Gaomi New Year Posters

Gaomi New Year posters are unique representations of the traditional New Year prints made throughout China. Often referred to as Puhui New Year posters, they are only produced in the Gaomi County of the Shandong Province. The villages surrounding the Jiang and Xia towns specialize in this original category of New Year posters.

The materials and procedures in creating these original and creative New Year posters differentiate from the typical Chinese New Year woodblock prints or paintings. Willow branches, known in Chinese as Puhui, are burnt down to ash which is used to sketch the outline of the picture on to a thin piece of paper. The ash outlined paper is then pressed onto a number of other bases to produce several copies of the design. The artisan then paints the face and hands pink and adds other colours to the desired parts of the picture. Gold paint is added to the design for a touch of local flavor. Special oil is then brushed over the artwork to give it an elegant finish. The Gaomi artisans keep the formula of the oil a secret from other New Year woodblock craftsmen to preserve originality.

This new form of creating New Year posters developed in the Chenghua Period (1465-1488) of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Puhui New Year posters were first created by the Wang family from the Gongpomiao village of the Bei County in Gaomi. Along with the four sons of Zhang, the Wang family quickly gained widespread attention for their original designs and alterations on the traditional folk art of New Year posters. During the Qianlong Period (1736-1796) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), the students of the Wang family created their own workshop which became the centre of the thriving Gaomi New Year poster industry. Puhui posters became popular in many parts of China including Yantai, Linyi, Xuzhou, Inner Mongolia and the northeastern provinces.

Gaomi Puhui New Year posters entered a new stage of production in the Jiaqing Period (1796-1821) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). The posters were no longer individually hand painted. They involved half printing and half painting techniques leading to the growth of posters sold annually. However, the production of a single design was still a long process which made the quantity of posters limited.

The Puhui poster industry began to decline in the Guangxu Period (1875-1908) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). Due to social unrest, the Japanese Invasion (1937-1945) and the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), many original posters and designs were destroyed leaving the traditional folk art in a period of neglect.

Fortunately, Puhui New Year posters were revived with the support of the local government. Both the Folk Arts Research Centre and Puhui New Year Posters Association are committed to retrieving the skills and popularity it experienced before its period of neglect.

In 2006, Gaomi Puhui New Year posters were listed among the first group of folk arts to be included in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List. The famous Puhui poster craftsman, Lv Zhenli was also listed as one of the 226 representative heirs of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Puhui New Year paintings are classed as the “strange flower of Folk Arts”. Their original designs have captivated audiences throughout China and the rest of the world. With the local and national government’s support, Gaomi New Year posters will continue to bring joy and amazement for many generations to come.