The Development Course of Dongchangfu Woodblock New Year Pictures

China folk woodcut was not recorded in the literature before the Tang Dynasty, but in the Song Dynasty, one-piece prints became popular, which was called "paper painting" at that time, and was renamed "painting paste" in the Ming Dynasty. Some places call it "guarding paintings" in the early Qing Dynasty, while others call it "painting pictures". The word "New Year pictures" appeared in the 29th year of Daoguang in Qing Dynasty. As the name implies, it refers to the pictures posted in the New Year, and later this name was adopted by intellectuals.

Dongchangfu and Yangjiabu, two ancient folk painting cities in Shandong, respectively represent the eastern and western systems of Shandong woodblock New Year pictures, which have long enjoyed a good reputation in China.

Judging from the painting of "Boy's Flower Basket" left by Dongchangfu, this kind of printmaking developed from the unique printmaking beauty doll in Song Dynasty. In A.D. 1 127, the Jin army attacked Bianliang, and some woodcarving craftsmen were taken to Pingyang (now Linfen, Shanxi), making this area a woodcarving printing center.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi first opened three New Year pictures shops in Zhangqiu Town, yanggu county, where five merchants gathered and their financial resources were rolling in. Later, one of the "Liu Zhensheng Painting Shop" moved to Xiao Qing Street, Dongguan, Dongchangfu (Liaocheng, Shandong), and then merchants from all over the world flocked to open a painting shop.

Prior to this, the book engraving industry in Dongchangfu was very developed, and the illustrators and sculptors in the book engraving industry were responsible for engraving plates for various workshops, creating unique folk prints in Dongchangfu.

According to the survey, Dongchangfu woodblock New Year pictures workshops are distributed in more than 20 towns and villages such as Liaocheng, Tangyi, Yanggu, Shouzhang, Dong 'e, Shenxian, Chaocheng, Fanxian and Gucheng.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 20 painting shops in Liaocheng, including Wu Fuxiang, Yihexiang, Fushenghe, Tongtai, Tongshunhe, Yuxinghe, Xiangyuancheng, Dejucheng, KuiYuan Long, Guanghe, Tongshunxing, Yihecheng, Yuanmaoyong and Luxingju. Some start printing in June, and some start printing in September and October. At the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, the latest workshop even hangs a workshop brand. Each workshop needs an average of 600 Jin of paper every year. Before the Spring Festival every year, various New Year pictures are listed one after another, attracting people's attention. Products are sold to Luxi, Lunan, Lubei and other counties, and some of them are also exported to Shanxi, Henan, Hebei, Northeast China and other places.

During the Republic of China, the woodcut New Year pictures of Dongchangfu reached its peak. In modern times, due to the cancellation of grain transportation, the interruption of the canal and the construction of the Jin-Pu and Jing-Han railways, the geographical advantage given by the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to northwest Shandong gradually declined, and the colorful Dongchangfu woodblock New Year pictures also lost their former glory.