Liangping Woodblock New Year Prints

Liangping woodblock New Year prints are a traditional folk print art of Liangping district in Chongqing, begun around the late Ming and early Qing and flourishing in the Qing, ranked with Liangping bamboo curtains and Liangping gong-and-drum music as the three wonders of Liangping. Their subjects fall into door gods, myths and legends, and opera stories, once pasted up at the new year to ward off evil and invite good fortune.

The prints use multi-block color printing, the outline carved first and the colors registered in turn, finished by hand with painted faces and powdered touches. Their forms are exaggerated and sturdy, the figures full, the colors boldly contrasting, mainly red, yellow, and blue, joining the vigor of the woodblock with the liveliness of hand-painting in a strongly local style.

Liangping prints are a major school of Chinese folk woodblock New Year pictures, mirroring the folk beliefs and aesthetic taste of the region. Inscribed on the first national intangible-heritage list in 2006, they are a precious sample for studying the folk art of the southwest.

They can be seen at Liangping's print-transmission and exhibition venues and in intangible-heritage shows across Chongqing, carrying the strongest festive air at the new year.