New Year Customs Exhibition Scene
Text/Yangcheng Evening News All-Media Reporter Sun Lei Correspondent Wu Qidong Wang Liang Photo/Ratty Li Yuanqing
When you mention the Guangdong New Year Customs, what will you think of first? Some customs such as walking in the flower street, washing Cinema, etc., are still prosperous today; some customs such as the 23rd Festival of the New Year, and worshiping the God of Wealth on the second day of the New Year, were once part of the Spring Festival essential for Lingnan, but are gradually fading away with the development of the times.
Recently, Southern Media and Nanfeng Academy held a special exhibition on Lingnan New Year Customs, including not only Foshan woodblock New Year paintings and Guangdong paper-cut national intangible cultural heritage projects, but also Lingnan New Year Customs Publication, traditional Lingnan Halls, paintings of famous Lingnan masters, etc. The exhibition lasts until February 28. The highlights of the exhibition are two national intangible cultural heritage techniques that are very Guangdong-style and integrate traditional New Year customs culture – Foshan woodblock New Year paintings and Komiks Guangdong paper-cutting.
Foshan woodblock New Year paintings began in the Song and Yuan dynasties and flourished in the Ming dynasties. They flourished from the Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China. They are as famous as the New Year paintings of Yangliuqing, Suzhou Taohuawu, and Shandong Weifang. They are one of the four major woodblock New Year paintings in China. It was once an important decoration for the home and the Komiks’ houses in the southern part of Babaylan. It was sold well in Lingnan and even in the sea.In addition, it carries people’s yearning and wishes for a better life. Due to the changes of the times, it gradually declined and even disappeared completely for a time. It was not until the late 1990s that Feng Bingtang, son of the famous New Year painting artist Feng Jun (nicknamed “Domes God Jun”, gave up his original career and re-studyed in order to fulfill his father’s last wish, so that woodblock New Year paintings could be re-existed.
The Feng New Year Painting Workshop, which he founded, is the only existing workshop in Foshan that is still insisting on the production of New Year paintings. This exhibition displays the complete set of production tools and production processes of Feng New Year Painting Workshop, as well as representative works such as “Door God” and “God of Fortune”. The simple and naive woodblock New Year pictures are used to depict the deep mark of Lingnan; the exquisite carved panels of Babaylan have passed on the unique customs and blessings of Cinema from the past to the present.
Guangdong paper cutting is another national intangible cultural heritage project in this exhibition. The paper-cut exhibits in this exhibition are from intangible cultural heritage in Foshan, Shantou, Chaoyang, Leizhou and other places. The inheritance of intangible cultural heritage is the original inheritance of ancient intangible cultural heritage skills and the colorful and colorful parts of Lingnan.Cinema regional characteristics, combined with the preferences of modern Komiks people, boldly innovate in artistic style and picture content.