Introduction to the woodblock New Year paintings in Zhuxian Town: The woodblock New Year paintings in Zhuxian Town have a long history. According to the "Tokyo Menghua Lu" written by Meng Yuanlao of the Song Dynasty: "In recent years, the market has been printed with door gods, Zhong Kui, peach boards, peach charms, and wooden donkeys, turning deer and horses, and Tianxing posts." This vividly describes the New Year paintings of the Song Dynasty. prevail. In the second year of Jingkang's reign, the Jin soldiers captured Bianjing and set fire to and plundered the capital, which led to a depression in business and woodblock New Year paintings. In 1191, artists from the New Year Painting Workshop gradually moved south to Zhuxian Town. Since then, New Year Paintings have become world-famous for their new production area, Zhuxian Town.
In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties and even during the Qianlong period, with the development of commerce in Zhuxian Town, the woodblock New Year painting industry prospered. At its peak, there were more than 300 New Year painting workshops in the town, and some workshops employed more than 300 people. Exported to Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, India and other countries.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the number of New Year painting workshops in Zhuxian Town was reduced to more than 70 due to the decline of business in Zhuxian Town. By the Republic of China, there were only more than 40. In the spring of 1951, due to the "land reform" classification, many young painting shop owners were classified as landlords or capitalists, and their woodblock New Year paintings that had been handed down from their ancestors for many years were also gathered and burned.