Zhou Wenhu
01 · Lineage & Regional School
In 1957 he studied paper-weaving painting under Huang Yongyuan, an artisan of arts and crafts. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yongchunzhizhihua in Yongchun, Fujian: Yongchun paper-weave painting circulates in Yongchun County, Fujian Province, and the neighboring Quanzhou, Dehua, and Anxi area, with the Yongchun County Artists Association serving as its protection unit. Yongchun formerly belonged to Quanzhou Prefecture; the “Yongchun Prefecture woven paintings of central Fujian” recorded in Qing-dynasty sources refers to this place. The technique is interdependent with the local handmade-paper and mounting trades, and the woven surface, with warps and wefts running crosswise and lengthwise, makes its images appear dimly and indistinctly. In the Song dynasty, the output of paper-weave paintings increased; they not only satisfied local consumer demand but were also sold as far as the ports of the South Seas, becoming treasures in the cabinets of wealthy families. In the Ming dynasty, Yongchun paper-weave paintings had already become tribute gifts presented at court and rare collectibles treasured by high officials and nobles. A Qing-dynasty record states: “In Yongchun Prefecture in central Fujian, woven paintings are cut into pieces from lozenge-patterned letter paper, with five colors set between them, the warp and weft forming the patterns; landscapes, figures, flowers, and birds are all complete” (Yang Fuji, Menglan Suobi). The Palace Museum still treasures today the paper-weave painting “Twelve-Panel Screen with Imperial Poems by Emperor Gaozong”, dating from the Qianlong era of the Qing dynasty.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Male, of the Han ethnic group, born in March 1938 in Yongchun County, Fujian Province. Building on the traditional craft of paper-weaving painting he has made innovations, using a pieced-square format to weave a wide range of patterns in rich colours; he can also weave designs on both faces and has produced a handscroll a hundred metres long. He has run training classes to pass the craft on to enthusiasts. Within the documented technical tradition of Yongchunzhizhihua in Yongchun, Fujian: Paper-weave painting is a traditional folk art unique to Yongchun County, Fujian Province. “Woven painting: this is a special product of Yongchun.” Its method is to write characters or paint pictures on fine paper, cut them into long, thin strips, and interweave them warp-and-weft with pure white strips, then add colors. It is similar to what the ancients called yanhua dye paintings and xiangbi notebook sketch paintings. (Yongchun Prefecture Gazetteer, volume 11) Yongchun paper-weave painting is said to have originated at the end of the Sui and the beginning of the Tang dynasty; by the High Tang period, workshops specializing in paper-weave painting had already appeared locally, and many poets wrote poems in praise of Yongchun paper-weave painting. “In the Jiajing reign, among the property confiscated from the household of Yan Song, there were already woven-paper calligraphies and paintings.” According to historical records, the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors were very fond of paper-weave paintings. A paper-weave painting must pass through four principal process steps — painting, cutting, weaving, and mounting (biaobei) — before it can be completed. In production, the finished Chinese painting is first backed and mounted, then cut with a small knife into paper strips 1 to 2 millimeters wide to serve as the warp; white paper of the same specification is taken as the weft; the strips are re-woven by hand into the picture, and the work is completed only after final mounting and color retouching. The subjects of paper-weave painting are broad, including landscapes, flowers and birds, birds and beasts, historical figures, myths, and folk legends. Common forms include hall-hanging scrolls (zhongtang), hanging screens, and couplets; there are only four specifications, and custom sizes can be made where there is special need. The surface of a Yongchun paper-weave painting, with its warp and weft running crosswise and lengthwise, makes its images appear dimly and indistinctly; it has been treasured by common people and high officials alike throughout the ages. People have always liked to treat paper-weave paintings as artworks, hanging them in lively halls or using them to adorn quiet studies, or giving them as precious gifts to relatives and friends. In modern times, because paper-weave paintings had a limited market, some artisans, unable to make a living, were forced to change professions. If it is not protected in time, Yongchun paper-weave painting may well disappear completely. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Archival Record of the Process Steps": A paper-weave painting must pass through four principal process steps — painting, cutting, weaving, and mounting (biaobei) — before it can be completed.
Archival Record of the Process Steps
A paper-weave painting must pass through four principal process steps — painting, cutting, weaving, and mounting (biaobei) — before it can be completed.
Core Technique I
Paper-weave painting is a traditional folk art unique to Yongchun County, Fujian Province.
Core Technique II
“Woven painting: this is a special product of Yongchun.” Its method is to write characters or paint pictures on fine paper, cut them into long, thin strips, and interweave them warp-and-weft with pure white strips, then add colors.
Core Technique III
It is similar to what the ancients called yanhua dye paintings and xiangbi notebook sketch paintings.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
He is a representative bearer of Yongchun paper-weaving painting, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. His representative work A Hundred-Metre Paper-Weaving Painting of a Hundred Tigers set a Guinness World Record, and A Hundred-Metre Painting of Five Hundred Arhats won a silver award at the Third China International Folk Art Fair and the Second China (Tianjin) Folk Art Masterworks Expo, organised by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
In the Song dynasty, the output of paper-weave paintings increased; they not only satisfied local consumer demand but were also sold as far as the ports of the South Seas, becoming treasures in the cabinets of wealthy families. In the Ming dynasty, Yongchun paper-weave paintings had already become tribute gifts presented at court and rare collectibles treasured by high officials and nobles.
05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage
National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zhou Wenhu | Yongchun, Fujian | 05-2707 | This page |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。