Tantou New Year Wood-block Prints 滩头木版年画

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 With a history of over three hundred years, the art of Tantou New Year wood-block prints is still well recognized and appreciated by today’s people, with many copies collected by large museums in Britain, America, Japan, and other countries. However, recent years have witnessed a rapid decline of the market for Tantou New Year wood-block prints, leaving workshops striving to make ends meet and some artists have chosen to make a living in other professions. Only two workshops still have their shops, among them, Jinyumei has largely stopped production, while Gaolamei is struggling with an annual production of less than 50,000 copies, and neither of the workshop owners have any offspring willing to inherit their property. The Tantou New Year wood-block prints, suffering from destruction and losses, along with the disappearance of many unique processes and skills, are in urgent need of rescue and protection. 

 

滩头木版年画是湖南省惟一的手工木版水印年画，以浓郁的楚南地方特色自成一派。滩头镇地处湖南省隆回县东南部，此地民风古朴淳厚，习俗独特，历史上曾出现过造纸村，雕刻村，色纸、花纸、香粉纸巷和年画街，手工业十分发达，且分工明确，相互配套。同治年间，滩头木版年画已行销全国。20世纪初，滩头木版年画生产达到全盛，有年画作坊108家，年产年画三千多万份，销往江南各省及东南亚一带。1949年后，滩头木版年画被当作封建迷信品加以禁止，1958年恢复生产，1966年后再次受到摧毁，1979年重新恢复生产。1984年，滩头镇被文化部命名为“中国现代民间绘画之乡”。1994年，滩头木版年画被文化部授予“中国民间美术一绝银奖”。2003年，在中国首届文物仿制品暨民间工艺品大展中，滩头木版年画获中国传统工艺品金奖。
Tantou New Year wood-block prints are the only hand-made wood-block printing pictures in Hunan Province, featuring the unique local characteristics of Southern Chu. The Town of Tantou, which is located in the southeast of Longhui County, Hunan Province, has simple and honest people and unique customs. Once upon a time, it was home to villages of paper-making, villages of carving, lanes of colored paper, stained paper and blotting paper, and streets of New Year prints. At that time, these handicrafts were well developed, with clear division of labor supporting one another. Tantou prints had been regarded as superstitious objects and therefore been prohibited since 1949. The production was once recovered in 1958, but was devastated again in 1966. It was not until 1979 that this art form was finally brought back to normal operations. In 1984, the Town of Tantou was named by the Ministry of Culture as the Hometown of Modern Chinese Folk Painting. In 1994, the Tantou New Year wood-block prints won the Silver Award of Unique Chinese Folk Art organized by the Ministry of Culture. In 2003, the Tantou prints won the Gold Award of Traditional Chinese Crafts on the First Exhibition of Culture Relic Imitations and Folk Artworks of China.

滩头木版年画从造纸到成品所有工序都在滩头当地完成，形成了一个完善的生产系列，这在全国年画制作中较为鲜见。传统的滩头木版年画有四十多个品种，分为门神画像、寓意吉祥、戏文故事三大类，在滩头木版年画的工艺中，蒸纸、托胶、刷粉等传统工序均为滩头所独有，“开脸”也是有别于他处年画的独特技艺。滩头木版年画的制版难度在于线板雕刻，在这方面“高福昌”年画作坊的“陡刀立线”技术很有名，其行刀角度一致，使用均匀的暗劲，转折、交叉处稳当不乱，完全靠感觉和技巧把握。
All processes of the Tantou New Year wood-block prints, from papermaking to the finished product, are completed in Tantou, thus forming a complete production line, which is rarely seen among its kind. The traditional Tantou New Year wood-block prints have more than 40 varieties, mainly categorized into door-god pictures, auspicious emblems and dramatic stories. Traditional processes such as paper steaming, alum water brushing and powder brushing are unique for Tantou New Year wood-block prints, as is the “face painting”. When it comes to wood-block engraving, the challenge lies in carving of the ink line. In this regard, the Gaofuchang, a famous New Year picture workshop, is known for its “perpendicular knife and ink line” engraving skill, which requires consistent blade angles, appropriate wrist strength, and a steady hand in turning, which all depends on the feeling and exquisite skills of the artist.

如今，历经三百多年风采依然的滩头木版年画已经远涉重洋，成为英、美、日等多国大型博物馆的珍藏。但近年来滩头木版年画市场急剧萎缩，作坊入不敷出，艺人纷纷改行，只剩两家年画作坊还保留着门面，其中“金玉美”也基本停产，“高腊玫”只能勉强支撑，年产量不足五万张，作坊主人的子女无一继承祖业。滩头木版年画或毁坏或流失，有不少技艺已经失传，亟待抢救、保护。
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