The Paper Horse of Tengchong, an Ornate and Magical Art

The paper horse of Tengchong, which is locally called "divine horse," as with paper horses of other regions, was introduced from the central plains. With the paper horse of the Han nationality as its basis, Yunnan has gradually formed paper horses with local characteristics by integrating the local customs of worshipping national deities, ghosts and spirits in the primitive religions. The art of making "divine horse" is a recreation based on the rich folk culture of the central plains and the folk art among ethnic minorities in the frontiers of Yunnan Province.

In essence, the paper horse is a black-white woodblock painting and a monochromatic printing from a carved woodblock, that is, black-white woodcarving. The printing of the horse is simple. Usually prepared Chinese ink, soot from the bottom of pans, ink in red, blue and black are used as the printing materials. The natural colors of the paper usually are used and, although little attention is paid to the quality of the paper, the quality of the paper, the quality of the tissue paper produced in Tengchong is considered the best. In printing, first, a brush is dipped in color and brushed on the woodblock and then the woodblock is covered with paper. The paper is pressed by being lifted from the woodblock; thus, the finished paper horse. The majority of the people buying the paper horse do not care about the quality, as long as it meets the definition of paper horse they are satisfied, because ultimately it will be burned, unlike New Year paintings, which are pasted on doors and walls.