some technology directly borrowed and influence, which is logical historical development, but can not be regarded as the same thing. Like in the paper and paper-cutting before, people have used the metal sheet around the carving pattern, such as in the lacquer "gold and silver flat paste". However, it is not paper cutting. Common article in order to illustrate the long history of a thing, at the expense of stretching the history, there is a "woodcut before the woodcut", "paper cuts before the paper cuts", as well as "primitive society of birds and flowers" (refers to the pottery decoration, and "bronze painting" (refers to the Shangzhou and Zhou bronze decorations), etc., so that it is difficult to catch. It is important to note the vagueness of the basic concepts and the lack of clarity in the taxonomy of art. The lack of conceptualization and categorization can also have a knock-on effect. The most obvious is to generalize the term "folk yearbook" to all folk woodblock prints. Here, too, there is the process of recognizing things and the degree of importance that people attach to them. The term "New Year's Paintings" appeared later. Late living Li Guangting "countryside words to solve Yi" in the official use of the word "New Year's paintings", and cited the "filial piety figure", "Zhuangjia busy" and other works, pointed out that "so that the children to see, for the explanation, is not non-nurturing one of the end of the positive," it is worth proposing that this book will be port paintings "and the" God of the Door "and" Spring Festival couplets "and so on, the concept is very clear. Juxtaposition, the concept is very clear. But before this, just a general term for the yearbook "painting stickers", "happy figure", "painting Zhang", "paper painting children", the name is not unified. Until modern times, Mr. Lu Xun advocate emerging woodcut, persuade young woodcutters to learn from the folk, or commonly used "flower paper" term.
As early as the beginning of this century, Western folklorists began to pay attention to China's folk New Year's paintings, there are a large number of works circulated to France, the Soviet Union and Japan, and earlier, Japan and Vietnam will also be transplanted to the past New Year's paintings from the early Japanese "ukiyo-e" can be seen in Chinese New Year's paintings of the traces of Vietnam New Year's paintings of the vegetative nature of the Peach Blossom Garden version of the reprints. China's artists began to participate in the improvement of the old New Year's Paintings, and the creation of new New Year's Paintings, began to dry in the forties of this century, at the same time, the official use of the term "New Year's Paintings", the research can also be carried out and in-depth, that is to say, folk woodblock prints of the study from the beginning of the New Year's Paintings, and then gradually expand outward, or because of the convention of the Bar, but also to the New Year's Paintings to generalize the other this is a reason.
The power of habit is great, it will bind people's thinking and activities. The usual explanation of "New Year's paintings" is that they are posted in the New Year to celebrate the beginning of the new year, which is cut from the truth. But in order to make "New Year's paintings" can summarize other, some people will try to "New Year's paintings" of the word change the meaning of the word, by "New Year" of the year to expand the "perennial" year, which makes the concept of confusion. If the name of the "New Year's painting" refers to the painting of the year, then, what special meaning, ask, other paintings are not also perennial painting?
So, we will folk woodblock prints for a comprehensive review, not only to give the painting. A due important position, but also to take into account the comprehensive, make sense of the system. Whether from the concept, logic or affiliation, can only be folk woodblock prints, including folk woodblock prints, and can not be the opposite.