As the lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, draws near, people in the rural areas, again, buy nianhua (New Year Pictures), to decorate their houses and pray for good harvest and health for their families in the coming year. This tradition originated 1,700 years ago in China. The pictures with distinctive style and rich color have become an important part of the festival celebration, adding more rejoice to each family.

Zhuxian Town is a famous New Year Pictures producer in central China's Henan Province. The town, 23 kilometers from Kaifeng, was established during the Warring States Period (475-221BC), by the name of the famous general Zhu Hai of the Wei State. In the period from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to the middle of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Zhuxian Town was one of the four most famous towns in China. And among China's four most famous New Year Picture producers, Zhuxian is the oldest (the other three being Yangliuqing in Tianjin, Wuqiang City in Hebei Province and Weifang in Shandong Province).

The pictures printed with woodblocks in Zhuxian Town are very popular due to their bright color, exaggerated images, rough lines and full compositions. Every year on the ninth day of the lunar ninth month, Zhuxian Town holds a New Year Picture fair to commemorate its anniversary. It is also the day to start the printing of its New Year Pictures. In the past, operas used to be performed for nine days in front of the temples of Lord Guan and General Yue Fei. Then all workshops kicked off for business.

In the nearby village, Zhaozhuang, there is a workshop run by Zhang Tingxu and his family. Inside the beautiful arch gate of Zhang family's house, Zhang and his family were all busily involved in the printing of New Year Pictures. They planned to produce 100,000 pieces before the Spring Festival arrives.

Wang Zhenmei, Zhang's wife, is a good assistant of him. Since she married Zhang 20 years ago, Wang has been working on this traditional handicraft. She can now print pictures of nine colors, which means that she has to use woodblocks for different colors and print the picture nine times. She has such a marvelous technique that none of her pictures, with unique ancient style and bright color, has been found with overlapped lines or colors, or creased.

Zhang Dongli, Zhang's oldest daughter, is also an artist. Nurtured by her parents, she designs pictures of her own style. Her creation Golden Boy and Jade Maiden Greeting Spring became a bestseller as soon as it was out.

Zhang's elder son is a student at the county's normal school. Though the family is successful in handicrafts, it has been Zhang's dream to let his children receive more education.

Zhang Dongyun, his youngest son, is another talented artist. At the age of 13 now, he knows how to engrave a woodblock. In October last year, he finished the big-character woodblock engraving in three days to meet the need of the international seminar on New Year Picture held in Zhuxian Town. This little boy has another unique skill - he can print 200 lined pictures in three minutes, which set the record of Zhuxian Town.

Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were 23 New Year Picture workshops in town. Zhang's father, Zhang Yi, had been the supervisor of the old brand workshop Tiancheng. In the past days, Zhang said, the supervisor was called menshen laoshi (Door God teacher), which was the highest position, second to the boss only. Using their more than 30 old woodblocks, the Zhang family established their own workshop in the 1980s. When Zhang Yi died in 1997, both the father and the son had been awarded the honor of "Farmer Artist of Henan Province."

The main factor that makes the Zhang family's pictures look classic is the color. Following an ancient formula, they use traditional Chinese medicinal herbals such as flower of pagoda trees, sunflower seeds and many others to create the nine colors of red, yellow, blue, purple, dark red and so on. As their colors never fade, the pictures are always good choices for collectors.

(China.org.cn by Chen Lin, January 25, 2003)