Jiangzhou woodblock New Year pictures have a full range of varieties, including 13 kinds of themes including statues of gods, operas, paper horses, baby plays, beauties, four-striped screens, window grilles, lantern paintings, door couplets, etc., with various techniques and different printing methods. Block printing and half-printing and half-painting, with two-color and multi-color printing, good block-engraving technology, fine lines, and clear historical context reflected in the content of the New Year pictures, are a complete folk cultural heritage.
Jiangzhou woodblock New Year pictures have a wide range of themes, including history, humanities, society, drama, etc. What people like to see most are drama characters. There are pictures of ancient figures with famous figures from past dynasties, which not only express the lofty aspirations of sages and philosophers, but also depict the heroic spirit of ancient heroes. The woodblock New Year paintings scattered among the people reflect people's prayers for happiness, good harvest, filial piety, longevity, sending off children, raising children, peace in all seasons, good fortune and prosperity, etc.; there are ancient loyal and righteous people, such as the door god, Guan Gong, Zhao Yun, Qin Qiong and Zhong Kui; there are also prayers for blessings. The themes include immortals giving birth to children, Qilin giving birth to children, Eight Immortals celebrating their birthdays, a hundred sons giving birth to gold, and peace in all seasons; there are fairy themes of immortals, eight immortals, bangs playing toads, and two immortals, horse stoves, and horse kings; there are folk themes of mouse getting married, There are pictures of monkeys rushing to take risks, five sons passing the exam, the tiger who controls the house, and filial piety pictures; there are real-life themes of computer room training children, Sanniang teaching children, spring cow pictures, fishermen and woodcutter joy pictures; there are opera themes of Tianhe Pei, Yellow Crane Tower, Zhao Yun Saves Adou . Especially the ancient loyalists, the images of the prints are majestic and give people a huge shock; the luxurious attire and beauty of the beauties and noble ladies, and the beautiful embroidery on the skirts give people a sense of intimacy and elegance; Cloud-carved chairs, coffee tables, bronzes, flower arrangements, and wall clocks give people a sense of elegance, simplicity and tranquility.
Jiangzhou woodblock New Year pictures have a wide range of themes and can be divided into the following eight categories:
1. Door gods. For example: "Qin Qiong respects virtue", "Zhao Yun protects his son", "Zhang Xian protects his son", there are about a dozen categories, and they are posted in different locations according to different contents. For example, "Zhao Yun protects his son" is posted on the daughter-in-law's door. Zhong Kui is posted on both sides of the door.
2. Gods. The main ones are Kitchen Lord, heaven and earth, land, ancestors, Zhong Kui, industry founders and gods of life. In this category, the worship of Guan Gong is also an important content, mainly focusing on reading "Spring and Autumn" at night and Shangguan (Guan) and lowering wealth. This picture of Guan Gong engraved by the "Duwu Liu" painting shop is neatly carved and can be called a masterpiece. In addition, there are also wealth horses and mythical beasts. The money horse evolved from the paper horse and is the most widely used category of Jiangzhou woodblock New Year pictures. It is posted in all aspects of the home during the New Year to bring good luck and good luck. The contents are mostly based on "The First Grade to the Dynasty", "Blessing from the Heavenly Official", "Liu Hai Playing with Toad", "Harmony of Two Immortals", etc. The mythical beasts evolved from totem worship, mainly including "Spring Cow Picture" and "Sacred Tiger".
3. Pictures of ladies. It is not only the content of traditional paintings, but also an important theme in Jiangzhou woodblock New Year paintings, which have developed from ancient costumes to modern pictures of ladies in cheongsam outfits. Among them, there are a large number of pictures of sending children, most of which express people's desire to have children and have descendants, mainly "Qilin Sending Children" and "Celestial Immortals Sending Children".
4. Opera stories. Most of them are based on opera. In terms of expression form, most of them are small, with four paintings in a couplet. Some capture interesting things in life, such as "Monkey Grabbing a Hat". According to legend, an old man pushed a cart of straw hats and passed by Monkey Mountain. The straw hats were snatched away by a group of monkeys. The old man was quick to wit, and lured the monkeys with wine. , Monkey drunk, take back the straw hat. The influence is very wide.
5. Education category. Mainly focusing on "Twenty-Four Filial Piety" and encouragement to learn. Among them, "Twenty-Four Filial Piety" has two sets: the late Ming and early Qing edition and the early Republic of China edition. In the category of encouraging learning, there are mainly more than 20 paintings such as "Pictures of Famous Virtues" and "Teaching Children in the Boudoir".
6. Practical category. Mainly window paintings, lamp paintings and ancient paintings. The content is mostly about opera characters, flowers and birds, etc., and is small in size. Bogu is mainly used for seals and seal cuttings, and is mostly used for decoration in gentleman's study rooms. At the same time, there are also couplets, ghost coins, playing cards, advertising trademarks, etc.
7. Prayers. This type of painting reflects the people's ideals and pursuit of beautiful things. They often use seasonal flowers and various fruits to express good luck and peace in the four seasons.
8. Bottom of the box. It's an erotic painting. In the old days, it was used as a sexual enlightenment teaching material for young women when they got married. After use, it was pressed at the bottom of a box or hidden in a beam to ward off evil spirits.