Wang Shucun, an old man of New Year paintings, talks about his collection and research in the past 70 years
2005-03-26 11:34:30 Source: Southern Metropolis Daily
"Crops" Busy" Yangliuqing, Tianjin
"Mouse Marries a Girl" Mianzhu, Sichuan
Wang Shucun, the old man of New Year paintings, talks about his collection and research insights in the past 70 years
"New Year paintings are non-renewable Cultural relics"
Wang Shucun
is from Yangliuqing, Tianjin, so his understanding of New Year pictures can be said to have started when he was a child. When Wang Shucun was a child, every family would put up pictures on their doors every year and festival. He recalled that at that time, during the New Year and festivals, everyone would put a protective door god on the door, which meant to keep the little devils out. The small door in the yard could not have a door god attached, otherwise the evil spirit would enter the yard, so in the small door There are usually some auspicious New Year pictures posted on the door, such as Qilin sending a child, Double Happiness and Treasures, etc. New Year pictures were very common at that time, and a new one would be posted every year during the festival to express good wishes for peace and prosperity in the coming year.
Later, the Japanese invaded and occupied the three northeastern provinces. They used New Year paintings to promote propaganda in these areas and divide the people's resistance to Japan.
The Japanese's cultural invasion of the Chinese people made Wang Shucun furious. He had only one idea: he could not let these precious things fall into the hands of foreigners. "The teacher taught us to be patriotic, but the Japanese invaded our land and robbed our culture. We couldn't be slaves to the subjugation of our country. This was the idea at the time, so we started collecting New Year pictures."
At the beginning, Wang Shucun Collect the unwanted New Year pictures from the neighbors and buy them all when you see them selling New Year pictures. Later, when I had the conditions, I went to antique markets across the country to look for them, and slowly accumulated some New Year paintings. Later, after graduating from North China University, he worked as an editor at "Art" magazine, and there were more ways to collect New Year pictures.
In addition to collecting New Year pictures, Wangshu Village also collects some fine folk arts, such as embroidery, shadow puppets, lantern paintings, etc. He not only collected them, but also studied them piece by piece. He verified and annotated the content, origin and story of each New Year picture. Therefore, in the field of folk art he touched, he was not only a collector, but also a theorist. From 1936, Wang Shucun began to collect New Year paintings. In almost 70 years, his research on Chinese folk art has been elaborated in more than 50 published books. His contribution to folk art can be reflected in his books. .
In the early spring of this year, our reporter had the honor to interview this old man who painted New Year pictures. Now 84 years old, Wang Shucun still insists on working at his desk every day. He told reporters that he is writing two books at hand, and there are many folk things that he wants to write down for future generations to read.
In the early spring of this year, our reporter had the honor to interview this old man who painted New Year pictures. Wang Shucun told reporters that New Year pictures have existed more than 2,000 years ago. This kind of folk woodblock New Year pictures was not taken seriously by people in the past, but the paper, drawing board and painting technology all show the humanistic and historical characteristics of each era. Non-renewable cultural relics, I collect New Year pictures to do something for the country and to contribute to the inheritance of traditional Chinese culture for future generations.
New Year pictures always teach people to be kind
Southern Metropolis Daily (hereinafter referred to as "Nandu"): You started collecting Yangliuqing paintings before liberation, and this collection lasted for nearly 70 years. Later, you were transferred to the China Institute of Art to engage in research on folk art. Is it because of this that you are particularly fond of New Year pictures?
Wang Shucun: Maybe, I studied art myself, and I know a lot about New Year pictures. Later, my boss asked me to engage in folk art research, so I have been studying this all my life.
I particularly like our Yangliuqing New Year paintings, as well as paper-cutting, clay dolls, and sugar figures. This series of folk art is all in Yangliuqing. In addition to collecting New Year pictures, I also have a lot of collections of embroidery, shadow puppets, lantern paintings, wood carvings, carpet patterns, cake molds, posters, etc. In fact, folk art can better reflect the lives of our people. They record the development of history and inherit many of our Chinese moral traditions. I think these things should be preserved.
Let’s take the Yangliuqing paintings as an example. The content in them always teaches people to be good, and does not teach people to learn to be bad. There will be no such content as fighting or fighting. They all teach me how to study well. How to serve the country well, resist foreign humiliation, and never forget the national humiliation! These New Year pictures are all about educating children. Yang Liuqing's New Year pictures are more systematic and more traditional in education.
Taking pictures was not popular at that time, so we relied on the things painted by these craftsmen. What they left us was not the pen and ink, the taste, but the social background of the time, such as " "Robbing a Pawnshop", we can see what the pawnshop looked like at that time, the clothes people wore at that time, and who were robbing the pawnshop. These scenes are indeed a reproduction of real historical events. There is also a New Year picture called "Busy Crops" in Yangliuqing, Tianjin. It reflects the process from sowing crops to harvesting in a serial form, leaving us with a lot of valuable image information.
Nandu: How many New Year pictures have you collected so far? I heard that during the Cultural Revolution, many of your collections of paintings were burned.
Wang Shucun: I have never counted, and I can’t count clearly at all. Someone once calculated for me that there must be more than 10,000 items, including New Year pictures and many drawing boards. These things are not easy to store and can easily become moldy or eaten by insects. I put them in boxes, and these boxes lined up became our bed (laughs). At that time, we didn’t even use beds at home, so we could just put the boxes in a row and sleep on them.
During the "Cultural Revolution" I moved them to my relatives in the countryside, and most of them were saved. But I also burned some, and there was really nothing I could do about it. Later, most of the New Year paintings were donated to the National Museum, after all, they can be better preserved there.
Foreigners cherish the value of New Year pictures more
Nandu: As far as I know, foreign countries are very interested in our New Year pictures. For example, the British Museum collects our New Year pictures.
Wang Shucun: I often promote my traditional things too little, and I feel very sorry. Many people in China look down upon folk art and think it is not worth mentioning. But it is different in foreign countries. They regard Chinese New Year pictures as treasures. I have been to the former Soviet Union, Australia, Austria, the United Kingdom, Japan and other countries. They all collect Yang Liuqing's New Year paintings and protect them very well. Most of these were plundered when the Eight-Nation Allied Forces attacked China.
Nandu: I heard that these countries specifically ask you to appraise the Yangliuqing paintings in their collections.
Wang Shucun: Yes. The former Soviet Union invited me to appraise the collections of Chinese New Year paintings in museums in Leningrad and Moscow. I collaborated with them to publish a "Rare Collection of Chinese New Year Paintings in the Soviet Union". I also went to a museum in the UK. They had a lot of vintage paintings, all of which were fine paintings. I asked them for them, but they wouldn’t give them to me. In fact, they are the ones who stole things from us in China. Now they will never come back, so they can only take photos and document them.
Nandu: Do they like these traditional Chinese arts that much?
Wang Shucun: Don’t you like the collection rooms and exhibition halls (collections) with such a constant temperature? Although there are many kinds of art in foreign countries, there are no foreign paintings in the form of New Year pictures, which are printed with woodblock printing and then drawn by hand. If there are prints in foreign countries, their prints are not as big as our woodblocks. If the prints are not that big, there will not be such big artists to create them. There are painters, oil painters, and printmakers in foreign countries, but it is impossible to create such large prints.
We started studying our own New Year pictures too late. The first history book of New Year pictures, "History of Chinese New Year Pictures", was actually published by the Japanese. This makes people feel particularly regretful and sad. Foreigners like our New Year pictures very much, but we ourselves don’t cherish them and very few people care about them.
Work hard to write books to pass on to future generations
Nandu: I heard that you continue to publish books introducing New Year pictures and many folk arts. Over the years, you have published more than 40 books. Now at such an old age, are you still insisting on writing books?
Wang Shucun: More than 40 books, probably more than 50. In addition to New Year pictures, I also like paper-cutting, clay dolls, embroidery, shadow puppets and other folk things. I want to write down everything I know. Many of my previous books were about New Year pictures, and later I wrote "History of Chinese Shadow Puppetry" ”, “History of Chinese Paper-cutting Art” and so on. A "History of Chinese Folk Art" was recently published, and I am currently writing a new book.
Nandu: Can you introduce the book you are writing?
Wang Shucun: It is a folk painting about classical literature, mainly the four classic masterpieces: Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, and Dream of Red Mansions. Over the years, I have collected a lot of materials in this area. In Taiwan, I have published a book "Illustrated Description of a Dream of Red Mansions", which contains not only New Year pictures, but also paper-cuts, illustrations, etc. In addition, I am also planning to write a book about store signs. In the past, stores doing different businesses would have their own unique signboards, which should be regarded as the predecessor of trademarks or signboard advertising. This practice has been around since the Yuan Dynasty, like The pawn shops we see on TV will hang a big sign with the word "pang" on the door, and the liquor stores will hang a small flag with the word "wine". I plan to compile these things and publish a book. The knowledge in it is quite interesting.
New Year Picture Story "The Mouse Marries a Girl"
New Year pictures were an important form of entertainment for ordinary people in the past, and there were many types of them. For example, in addition to our common door gods, traditional New Year pictures for the acceptance of five sons or praying for blessings and warding off evil spirits, there are also New Year pictures and fables that reflect people's lives.
The twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month in China is called Tiancang Festival. It means that when the warehouse is empty, if you want to add more warehouses, you have to work. The laborers are told to go farming quickly, and your warehouse has a red light. If you can no longer sit there and eat, you have to go to work, which is called Tiancang Twenty-five. On this day, there is a story called "The Mouse Marries a Girl." The mouse gave birth to a daughter and wanted to marry a powerful man. It was dissatisfied with the sun, dark clouds and walls, and then decided to marry a cat. Unexpectedly, on the night of the wedding, the mouse's daughter was eaten by a tabby cat. A New Year painting like this "Mouse Marrying Girl" depicts a procession of mice sending off their brides. The mice carry the flag, blow the trumpet, carry the sedan chair, and deliver the dowry. This story has a certain meaning.
In addition, there is a New Year painting called "Three Monkeys Scorching a Pig", which depicts three monkeys wearing melon-skin hats and a black pig wearing a top hat playing cards and gambling. The three monkeys conspired to cheat, but lost to the rich and powerful fat pig. The purpose of the painting was to advise people not to be greedy for gambling, and at the same time it also satirized those who exploited and deceived others, just like the big black pig.
Written by our reporter Wang Jingjing
Tianjin Yangliuqing, a treasure for future generations
◎ Wang Xiaofeng 2004-01-15
Goed to Tianjin for an interview Folk culture expert Mr. Feng Jicai, a friend in Tianjin, said to me: "Now he is not doing his job properly." It probably means that if a writer doesn't write novels well, he must save folk culture. But in Feng Jicai's eyes, the value of rescuing folk culture that may disappear in an instant is far greater than a novel he wrote. So now he has become a busy man, writing every morning and evening, and spending all his afternoons with media from all over the country.
Feng Jicai has a studio, which is located in an inconspicuous residential building in downtown Tianjin. This is his original home. There are two rooms filled with things he collected from the private sector. Various ancient items, each item is a kind of folk art. There are also many books, collections, calligraphy and paintings in the house. Among them, there is a piece of calligraphy written by him: "The treasure of the past life will be the treasure of the future life." Feng Jicai devoted too much effort to the survival of the Yangliuqing paintings around him
After investigating Yangliuqing, only 4 old artists were found< /p>
Yangliuqing is what I pay more attention to, because I live in Tianjin, which is also an interactive factor. For example, in my works, such as "The Divine Whip" and "Three Inch Golden Lotus", there are many local folk customs. I am not writing novels for the sake of folk customs, but if I want to write about the people of this place, their folk customs must be involved, because the folk customs of a place are one of the most profound aspects of the lives of the people in this place, and they are also the people of this place. One of the most unique. You can't understand the people of this place if you don't study their folklore. I pay more attention to the cultural background behind people, so I like the folk customs of this place and the folk custom forms of this place. This is a trend. Then from another direction, I might like folk art, and if I like folk beauty, I might learn about New Year paintings.
I came into contact with Yangliuqing paintings when I was very young. I collected a lot of them off and on at that time, but they were all destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I would occasionally go to Yangliuqing Town, and suddenly I felt that there were no New Year paintings in Yangliuqing.
In 1991, I held a Yangliuqing Painting Festival. I invited people from all over the country to come to Tianjin for New Year paintings. I also held a seminar on Chinese New Year paintings. I held the closing ceremony of the New Year Painting Festival at the "Shijia" in Yangliuqing Town. The purpose of doing this is to stimulate Yangliuqing Painting and see if it can stimulate it.
Since the early 1990s, I have been going to Yangliuqing every year. I found that Yangliuqing paintings are almost dead. The reason is the urbanization of the town, the urbanization of the countryside, the urbanization of the town. The speed of modernization is very cruel. The animals of modernization are eating the spiritual vegetation of history, which will accelerate the demise of Yangliuqing's paintings. I had an idea at that time. I wanted to see how China's woodblock New Year pictures disappeared little by little. I wrote an article about New Year pictures every year. Last year I wrote an article "Nanxiang Culture Notes". Nanxiang has There are 36 villages. In these 36 villages, basically "every household knows how to dye, and every household is good at painting." In that area, it was basically passed down orally, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law did it. The whole family painted New Year pictures on the kang. There were more than a hundred painting shops at that time. Last year, I led a team to inspect 36 villages, and basically found 4 artists. The 82-year-old artist named Yang has stopped painting for a long time. He takes out the old version every year and paints it with a new color. Two hundred copies were given to a neighbor, who said he just wanted to have fun; the 80-year-old artist stopped doing it in 2000 and has no descendants; I searched for the 67-year-old artist several times before I found him, and he now lives in His hand-drawn paintings of the Five Immortals were very good, but he stopped painting now and switched to traditional Chinese paintings. The last one is a fish tank painter named Wang Xueqin. It is basically a folk New Year painting in the farming style of Yangliuqing Town. So in Yangliuqing Town, only the Huo family is still a real, authentic and inherited artist.
Folk art is universal, while elite art is individual. In Yangliuqing, you can only stand up if everyone thinks the dolls you draw are good. What everyone thinks is good has actually incorporated the aesthetics of the area. But as folk artists, they may all have their own unique skills. For example, some people are good at engraving, and some are better at painting. Therefore, if the oral teaching is transmitted from heart to heart, there is a fear that if there are no people to pass on it, it will be discontinued. This is what intangible cultural heritage is.
The position of New Year pictures in New Year customs
There is another more important way to celebrate the New Year, which is to post New Year pictures. Why? Because New Year pictures are visible and concrete, they reflect people's wishes for life. Rather than being ideals of life, they are wishes for life, and wishes are more practical. Because Chinese people have this ideal and desire during the New Year, it is a little bigger than ordinary life. For example, you have to eat things that you can’t usually eat during the Chinese New Year. There is no reason to wear new clothes during the Chinese New Year. But during the Chinese New Year, you wear new clothes, new inside and out. The Chinese New Year is closer to ideal than ordinary life, which means to idealize life, and also makes ordinary ideal life into a little bit of reality, which means to make ideal life into life. I think this is the most superb way for Chinese people to celebrate the New Year. Through hard work, they can make their original life a little bigger. So this is where people have deeper feelings about the Chinese New Year.
Because New Year pictures are a kind of painting, a lot of content can be put into them, so they can be very specific, visual and intuitive. In the past, ordinary people were almost illiterate, and New Year pictures were visual, intuitive, and highly informative. Therefore, New Year pictures are actually the externalization and materialization of people's New Year mentality during the New Year. New Year pictures have become a very important thing during the New Year.
When we were engaged in rescuing Chinese folk cultural heritage, we actually regarded New Year pictures as a leading project. I think it is the most important. I have been trying hard to study New Year pictures in college. I think New Year pictures involve Chinese folk customs, folk psychology, anthropology, culture, including fine arts, and it is the most widely involved. There is no folk art in China, including paper-cutting and shadow puppets, that reflects the life ideals of people in the farming period as comprehensively as New Year pictures. No art can express so much. It is not only life, but also religion and folk worship. . In addition, it uses many methods, such as symbolism, personification, metaphor, exaggeration and other literary techniques, as well as the most unique technique in New Year pictures - homophony. For example, if there is a fly immediately, it is called "win immediately". These homophonic sounds can create a very interesting picture. You cannot know its meaning immediately. Just the homophonic content in Chinese New Year pictures can write a very thick book. Chinese New Year Pictures Homophone Dictionary".
One of the things I want to say is that New Year pictures have a very important meaning in Chinese New Year culture. They make the ideal of celebrating the New Year visible, and in that era without television, New Year pictures were basically walls. on TV. There are also many forms of New Year pictures. New Year pictures are posted everywhere. During the New Year, people and many contents of the New Year pictures are integrated together. Therefore, among Chinese New Year artworks and culture, New Year pictures should be ranked first. It can also be said that Chinese folk New Year pictures are a leader, which is the position of New Year pictures in New Year culture.
With the rise of New Year pictures, we generally think that door gods existed in the Han Dynasty, but these are not New Year pictures. When did the New Year pictures appear? Two New Year paintings were unearthed in Pingyang, Linfen, Shanxi, one is "Four Beautiful Pictures" and the other is "Portrait of Guan Gong". I think they are the earliest New Year paintings, and they are woodblock prints. Chinese woodblock printing actually started in the Tang and Song Dynasties. It should be said that New Year pictures are a very outstanding performance of the country that originated printing in ancient China. Block printing is widely used in New Year pictures. On the one hand, it promotes the development of New Year culture; on the other hand, it promotes the development of block printing.
The style of Chinese New Year pictures
China is a country with diverse and splendid cultures. The regional cultures of each place are completely different. Due to the differences in regional culture, the styles of woodblock New Year pictures are also completely different. For example, the New Year pictures in Mianzhu, Sichuan, have a sense of mystery unique to Sichuan culture; the New Year pictures in Taohuawu, Suzhou, are relatively light and delicate; the New Year pictures in Wuqiang, Hebei Province have a particularly strong sense of humor and are very intelligent; the New Year pictures in Weifang, Shandong Province are relatively vigorous, It is full of masculinity and has a strong sense of prosperity. The head of the doll in the New Year pictures in this place has a square head, while the New Year picture of Yang Liuqing has a round head and a round head. Tianjin's New Year pictures are different from those in other parts of the north. Generally speaking, it is a northern system. However, this place is next to Beijing and relatively close to big cities. It has to send New Year pictures to the royal family and nobles, so its New Year pictures are too local. In addition, Yangliuqing is relatively close to Tianjin, so its New Year paintings have become more sophisticated. Later, some Chinese painters came here to participate in the creation of New Year paintings, so its New Year paintings are very detailed, and Yangliuqing paintings are half painted, half painted, half printed and half painted, which is closer to The characteristics of Chinese paintings and New Year paintings are different from traditional Chinese paintings. Chinese paintings pursue elegance, while New Year paintings pursue richness. Generally speaking, Yangliuqing's paintings have a wide range of themes. The themes of Chinese New Year paintings are quite wide, with nearly 10,000 kinds, of which Yangliuqing paintings account for 60 to 70%.
I like the emotional expression of folk art
I started out as a painter, not a writer. I started to be interested in New Year pictures in my twenties, and I started to develop Western paintings and I am interested in Chinese paintings, but I also like folk paintings. There are several reasons why I like it. One is that folk paintings have strong folk emotions. I think this kind of folk art is very simple and has the same color as earth. It moved me very much, not just New Year pictures, I also like folk art broadly, from folk architecture to a small purse and embroidery, I like them all. I like the way they express their emotions. I think folk art is full of wisdom. I also like their aesthetic emotions and their unique techniques. Because when the folk express their aesthetic ideals, they are different from elite artists. They express directly without any utilitarian color.
I want to make the Sikuquanshu of Chinese folk culture
In February last year, the Chinese folk cultural heritage rescue project was established. Now the first batch has been launched in 15 provinces, one in each province Folk culture rescue organizations have been established at all levels. Now that census work has begun in 15 provinces, its social impact is growing. In addition, national rescue centers have been established for some specific projects, such as New Year pictures and paper-cutting. We will also gradually establish a shadow puppet and clay sculpture rescue center. What we have to do now is basically three aspects, one is folk literature, one is folk custom, and the other is folk art. In terms of folk customs, each county has a folklore chronicle. There are more than 2,700 counties in China, and we will probably have more than 2,500 folklore chronicles. Folk culture disappears very quickly. At the current rate of disappearance, if we can’t get this thing back within 10 years, it will be gone in the future.
Our census of New Year pictures is a very small part of the rescue of the entire folk cultural heritage, because what we have to do is to make a comprehensive record of all the folk culture in China. What we have to do is like The cultural census that Malraux conducted in France was to create a "Sikuquanshu" of folk culture and archive folk culture.
Maybe in 10 or 15 years, our folk culture will disappear, and it cannot be regenerated. It is an accumulation of five thousand years of civilization. Now it has fallen into pieces, so I want to make the final cultural form Record it, so you need to make a complete record. This record must be recorded in a visual anthropological way - written, image and photographic full information. New Year pictures are part of us, and Yangliuqing paintings are a product of Chinese woodblock New Year pictures, because there are about 20 production areas of woodblock New Year pictures in China, and now we have 17 volumes to do. Regarding Yangliuqing paintings, the first thing we do is to record, and the second is to protect. The protection project is done by the government, and the rescue can only be done by experts. The government does not know how to rescue, but the government has the power to protect. Conservation also develops, that is how to make it come alive. For example, paper-cutting in Yu County, Hebei Province, is now becoming a tourist industry. Originally, a tiger was cut to drive away ghosts, and the tiger was very ferocious, but now it no longer feels that way once it is made into a tourist item. It was made to be beautiful so that people would buy it, so the original simple emotions among the people were gone.
In fact, folk art also needs to mutate in the process of development, but its mutation is slower than that of elite culture. Elite culture requires innovation, while folk culture is relatively stable, with more personality than individuality. Even less easy to change. In the past, folk art existed in a relatively closed environment. Now it has become touristic. One of the problems caused by tourism is that the simplicity of folk culture is gone, folk emotions are gone, and the inner things are gone. In fact, It only looks similar in form but not in spirit. How to keep the life of folk art alive instead of letting it survive in this form is a problem. But now we live in an era of commodity economy. Tourism is a typical product of commodity economy. All tourism accessories must be commercialized. In this case, changes must be made, so these issues need to be discussed.
Use folk art to fight against globalization
My personal bigger idea is to save folk culture in order to fight against globalization. I think the biggest cultural problem that our Chinese people encounter is that globalization has harmed us, and we are not aware of it, and we are happy to let culture enter the WTO. In fact, from an intellectual's personal perspective, the economic globalization ization, and the trend of culture is actually localization, which is what any developed country does. The reason we didn't do that was because we never saw culture.
When I went to Europe, the folk culture I saw in Europe was basically original ecological culture, including its folk songs and dances. I have been to many countries for folk art, and their folk culture is well protected. Scholars help them how to inherit the original tradition, and they also have many organizations to dig out the original things and not let the original things be commercialized. What's the most important thing? People's orientation in appreciating folk art is different from ours. We just bought two things in a daze and took them away. They are very tasteful when choosing folk art. They look for the simplest one. Their vision It's very sharp. When the overall level of civilization, culture and education in society reaches a certain level, people will have this choice. Maybe by the time you have this choice, these things may have completely deteriorated. Where is the real thing? If we still want to change back, we can still connect with history, and we need to re-modify what has been commercialized. What is our basis? I think we can only preserve the original things now. Folk culture is a process of life and death. If you don't pay attention to preserving it, it will be gone. There are still some that are particularly well preserved. ■
Huo Qingyou and his Yangliuqing paintings
Huo Qingyou is the sixth generation descendant of the Yangliuqing painting family. He is the only one discovered by Feng Jicai who masters hook, engraving, painting and calligraphy. Artists with printing, painting and mounting techniques
Before interviewing Huo Qingyou, the reporter went to the "Yangliuqing Painting Society" in Hexi District, Tianjin and found that Yangliuqing Painting has formed an industrial scale here - the painting The company currently has three stores in Tianjin, with annual profits of several million yuan. In the courtyard of the painting club, accompanied by Sister Li, the person in charge, I saw the entire process of Yangliuqing's painting. Sister Li told reporters that the painting club currently has a collection of more than 3,000 old plates, many of which are quite precious. Even today, it takes about 4 months to create a master of moderate complexity.
The next day, the reporter went to Yangliuqing Town, about 30 kilometers away from Tianjin, to visit Huo Qingyou, the successor of Yangliuqing painting.
This town now shows no trace of its simplicity. The layout is even neater than Tianjin’s “Trousers Road”. The large square in the center of the town is surrounded by groups of modern communities. In various cities, Common sculptural decorations abound, and a row of 50-meter-long columns from the ancient Roman Colosseum is particularly eye-catching. After searching for a long time, I didn't find any decorations related to the New Year pictures. Around this town, the original villages have become demolition sites.
According to Mr. Huo Qingyou’s prompt, I walked along the canal. In front of a modern community, I saw the flag of a time-honored brand dotted among the buildings in the distance, with "Yuchenghao" written on it. This purple flag looks so abrupt and disharmonious among the buildings, which seems to hint at the current status of folk culture today.
Huo Qingyou moved to this building just last year. His home is on the third floor. The first floor is a studio. When he entered the house, he was working with his apprentice. The walls of the third floor are covered with various Yangliuqing paintings, and the living rooms on the second and third floors are used as exhibition rooms. There are paintings by Mr. Huo himself and treasures he collected from the people. These works range from the Qing Dynasty to before the "Cultural Revolution", which is almost a history of Yangliuqing painting.
When it comes to Yangliuqing paintings, Huo Qingyou told me directly: "I feel guilty now." This guilt is that he has personally destroyed many masters of Yangliuqing paintings with an ax, so he is more serious than before. and focus on passing on the endangered craftsmanship of Yangliuqing to the next generation. He said: "The seventh generation is also painting now. No matter who comes now, as long as he is willing to learn, I will selflessly teach him. Why? After all, this thing is left by the ancestors and is a folk thing. I have learned it. I feel sorry for the ancestors. This kind of folk craft is very complicated, so I tell them before I understand it, otherwise they will have to work hard and make detours, because I have gone through many detours."
Mr. Huo said. The process of destruction of New Year painting masters during the "Cultural Revolution". "Yuchenghao" is the stage name of Huo Qingyou's father. Just when Huo Qingyou was preparing to inherit the Huo family's craftsmanship, the "Cultural Revolution" began. In order to protect the master plates from being destroyed in the Four Olds, his father hid them in the ceiling. There were about 300 masters at that time. Later, when the family house leaked and they needed to be repaired, the motherboard hidden in the ceiling was discovered. His father dug a big hole in the yard. When it was dark, when no one was paying attention, he buried them in the hole and covered them with waterproof tape. oilcloth. But unexpectedly, when it rained, a big pit sank into the place where the master was buried. When it was taken out, it was soaked by the rain. The master plates for making New Year pictures are usually made of pear wood, which is most afraid of moisture. "Some of the master plates at that time were hidden by my father, and some were taken away by the brigade and placed in a room. Later, the militia held a meeting, and there was a The militiamen said: 'It's raining and we can't open outside. Please take those old things out and let's go to the house for a meeting.' They sawed many boards into round bench tops, and some of them were stolen by farmers. I made bicycle pedals at home. Since the motherboard has edges, it is not slippery when pedaling. I also split some parts and poured various paints into the canal, which turned the canal water into yellow. I feel guilty because many precious ancient editions have been chopped off, so I started to restore the family's craftsmanship in 1980."
When Mr. Huo picked up this craft again. When I was doing my crafts, I discovered that due to the catastrophe of the "Cultural Revolution", many ancient editions had been lost, and people no longer understood Yangliu Qing's paintings. "What they probably know about Yangliuqing's paintings is a man holding a big fish (that is, the most widely circulated "Lotus Year More Than" among Yangliuqing's paintings). What is it famous for? I went to Wuxi to participate in the Second China Folk Art Festival. When I was showing my New Year paintings, someone asked me, "Is this a Yangliuqing painting?" I said, "What's your surname?" I said, "That's not your surname." Yangliuqing's paintings. The surname of Yangliuqing's paintings is Yang, and your surname is Huo. "One time I was in an art class, and the teacher also said: 'Yangliuqing's paintings are nothing but hugging big fish. The paintings are very rough and cannot be used for college." Yazhitang. 'I explained to him that the country no longer promotes Yangliuqing New Year paintings. Yangliuqing has tens of thousands of New Year paintings. He didn't believe it. I told him that Yangliuqing paintings have five major categories: dolls, ladies, folklore, opera and God statues. In our generation, a Buddhist category has been filled.”
“In order to make up for the mistakes of the past, I began to dig out, organize, and rescue the lost manuscripts of artists.
"Among the Yangliuqing paintings from various periods collected by Mr. Huo, there is a fragmented painting called "Celebrating the New Year." Speaking of this fragmented painting, Mr. Huo told how he rescued the painting——< /p>
“In the past, people were relatively poor, so they built their houses on the same wall. One family’s house was old and needed to be renovated, but they only used one wall and could not demolish it. Another wall was built outside the wall. In the 1980s, the house was in ruins and had to be torn down and rebuilt. The inner wall was exposed, with a layer of newspaper pasted on it. When they tore it apart, they discovered that there were Yang Liuqing paintings inside. So someone told me to go take a look, so I cut it out according to the size of the New Year picture, took it home, and saved it for a month. I found the subject matter of this painting very valuable, because this painting is now very popular. Rarely seen. "
Another person collected a Huoyu version and found Huo Qingyou, "I went to take a look and found that it was a color-registered version. It was a main line version. I thought at the time, I should restore it, these are all artists