The village of Yanzhuang, near the city of Hengshui, in Hebei province, is considered a major center of Chinese woodcut calligraphic prints and has been making woodcut copies for more than 500 years, with one of its works being listed as a piece of Chinese cultural heritage, in 2011.
Li Guangmin, a master of the art form, fears that it may be dying out and said he hopes the nation can encourage more people to study this traditional skill and pass on the culture.
In its heyday, every family in the village made a living producing woodcut copies of calligraphy, which were sold in the cities of Beijing and Tianjin, and across Hebei, Shangdong, Henan and other provinces.
The woodcut prints are made by carving a copy of calligraphy done by a master into a block of wood, which is then brushed with ink and covered with a sheet of paper to make the printed copy.
According to Li, Hengshui started developing this woodcut copy business in the mid-Ming Dynasty and it was quite prosperous during the Qing.
The 41-year-old Li, who has been at the job for more than 20 years, first got interested in the technique in 1989, when he was serving in the army and was stationed in the hometown of Wang Xizhi, one of the great calligraphers of China.
These days, Li explains, printing is so developed that people are gradually forgetting the old traditional skills of woodcut copies and, “Fewer and fewer people are learning the skill because you can’t earn big money and support a family from it.”
He admits that he only carves his woodcut copy blocks in his spare time and there are only a dozen or so people in the village still making woodcut copies.
But, Li adds, “The nation now places more importance on protecting cultural heritage and the local government has done a lot to spread and pass on the trade.” |
