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Wood Block Print – The Return of the Kitchen God

03/05/2016 //
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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAW310 X H470mm

Time flies, holiday is over and its time to welcome the Kitchen God to return from his trip to the Jade Emperor.

The Kitchen God will return today with his god friends, showing them the family who did good and those who did evil deeds.  His friends will take notes and cast spells on the families before they return back to the Jade Emperor.  What is best to welcome the guest who traveled all the way from heaven to your home but feast!

For the annual task of protection and reporting, the wood block print for the Kitchen God are dated with a calendar of that year.  This particular print was for the year 1987.

Come to see the actual print and many others at the
New Year Print Exhibition

MOUNTAIN FOLKCRAFT
CHINESE WOOD BLOCK PRINT COLLECTION

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Wood Block Print – The Debts of Wang Ding Bao

03/31/2015 //
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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

W420 X H550mm, China

Continuing from yesterday’s story about poor Wang who has been accused and sent to jail.  On the upper print, Chun (second right) found out the news and rushed to the court, she made an appeal and Wang was released.

The lower print features the wedding night of Wang and Chun, the happy couple lived happily ever after.

Come to see the actual print and many others at the
New Year Print Exhibition

MOUNTAIN FOLKCRAFT
CHINESE WOOD BLOCK PRINT COLLECTION

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Wood Block Print – Fishing Outing

03/19/2015 //
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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAW270 X H400mm, China

A wood block print depicting the ladies of the wealthy family’s fishing outing.

Come to see the actual print and many others at the
New Year Print Exhibition

MOUNTAIN FOLKCRAFT
CHINESE WOOD BLOCK PRINT COLLECTION

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Wood Block Print – Zhong Kui

03/18/2015 //
0

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAW230 X H330mm, China

Zhong Kui, the Chinese ghost buster.

Here is the story of Zhong Kui; the Tang dynasty emperor fell gravely ill on an out of court trip, the court doctors tried varies ways of treating him but in vain.  One night the emperor dreamed of a small man in red stealing his jewels, when he looked closely he realized it is not a man but a ghost.  The emperor was taken aback and right then a large figure wearing a torn hat appeared, the large man grabbed the tiny ghost and put it in his mouth and swallowed him in whole.  The emperor was relieved and ask who he was, the large man replied that he was a top scholar but he was found too ugly to be taken up as a court official.  He was so upset that he killed himself at the court and since then he had concentrated on catching evil spirits.  When the emperor woke up, all the illness has disappeared, he had someone painted Zhong Kui’s figure from the memory of his dream and an officially assigned the task as a ghost buster and the judge of the underworld.

Come to see the actual print and many others at the
New Year Print Exhibition

MOUNTAIN FOLKCRAFT
CHINESE WOOD BLOCK PRINT COLLECTION

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Wood Block Print – Battle of Chang San

03/17/2015 //
2

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAW300 X H500mm, China

A scene from the Ming dynasty novel “Romance of the 3 Kingdoms” – Zhao Zilou’s Battle of Chang San.

Half way into the novel; Cao Cao attacked the city of Fan where Liu Bei stationed, Lau decided to evacuate the city with its residents but was surrounded by Cao’s army in Chang San.  The brave general Zhao Zilou managed to break through the enemy’s line of attack and rescued Lau and his family.

The warrior on the left Cao Cao, on the right is Zhao Zilou.  You might be wondering who the little head inside Zhao’s jacket; that is Lau Bei’s son Adou.

Come to see the actual print and many others at the
New Year Print Exhibition

MOUNTAIN FOLKCRAFT
CHINESE WOOD BLOCK PRINT COLLECTION

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Wood Block Print – Four Season Flower – Spring

03/16/2015 //
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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

W400 X H500mm, China

 This wood block print is part of a set of 4 on the theme of “four seasons flower with birds”.  The 4 seasons flowers, as its name described, depicted typical flowers of the season, a wish for the 4 seasons to be filled with life, beauty and growth.

This particular print features the clove (the small red flowers on the two sides) and marigold in the front.

Click here to see other craft with the 4 season them.

Come to see the actual print and many others at the
New Year Print Exhibition

MOUNTAIN FOLKCRAFT
CHINESE WOOD BLOCK PRINT COLLECTION

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Wood Block Print – Shen Wan San

03/12/2015 //
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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

W550 X H330mm, Chinese

Today you might have heard of Li Kai Shing or Jack Ma but first wealthiest man recorded in China history is Shen Wan San of the Ming dynasty.  It is believed that his wealth has came from a treasure tray.  One of the stories go like this; one day fisherman Shen got a large golden fish, the fish plead for its life.  Shen let it goes and since then he had great harvest on every net and not only that, he netted a magic tray.  One day, he accidentally dropped his ring inside the tray, when he tried to fish it out that came not one but numerous identical rings.  Realizing that this is a magic tray, Shen accumulated a lot of wealth but instead of using it all on himself, he contributed it to improving his village.  Years later, the embankment of the Yangtze River collapsed causing flooding to nearby town and villages.  The emperor offered award the people who can stopped the flooding with a high position in the court, so Shen took the tray and went to see the emperor with the condition that the tray is to be returned after the problem is fixed.  With the soil the tray generated, the embankment was fixed instantly, the happy Shen went to collect his tray.  However, by now the emperor has seen the power of the tray, he had Shan arrested on the charge that all treasures belonged to the emperor and had Shan hanged for keeping the magic tray to himself.

Come to see the actual print and many others at the
New Year Print Exhibition

MOUNTAIN FOLKCRAFT
CHINESE WOOD BLOCK PRINT COLLECTION

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Wood Block Print – God Who Aid the Heaven

03/11/2015 //
0

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

W220 X H300mm, China

The God that Aid the Heaven.

He is actually General Guan of the 3 Kingdom period, famous for his tanned face loyalty and bravery, the title God that Aid the Heaven was one of the many titles that was attributed to him by the Taoists.

There are a temple in Sai Kung particularly for worshiping the God that Aid the Heave, click here for direction.

Come to see the actual print and many others at the
New Year Print Exhibition

MOUNTAIN FOLKCRAFT
CHINESE WOOD BLOCK PRINT COLLECTION

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Wood Block Print – Madame White Snake

03/10/2015 //
0

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 W550 X H390mm, China

 A famous scene from the opera Madame White Snake.  The story was set at the West Lake in Sung dynasty, one day in the rain the young gentleman Xu Xian (left figure) saw two pretty girl at the pier and offered the umbrella to them leading to the romance of the story.  Earlier on, Xu Xian rescued a white snake, it was moved and fell in love with Xu.  The white snake transformed herself into Bai (white – right figure) Su Zhen and together with her friend Qing Qing (green – middle figure) appeared at the pier.  Under her magical spell, Xu fell in love with Bai.  As time goes by, many strange incident happened because of Bai and Qing.  Xu Xian was approached by monk Fa Hai who told him the truth about his wife being a serpent spirit and gave him a monk’s bowl.  As Xu Xian place the bowl over his wife’s head, Bai and Qing returned to their original selves.  Monk Fa Hai took the bowl with the two spirits and build a Lei Feng pagoda on top of them.

Click here to see other craft items featuring decoration on the story of Madame White Snake.

Come to see the actual print and many others at the
New Year Print Exhibition

MOUNTAIN FOLKCRAFT
CHINESE WOOD BLOCK PRINT COLLECTION

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Wood Block Print – Door Gods

03/09/2015 //
0

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

W460 X H420mm, China

This pair of Door Gods are Qin Qiong (left) and Wei Chi Gong (right).

Do you know how this famous pair got to become the Door Gods?
Here is how the story goes; one fine day during the Tang dynasty an old dragon made a bet with a fortune teller and for this he violated the law of the heaven.  As a punishment ,the supreme god Jade Emperor ordered Wei Zheng to have it killed at noon the next day.   Hearing the news, the old dragon went to see the Tang Emperor and begged him to help him, the Tang Emperor agreed.  The next day the Tang Emperor summon Wei Zheng to court and asked him to play a game of Chinese chess with him, hoping that if the game is long enough he will miss the noon execution.  During the long game Wei Zheng dosed off and in his dream he went to kill the dragon.  Not knowing the whole story,  the ghost of the dragon felt bitter that the Tang Emperor did not keep his words and came to haunt the court everyday.  Wei Zheng found out and send 2 generals, Qin Qiong and Wei Chi Gong, to guard the gate of the palace and this scared off the dragon.  The Tang Emperor felt bad that the 2 generals do not get a break and asked artists to make a painting of them to be put on the doors, and this seems to have the same effects, the rumor spread and now the door gods are all over China.

This print is from the Tao Hua Wu school which specializes in book illustration since the Sung dynasty, it has very fine lines and spectrum of colour (each colour would require an additional printing block).  Click here to see another print of the same two character by a different print maker, school of Zhuxian, which are characterized by bolder lines, vivid colours and more dramatic composition.

Come to see the actual print and many others at the
New Year Print Exhibition

MOUNTAIN FOLKCRAFT
CHINESE WOOD BLOCK PRINT COLLECTION

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