The Content and Theme of Zhangzhou Woodblock New Year Pictures

There are many kinds of door gods in Zhangzhou woodblock New Year pictures, with diverse contents and great differences in size. Generally, the door keeper is printed on two pieces of paper, and the largest single sheet size reaches 53×28 cm, while the small door keeper is printed on one piece of paper, and the size is only 18×20 cm. There are several specifications for all kinds of door gods' New Year pictures from big to small, which meet the needs of all levels and buildings.

(1) military commander

There are two main categories: "God Tea" and "Qin Weichi Gong". "shentu Pavilion" is dressed in various styles and specifications, such as uniform, wearing armor, wearing a tiger skin crown, holding a melon hammer (symbolizing the fullness of melon pulp), holding a whip and mace weapon, riding a horse, or standing with eyes around. The modeling of "Qin Weichi Gong" was influenced by the modeling of military commanders in folk operas. They are all dressed in armor, with flags on their backs and carrying double hammers and single whips. Qin Cheng has a long beard, while Weichi Gong's square face is full of beards, facing each other. These two kinds of door gods are widely circulated among the people and have become the main roles of door gods since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is intended to guard the door, expel ghosts and gods and pray for happiness. This kind of door god is attached to the door of the house.

Representative works include: shentu and Lei Yu (43×23cm Ming Dynasty prints), shentu and Lei Yu (Qing Dynasty prints), Qin Weichi Gong Bao Shu (42×23.5cm Ming Dynasty prints) and Qin Weichi Gong Bao Shu (32×20cm Ming Dynasty prints).

(2) Blessing type

There are several varieties, and the smaller ones are "Adding a Crown to the Shandong Province", "Praising Jin Jue", "Fu Meihua", "Plum Blossom Life", "Kuixingchun" and "Five Tigers Bring Money". The New Year pictures with courtiers as the door gods not only have the meaning of "promotion and wealth", but also have the auspicious symbol of "God bless the people". The figure in the painting is dressed as a court official, wearing an official hat, embroidered robe, a jade belt around his waist, boots on his feet and a long beard. Holding a water board in one hand and a tray in the other, there are peony, Jue, crown, deer and other things in the tray, which symbolizes wealth, prosperity, family prosperity and being the number one scholar, and embodies the psychology of seeking wealth. This kind of door god is often posted on the main hall door. Small-scale "plum blossom praying" and "five tigers entering the treasure" are mainly posted in "door lattice", rice jars, kitchen doors, cabinets and other places, with Zhangzhou local characteristics.

Representative works include: Blessed, Safe and Happy People Welcome Rich Spring (3 1× 19 cm Qing Dynasty print), Zanhua Jin Jue (50×28cm Qing Dynasty print), Zanhua Jin Jue (Qing Dynasty print) and Jia Guan Lu Jin.

(3) Ask for money to send children.

1. Begging for money

Zhangzhou woodblock New Year pictures take the god of wealth as the theme, which caters to people's thoughts of seeking wealth. Because of the position of the god of wealth, the people can only set up idols and offer incense, so all the door gods are partial to the god of wealth, mainly including "the god of wealth for wealth", "the son of Spring Festival travel rush" and "the king of luck". Many New Year pictures are designed with treasures such as gold ingots, money and wishful thinking. The folk belief that the boy is the god of wealth is popular in Zhangzhou, and this auspicious door god with the fairy boy (Hehe Erxian) as the main image is deeply loved by the people in southern Fujian. "Lucky King" shows the traditional theme of "returning treasure". In ancient times, it was said that the Western Regions were people who returned to China. They are good at business and have created great wealth, and each return has its significance. In the picture, the god of wealth is riding a lion, holding a banana leaf and copper coins in his hand. Before he died, there were gold ingots, money, corals, wishful thinking and other treasures in the cornucopia. This kind of door god is attached to the door of the wing.

2. Send subtype

In Zhangzhou, this kind of door gods mainly include "the immortal gives the son", "adding the son year after year", "a hundred sons and a thousand grandchildren" and "the lotus invites your son". Its "Fairy Sending Children" depicts Zhang Xian, who protects children on the earth and has the function of "sending children". He is luxuriously dressed, with a long beard, riding or standing, holding a golden bow and silver bullet in one hand ("beating" is homophonic with "birthday", meaning "birth") and a baby with Ganoderma lucidum in the other hand (meaning longevity). "Add Ding every year" is full of Minnan characteristics. In this picture, two boys are playing and holding lanterns. In southern Fujian, there is a custom of giving lanterns to married women in the New Year ("Deng" is homophonic with "Ding"). I wish my daughter an early birth. This system is attached to the door or inner door of the newlyweds together with the combination of "God of Wealth offers sacrifices" and "Getting rich day by day".

His representative works are: The God of Wealth gives the Ming Immortal (465,438+0.5× 23 cm), The God of Wealth gives the Ming Immortal (32×20cm), The Lucky King (49×40cm) and The Lucky Son in Spring (the fourth).

(4) exorcism type

The doorsteps of houses in southern Fujian, western Fujian and Taiwan Province are often pasted with pictures of eight diagrams, lions with swords, Shi Tian Town House, Jiang Shang here, etc., in order to drive away and control evil spirits. "Eight diagrams" is usually composed of Taiji characters or Taiji diagrams, eight characters of "Gan", "Dui", "Kan", "Zhen", "Kun", "Root", "Li" and "Xun", which are decorated with horns and patterns such as bats and eight treasures, and the words "Yuan Henry Zhen" are engraved on the four corners. The picture of "The Lion Holding the Sword" takes the lion's head as the front, the animal's hair stands upright, his eyes are wide open, he holds a seven-star sword in his mouth and eight diagrams are printed on his forehead. The picture of "Shi Tian Town House" shows Zhang Tianshi wearing a Taoist robe, wearing a Taoist crown, riding a tiger and holding a Taoist board engraved with symbols. The picture of "Jiang Shang Comes" shows Jiang Ziya riding "Four Elephants", holding apricot yellow flag and whip, and the words "Jiang Shang Comes" are written below. This kind of New Year pictures are mostly posted on the threshold or cabin during holidays, or posted on the upper beam when the beam is covered. In order to drive away disasters and eliminate disasters, for peace.

Representative works include: Lion Sword (34×45cm seal cutting in Qing Dynasty), Eight Diagrams (seal cutting in Qing Dynasty), Jiang Shang Zai (45×35cm seal cutting in modern times) and Guangming Town House (34× 17 cm seal cutting in Qing Dynasty). Zhangzhou is close to the sea and has active communication with the outside world. Folk customs, while maintaining the true colors of southern Fujian, are linked with foreign civilizations and become a major feature of Zhangzhou woodblock New Year pictures.

(a) lamp painting, paper painting

Lamp painting and paper painting are a major category of Zhangzhou woodblock New Year pictures. There has always been a festival every month in Zhangzhou, and people have always had the custom of controlling lights. Throughout 1 February, people will make lanterns to welcome the gods:1month's unicorn lantern, February's Bo Gu four-screen lantern, March's filial piety lantern, April's monkey deer lantern, May's Dragon Eight Immortals lantern, June's litchi lantern, July's Imperial City lantern, August's Big Eight Immortals lantern and September's dragon lantern,/kloc-0. Lantern New Year pictures are designed into various forms according to their required contents. It can be divided into story-like lamp paintings, such as Imperial Capital, Longevity Test in Prosperity, Rescue of Li Yuan, Lost Huashan, etc. The figures are painted with lanterns, such as Flying Immortal, Eight Immortals, Four Hires, Sacrificing Immortals, etc. Decorative lights and paintings are mainly birds and animals, flowers and birds, fish and insects, such as Bo Gu Flower Window, Six Cranes in the Spring, Phoenix in the Morning, and Monkey and Deer Fight. Because of the small scale, large demand, diverse themes and wide uses, New Year pictures for lanterns are printed separately or in sets. After printing, it can be cut and used alone. Some of them are used as lantern paintings, some are used as decorations for walls and windows, and they can also be bound with paper to decorate Lingcuo, so their usage is more flexible.

Representative works include: Eight Immortals Birthday (29×30cm woodcut in Qing Dynasty), Feixian (30×30cm woodcut in Qing Dynasty), Bo Gu Huadou (34×25cm woodcut in Qing Dynasty), Feng Dan Chaoyang (26×25cm woodcut in Qing Dynasty), Jia Guan Lu Jin and so on. Six cranes in the same spring (36×30cm seal cutting in Qing Dynasty), Monkey and Deer Fighting (29×36cm seal cutting in Qing Dynasty), Jiu-Er Entering Academy (19× 22.5cm seal cutting in Qing Dynasty) and Guo Ziyi Shangshou (19× 32cm).

(B) secular life painting

Pictures of secular life involve all aspects of customs and daily life. This kind of New Year pictures is designed and carved according to folklore and festival customs. For example, the story comic strip "Tell the Tang Dynasty", "Anti-Tang Dynasty", "Meng Jiangnv", "The Order of the Phoenix", "Twenty-four Filial Pieties", "Chen Sanwu Niang" and so on; Custom New Year pictures, such as mice marrying women, Jiuxi map, Dragon Boat Festival celebration, Great Sage training and so on. "Gourd benzene" for entertainment (divided into land and sea). Story comic books are generally about 30×40 cm, and are divided into two pages in the form of comic books. Each page has 8-9 chapters to reflect the wonderful and important plots in novels and operas, which are classified and progressive, and become an auxiliary picture for elders to tell their children and grandchildren about the past. The custom New Year picture of "Rats Marry Women" is the masterpiece of Zhangzhou custom New Year picture, which shows the people's fear and hatred for rats, and also shows the people's desire to pray. The story is ironic to some extent. New Year pictures such as "Nine-stream Map" and "Dragon Boat Festival Celebration" show the social life scenes at that time, especially those vendors who fight and sell plasters and shave their heads. Huluben, an entertainment toy, is an ancient game spread in southern Fujian. Both entertainment and literacy functions. As an entertainment toy during holidays and slack seasons, it still exists in some places in Zhangzhou and Xiamen.

Representative works include Marrying a Woman with a Mouse (28× 44 cm print in Qing Dynasty), Nine-Six Pictures (28× 44 cm print in Qing Dynasty), Twenty-four Filial Pieties (26× 42 cm print in Qing Dynasty), Before and After the Romance of Twin Phoenix (30 cm× 43 cm× 2 print in Qing Dynasty) and Houben (30cm× 40cm× 2 woodcut in Qing Dynasty) Cm×2 2 woodcut) Before and after Three Kingdoms (Before and after Leifeng Pagoda in Qing Dynasty (32cm× 49cm× 2 woodcut in Qing Dynasty) There are many statues in Zhangzhou woodcut New Year pictures, because Zhangzhou has strong religious beliefs and ancestor worship folk customs. There are many gods and burning paper horses dedicated to the gods, praying for God's blessing. They are different according to their own beliefs and occupations, but they all show a religious belief.

(A) Temple New Year pictures

Woodblock New Year pictures used in temples and religions are a unique variety in Zhangzhou. They are printed in white, yellow, blue and red on special black paper, just like lacquer painting, which is a unique variety of China woodblock New Year pictures. Patterns are mostly auspicious. Such as "Four Seasons Flowers" (Lotus, Plum Blossom, Peony and Lotus), "Four Animals", "Four Spirits", "Happiness in Life" and historical stories. , is a Taoist temple dedicated to merit. Another kind of New Year pictures printed with jade buckle paper can not only be used to paste lanterns, but also be used as colored pictures to paste "Ling CuO". Such as Riding a Horse (also known as Forgetting Me to Blow), Four Seasons Fight, Lace, Flower Block, Tiger Window and so on.

Representative works include: Sirui Beast (30× 22 cm× 2 Qing Dynasty prints), Xi Shou (25× 19 cm× 2 Qing Dynasty prints) and Si Ling Rui (25×36cm Qing Dynasty prints).

(2) idolatrous New Year pictures

There are also gods who are often worshipped in Zhangzhou woodblock New Year pictures, mainly for wealth, peace and high officials. For example, New Year pictures such as "General Manager", "Guan Dijun", "Tian Xuan God", "Fude Shen Zheng", "Guangming Town House", "Chef Jun" (another kind of chef who only uses words) and "Sanxiangu" need not be posted on the door.

Masterpieces: Sanxiangu (43×39cm print in Qing Dynasty), Guanyin, Kitchen God, Earth Statue (32×22cm print in Qing Dynasty), Fude Shen Zheng (46×39cm print in Qing Dynasty) and Guan Dijun (36×22cm print in Qing Dynasty).

(3) Paper horse

Paper horses are also called "Ma Jia" or "Ma Jia paper". There are different names for paper horses in different places, such as Tiandi Paper, Luna Paper, Wealth Paper, XiShen Paper, Market Making Paper, Shenma Paper and Shoujin Paper. Although the appellations vary from place to place, they are all used as things to eliminate disasters and pray for blessings, and they are burned or dumped at the bridge head on the roadside. The paper horse in southern Fujian is called "Shoujin", which is printed in yellow on tin foil paper to represent gold foil, and then printed in red with the pattern of the applicant of the paper horse. Zhangzhou folk customs have festivals every month, so the main contents of paper horses are to worship heaven, worship ancestors, drive away disasters and seek wealth. The common "three-star map" (Fu Lushou's "Three Stars") is the form of celestial officials holding water, the birthday boy holding peaches and Lu Xing holding the boy. The figures are mostly square, with different proportions.