Yangjiabu New Year Pictures
As the saying goes, "Yangjiabu came into being first. The kitchen god was
born next." It proves the long history of the block printing Yangjiabu New Year
pictures.
The production of Yangjiabu New Year pictures began during the Ming Dynasty
over 400 years ago. The ancestors of the Yang family in Yangjiabu moved to
Weixian County from Sichuan Province during the Hongwu period of the Ming
Dynasty.
Yangjiabu New Year pictures are a kind of colourplate woodcut pictures. The
first plate finishes black outlines. Then colour plates are used one after
another. Deep colours are printed first on small sections of a picture at first.
Light colours are printed on large sections of the picture at last. The main
colours are red, yellow, purple, green, blue and black. With their sharp eyes
and nimble fingers, the handicraftsmen can print four or five colours on the
same sheet of paper without the slightest error.
Yangjiabu block printing New Year pictures are characterized by local flavor,
artistic exaggeration and sharp contrast of colour. Take artistic exaggeration
for example. A chubby child carries a fish in his hands. His head is bigger than
his body. The fish is bigger than the child. It looks very nice.
The materials of Yangjiabu New Year pictures from the life of the local
people. Their motifs cover flowers, birds, mountains, rivers, characters in
traditional operas and fairy tales. The composition of pictures is vigorous, the
depiction is exaggerative, the lines are simple and smooth and the colours are
gorgeous. The bright red, bright green and bright purple colours give prominence
to the rustic flavour. The pictures highlight the bold and unconstrained
character of farmers in northern China.
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