Chinese Popular Prints

Chinese Popular Prints - Opracowała Maria Rudova

"For many centuries the Chinese have decorated their homes on New Year's Eve with brightly-coloured pictures printed on paper, which were made specially for the occasion. In the nineteenth century the prints received the name of nianhua or New Year pictures. The emergence od nianhua as an art form was due largely to technical advances in the field of xylography, or woodblock printing, and to its various applications and growing popularity. Its orgin can be traced back to the fifth century A.D. when printed icons and Taoist amulets somewhat similar to nianhua began to be produced in Buddhist ang Taoist monasteries. Classical Chinese painting also exerted a great influence on the development of woodblock engraving and, consequently, on nianhua art. Traditional Chinese painting, ehich is closely lined to calligraphy, developed a certain repertory of subjects and artistic devices which were later absorbed by nianhua art". Fragment książki