Non-heritage search for "Fu" | Zhangzhou woodblock print "Tao Fu" to welcome spring

[News Page-Taiwan Straits Network]

According to a report by the Southeast China Network on February 9, the Taiwan Straits Network carried forward the excellent connotation of China's Fu culture and showed Zhangzhou's "intangible cultural heritage" cultural heritage. On the occasion of the Lunar New Year, the reporter walked into the woodblock New Year painting studio located in the Zhangzhou Museum, and the strong New Year flavor came to the face, and the works of "Fu" and "tiger" elements could be seen everywhere in the studio, adding a more joyful atmosphere to the Spring Festival in 2022.

Yan Chaojun, the provincial inheritor of the Zhangzhou woodblock prints of the national intangible cultural heritage project, showed reporters the newly created work "Tao Fu" to welcome this year's Spring Festival. Different from the previous works of Zhangzhou woodblock prints that mainly focused on human figures, this work uses the shape of a peach to outline the shape of the Fu character, and the poem "Peach red is another year of spring" is written in the middle. In traditional culture, the shape of "peach" means that the auspicious thing can ward off evil spirits; and the "Fu" character number represents auspicious and good luck full of joy, and the combination of "peach" and "fu" symbolizes the beautiful pursuit of auspicious and good luck, and embodies the meaning of "fu culture" that people yearn for a happy life and wish for a better future.

Yan Chaojun displays the Zhangzhou woodblock print "Tao Fu"

Talking about the creative ideas, Yan Chaojun said that the design inspiration of "Tao Fu" mainly comes from Chinese folk culture, and the "peach symbols" in the traditional impression are often long strips of shape to ward off evil spirits or pray for blessings. However, according to research, the earliest peach symbol should be the shape of a peach, written with the word Fu, so this "peach Fu" is very appropriate in appearance. The poem "Peach Red Sees Spring Again" in the painting is taken from a poem by Song Yuanfang, which means that when the peach blossoms are in full bloom, spring is coming. Combined with Wang Anshi's poem "Always exchange the new peach for the old charm", it conveys the meaning of the Spring Festival to resign the old and welcome the new.

"The original 'Tao Fu' sketch was obtained by chance, went through six design drafts, and took more than two months to complete. It is hoped that this work, which is different from the traditional theme, can enrich the types of woodblock prints in Zhangzhou and promote the development of woodblock prints. Yan Chaojun said.

As a national intangible cultural heritage project, Zhangzhou woodblock prints have a long history and influence as far as Taiwan and Southeast Asia, which is a clear proof of the cultural inheritance between the two sides of the strait. Zhangzhou woodblock prints have a wide range of rich themes, rich in folk colors, including door gods who pray for auspicious wishes, exorcise evil spirits and eliminate disasters, lion heads, bagua, fu, Lu, shou, as well as drama stories that persuade the world to persuade the good, as well as dragon boats and rats that are popular among the people. (Reporters Shen Wendong, Li Shanshan, Ma Yihua)