Wuqiang New Year Posters

New Year posters have a long tradition in China. The town of Wuqiang in the Hebei province was once famous for its production of New Year prints and paintings. During the twentieth century, Wuqiang was responsible for over one third of the New Year posters printed in China each year. Close to one hundred million posters from Wuqiang were annually distributed mainly to the north of China.

Wuqiang New Year posters originated in the Yongle period (1402-1424) of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), due to an increase in migration from the south of China. Many craftsmen specializing in New Year woodblock prints continued their skills in Wuqiang bringing the tradition to the north of China.

It experienced much success throughout the Ming and Qing Dynasties. During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), there were one hundred and eighty workshops which focused on creating festive New Year prints. Production reached its peak in the Kangxi (1662-1723) and Jiaqing (1796-1820) period in the Qing Dynasty. One hundred million posters were printed each year and distributed within eighteen provinces. They were still popular in Wuqiang in the early twentieth century.

Many original New Year woodblock prints perished during the period of social unrest and wars after the Qing Dynasty. In 1954, seventeen villages in nine towns continued to create Chinese traditional New Year posters.

Unfortunately, the number of Chinese posters sold decreased dramatically during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) and many craftsmen changed their profession to other more popular crafts.

Originally, all New Year posters were hand painted, however, with increasing demand woodblock prints soon started to overtake New Year paintings. Many pictures feature a single bright colour, although the use of primary colours such as red and green feature heavily in a lot of prints and paintings. Colours such as purple, yellow, pink and black add many vibrant finishing touches.

There are many forms of posters including calendar pictures, horizontal scrolls, spring couplets and decorative screens. Many posters feature images of door gods, folk customs, opera stories, festivals and landscapes.

In modern times, Wuqiang New Year posters are considered a novelty rather than a cherished practiced tradition. The state government has established a selection of initiatives to preserve the folk art and encourage future generations to pursue the craft of New Year woodblock printing.

In 1980, “The Wuqiang New Year Posters Publishing House” was established by The Chinese Ministry of Culture and Bureau of Information and Publication. It promotes the artworks of the eighty professional New Year woodblock cutting and printing artists currently residing in Wuqiang. Every two years on the 9th of September, the “Festival of Wuqiang New Years Pictures” is held and is attracting more attention at home and abroad each time.

Wuqiang Posters have received many awards from Chinese exhibitions and art shows. It has received the award for high quality in the Hebei Arts exhibition. Thirty Wuqiang New Year posters have received official recognition within in China and abroad for their stunning imagery.

There is much hope for the resurrection of this ancient, intriguing New Year tradition. It is important that future generations experience the spiritual and entertaining value of New Year prints and paintings which have brought much joy to past generations over the centuries.