The pace of the Spring Festival is getting closer and closer, in Lingnan, especially in Foshan area, New Year pictures are the local unique Spring Festival "atmosphere group".
This year, Foshan New Year pictures play a new pattern! Wu Guolin, vice chairman of Foshan Writers Association and inheritor of Shunde intangible heritage Magang block printing technique, linked with New Year pictures on the basis of block art creation and added national tide elements to make the stable prints become vivid and aromatic.
This year is the Year of the Dragon. Wu Guolin took Shunde, "the hometown of the national dragon boat" as the source of ideas, and creatively created a batch of New Year painting works such as "The Dragon Teng and all Industries are Booming". After being exhibited in the Shunde District Museum, it was warmly received by many young people and collected by many entrepreneurs - which also explored the way for the transformation of Shunde intangible cultural heritage Magang block printing technology from public welfare to marketization. The reporter recently came to Rongcheng Art Museum to listen to the story behind the non-genetic inheritance.
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Zodiac dragon into Shunde Spring Festival painting protagonist
New Year prints blend to highlight the spirit of The Times
Into the Shunde Museum, "Carved color pattern create the future" - Shunde New Year picture Spring Festival works exhibition is on display. More than 40 works convey the blessings of the Year of the Dragon and build a "window" for the dissemination of intangible cultural heritage. The reporter learned that these New Year pictures were created by Wu Guolin, vice chairman of Foshan Writers Association and inheritor of Shunde intangible heritage Magang block printing skills, and the integration of engraving and New Year pictures is an innovative move.
It is understood that Foshan woodcut New Year pictures began in the Song and Yuan years and flourished in the Qianjia years of the Qing Dynasty, and the theme and color have strong local characteristics. Magang in Shunde was an important place of engraving and printing in Guangdong in the middle and late Qing Dynasty. Magang carving workers had been engaged in carving wood-block New Year pictures in large numbers, which played a very important role in the development of wood-block New Year pictures.
Magon block printing technology, emphasis on "engraving". Before carving, we must first "draft", that is, design the pattern to be carved; And carving is the most complex and the most test of master craftsmanship process - more in the pear wood in accordance with the draft pattern carved, a knife a moment slightly wrong may become a "failure", very test the master's skills.
Test printing, paper, ink mixing, color absorption... Every process of block printing is sloppy, highlighting the ingenuity of intangible heritage. In recent years, Wu Guolin has tried to combine black and white stable prints with colorful New Year pictures, trying to bring the traditional culture with rich historical background back to the "vision" of young people. The zodiac is widely spread, why not start with this, help print "hand in hand" New Year pictures, so that the intangible cultural heritage skills shine?
Just do what you say you will. After four years of trying, Wu Guolin's idea has become a reality - at present, the ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon and other zodiac animals have become the protagonists of the art of engraving New Year pictures. This year is the Year of the Dragon, Wu Guolin inspired by the Shunde dragon boat, "national dragon boat town" and other elements, the traditional shape of the door god, in the form of the zodiac dragon to perform the national tide, the creation of the New Year painting "Dragon Teng All industries are Booming". In this work, the door god's broadsword is transformed into a boat paddle, meaning "smooth wind and water", carrying forward the dragon boat spirit of unity, struggle and struggle, with Lingnan characteristics, highlighting the spirit of The Times.
In the early stage, just the drawing design, I changed four drafts. In the carving link, Qian Xuequan and Qian Xuehua, the inheritors of Magang block printing skills, "left and right bow", spent two weeks respectively to complete the carving of this zodiac dragon theme wood carving template, which can be described as "craftsman".
"These works try to integrate the zodiac into the concept of door gods in traditional New Year paintings, which is quite creative, fresh and vivid, but also simple and vivid; "The traditional swords, swords and halberds held by the door gods have been replaced with paddles and sugar cane, giving it a local flavor." Foshan folk literature and art association chairman Guan Hong said.
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A gathering of Magang printmaking continues to "save" endangered skills
Wu Guolin, 72 years old this year, in the past 20 years, he has continued to excavate, inherit and promote Magang engraving skills, "save" this traditional skill on the brink of disappearance, and actively declare Shunde district level, Foshan City level intangible cultural heritage.
Looking back at history, in the Qing Dynasty, the wind of Guangdong's wood engraving printing was increasingly prosperous, and the wood engraving printing industry of Shunde Magang rose at this time. According to records, there were about 3,000 villagers in Shunde Magang at that time, and men, women and children were engaged in the block printing industry. At that time, it was an important distribution center of engraving books in the Pearl River Delta. However, with the development of The Times and the progress of science and technology, manual carving has been gradually replaced, and Magang block printing technology has gradually declined.
In 2004, Wu Guolin, who was obsessed with literature and art, went to Ronggui Magang to pick up the style, re-excavate Magang block printing skills, and did a lot of field investigations, so that the endangered skills once again attracted everyone's attention. Since then, he has not only been limited to writing and investigation, but with the support of Ronggui Street Publicity, Culture, Culture and Tourism Office, he has opened a Magang engraving workshop in Rongcheng Art Museum, actively inherits and develops this skill, and has become a representative inherator of Magang engraving and printing skills in Shunde intangible cultural heritage project.
It is reported that the works created by Magang block printing technology are called "Magang prints". These works are mostly black, white and gray, which appear calm and solemn, and have a mysterious artistic sense. Over the years, Wu Guolin has devoted himself to the public welfare excavation, inheritance and development of Magang prints, but with the development of The Times, there are fewer and fewer printmakers. He uses workshops as a bridge to identify and nurture talents.
Explore the way
Starting from the public welfare, it is promising to explore the market-oriented activated conservation of intangible heritage
Traditional block printing techniques, into the trendy elements, become vivid color. In the previous fusion works of engraving and New Year pictures, Wu Guolin also performed cross-border interpretation of creative elements such as cartoons and cartoons, and gained the hearts of many young people.
Lingnan characteristic cultural elements have also become the display elements of Magang's engraving skills. This year, Wu Guolin for the first time will Chen Cun Nian orange, sugar cane carved into the painting, meaning "good luck" "heavy sugar cane", and printed New Year painting works, the market response is warm, a time Luoyang paper expensive, many local entrepreneurs compete to collect.
This made Wu Guolin quite surprised, "Magang prints and traditional New Year picture combination, aroused everyone's interest in Magang prints." He told reporters that this strengthened his innovative idea of integrating printmaking with New Year pictures, and better protected and inherited the project of Magang printmaking, which has profound historical and cultural heritage; At the same time, exploring the road from public welfare to market, promoting intangible cultural heritage skills from "blood transfusion" to "hematopoietic", and from museum "exhibition" to "hand letter" of thousands of households, is more conducive to the sustainable development of intangible cultural heritage.
It is understood that Magang block printing technology was awarded the eighth batch of Shunde District intangible heritage projects in 2020, and Magang prints derived from block printing technology have become a shining business card of Shunde culture. In December 2023, Magang block printing technology entered the list of intangible cultural heritage projects in Foshan City.
Today, the Magang printmaking Workshop of Rongcheng Art Museum has also become a non-genetic base in Shunde.