Tantou woodblock New Year paintings are the only handmade woodblock watermark New Year paintings in Hunan Province, and they are unique in their rich local characteristics of southern Chun. Tantou Town is located in the southeast of Longhui County, Hunan Province. The folk customs here are simple and honest, and the customs are unique. In history, there have been papermaking villages, carving villages, colored paper, flower paper, incense powder paper lanes and New Year painting streets. The handicraft industry is very developed, with clear division of labor and mutual support. Tantou has been a place of witchcraft since ancient times, and folk sacrificial activities are very popular. There are many varieties of paper horses used for sacrifices, and their production technology has an inherent inheritance relationship with the later Tantou woodblock New Year paintings. According to the "Longhui County Chronicles", Tantou woodblock New Year paintings have a history of more than 300 years. According to folk oral historical materials, the first woodblock New Year painting workshop in Tantou was run by Wang Dongyuan, nicknamed "Wang Monkey" in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. He had printed more than ten kinds of New Year paintings such as "Qin Shubao" and "Yuchi Gong". During the reign of Emperor Daoguang, Hu Qifu opened the "Heshunchang" New Year painting workshop, adding new varieties such as "The Oath of Peach Garden". During the reign of Emperor Tongzhi, Tantou woodblock New Year paintings were sold all over the country. At the beginning of the 20th century, the production of Tantou woodblock New Year paintings reached its peak, with 108 New Year painting workshops producing more than 30 million copies of New Year paintings annually, which were sold to various provinces in the south of the Yangtze River and Southeast Asia. After 1949, Tantou woodblock New Year paintings were banned as feudal superstitions, and production resumed in 1958. After 1966, they were destroyed again, and production resumed in 1979. In 1984, Tantou Town was named "China's Modern Folk Painting Hometown" by the Ministry of Culture. In 1994, Tantou woodblock New Year paintings were awarded the "Silver Award for China's Folk Art Uniqueness" by the Ministry of Culture. In 2003, Tantou woodblock New Year paintings won the Gold Award for Chinese Traditional Crafts at the First China Cultural Relics Replica and Folk Crafts Exhibition. All processes of Tantou woodblock New Year paintings from papermaking to finished products are completed in Tantou, forming a complete production series, which is rare in the production of New Year paintings across the country. There are more than 40 varieties of traditional Tantou woodblock New Year paintings, which are divided into three categories: door god portraits, auspicious meanings, and drama stories. In the craftsmanship of Tantou woodblock New Year paintings, traditional processes such as steaming paper, supporting glue, and brushing powder are unique to Tantou, and "opening the face" is also a unique skill that is different from New Year paintings elsewhere. The difficulty of making plates for Tantou woodblock New Year paintings lies in line board carving. In this regard, the "steep knife standing line" technology of the "Gao Fuchang" New Year painting workshop is very famous. Its knife angle is consistent, and it uses uniform dark power. The turning and intersection are stable and not chaotic, and it is completely controlled by feeling and skills. Today, the Tantou woodblock New Year paintings, which have been in style for more than 300 years, have traveled across the ocean and become a treasure of large museums in many countries such as Britain, the United States, and Japan. However, in recent years, the market for Tantou woodblock New Year paintings has shrunk dramatically, workshops have been unable to make ends meet, artists have changed careers, and only two New Year painting workshops have retained their facades. Among them, "Jin Yumei" has basically stopped production, and "Gao Lamei" can only barely support it, with an annual output of less than 50,000 pieces. None of the children of the workshop owners have inherited their ancestral business. Tantou woodblock New Year paintings have been destroyed or lost, and many skills have been lost, and they are in urgent need of rescue and protection. Zhong Haixian Zhong Haixian (Tantou woodblock New Year paintings) Zhong Haixian, male, was born in October 1928 in the first batch of "national intangible cultural heritage project inheritors" in Hunan Province. From 1934 to 1943, Zhong Haixian apprenticed with his father in Tantou; from 1944 to 1953, Zhong Haixian became a master and ran the "Chengrenfa" New Year painting workshop with his father in Tantou; in 1954, Zhong Haixian and his wife independently ran the "Gaolamei" New Year painting workshop; from 1955 to 1988, after the public-private partnership, Zhong Haixian entered the Tantou Town Dyeing Paper Society as a worker because of his skills;...more>>>Li XianluLi Xianlu (Tantou Woodblock New Year Paintings)Li Xianlu, male, born in December 1934, one of the first batch of "National Intangible Cultural Heritage Project Inheritors" in Hunan Province, is a Tantou woodblock New Year painting inheritor. (National inheritor Li Xianlu uses a special crescent knife to cut the edges of the printed New Year pictures on the chopping board, waiting for them to be sold. Photo by Luo Haibo) In order to make a living, Li Xianlu's grandfather Li Guowei brought his family from his hometown of Shetianqiao in Shaodong County, Hunan Province to Tantou Town in March 1917 to do paper business and learn as an apprentice. After he had some savings, he opened the "Southeast Beauty"...more>>>Zhong HaixianZhong Haixian (Tantou Woodblock New Year Paintings)Zhong Haixian, male, was born in October 1928. From 1934 to 1943, Zhong Haixian was an apprentice with his father in Tantou; from 1944 to 1953, Zhong Haixian became a master and ran the "Chengrenfa" New Year Painting Workshop with his father in Tantou; in 1954, Zhong Haixian and his wife independently ran the "Gaolamei" New Year Painting Workshop; from 1955 to 1988, after the public-private partnership, Zhong Haixian entered the Tantou Town Dyeing Paper Society as a worker because of his skills;...more>>>Li XianluLi Xianlu ( Tantou Woodblock New Year Pictures) Li Xianlu, male, born in December 1934, is one of the first batch of "national intangible cultural heritage project inheritors" in Hunan Province. (National inheritor Li Xianlu uses a special crescent knife to cut the edges of the printed New Year pictures on the chopping board, waiting to be sold. Photo by Luo Haibo) In order to make a living, Li Xianlu's grandfather Li Guowei brought his family from his hometown of Shetianqiao, Shaodong County, Hunan Province to Tantou Town in March 1917 to do paper business and apprenticeship. After he had some savings, he opened the "Southeast Beauty... Details>>> Zhong Haixian (Tantou Woodblock New Year Pictures) Zhong Haixian, male, born in October 1928, is one of the first batch of "national intangible cultural heritage project inheritors" in Hunan Province. From 1934 to 1943, Zhong Haixian apprenticed with his father in Tantou; from 1944 to 1953, Zhong Haixian became a master and ran the "Chengrenfa" New Year painting workshop with his father in Tantou; in 1954, Zhong Haixian and his wife independently ran the "Gaolamei" New Year painting workshop; from 1955 to 1988, after the public-private partnership, Zhong Haixian entered the Tantou Town Dyeing Paper Society as a worker because of his skills;...more>>>Li XianluLi Xianlu (Tantou Woodblock New Year Paintings)Li Xianlu, male, born in December 1934, one of the first batch of "National Intangible Cultural Heritage Project Inheritors" in Hunan Province, is a Tantou woodblock New Year painting inheritor. (National inheritor Li Xianlu uses a special crescent knife to cut the edges of the printed New Year pictures on the chopping board, waiting for them to be sold. Photo by Luo Haibo) In order to make a living, Li Xianlu's grandfather Li Guowei brought his family from his hometown of Shetianqiao in Shaodong County, Hunan Province to Tantou Town in March 1917 to do paper business and learn as an apprentice. After he had some savings, he opened the "Southeast Beauty......more>>>Li Xianlu (Tantou Woodblock New Year Pictures) Li Xianlu, one of the first "national intangible cultural heritage project inheritors" in Hunan Province, was born in December 1934 and is the inheritor of Tantou woodblock New Year pictures. (National inheritor Li Xianlu uses a special crescent knife to cut the edges of the printed New Year pictures on the chopping board, waiting to be sold. Photo by Luo Haibo) In order to make a living, Li Xianlu's grandfather Li Guowei brought his family from his hometown of Shetianqiao, Shaodong County, Hunan Province to Tantou Town in March 1917 to do paper business and apprenticeship. After he had some savings, he opened the "Southeast Beauty......more>>>