Yebaofen
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Yebaofen, Female, Han, from Suzhou, Jiangsu, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Taohuawu Woodblock New Year Pictures (Ⅶ-3). The tradition is documented in Suzhou, Jiangsu. Within the regional tradition and school record of Taohuawu Woodblock New Year Pictures in Suzhou, Jiangsu: Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints took Changmen Gate, Shantang Street, and Taohuawu Street in the northwest of Suzhou as their center for drawing and carving, with print shops, carving workshops, and printing houses distributed along the streets; work was coordinated through a division of labor among the three lineages of drawing, carving, and printing, forming a production-and-sales pattern of shops in front and workshops behind. Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints originated in the Ming dynasty, when several dozen print shops operated in the Qili Shantang area and the Taohuawu quarter inside Changmen Gate in Suzhou, with annual output reaching as high as several million sheets, hence the name Taohuawu. Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints flourished during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns of the Qing dynasty. At the height of prosperity there were the Zhang Xingju, Zhang Wenju, Wei Hongtai, Lü Yunlin, Lu Fushun, Lu Jiashun, Moxiangzhai, Zhang Zai, Taiyuan, Zhang Lin, and Ji Xiangji shops; those that appeared slightly later, such as Wang Rongxing, Chen Tongsheng, Chen Tongxing, Wu Jinzeng, Wu Taiyuan, and Hongyunge, also exerted considerable influence at the time.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Yebaofen is anchored in the documented technical standards of Taohuawu Woodblock New Year Pictures in Suzhou, Jiangsu. Within the documented technical tradition of Taohuawu Woodblock New Year Pictures in Suzhou, Jiangsu: Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints were once popular in Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and elsewhere, were sold as far away as Hubei, Henan, and Shandong, and spread abroad, exerting a great influence on Japanese ukiyo-e and other printmaking arts; collections of Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints are also held in Britain, France, Russia, Germany, and other countries. The drawing, carving, and printing of Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints are divided into three lineage traditions. Over many years of creative and production practice, veteran artisans with consummate skills each worked out unique experience of their own, forming a complete set of special craft procedures. The production of Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints is generally divided into five process steps: drafting the design, carving the blocks, printing, mounting, and facial finishing (kaixiang). The carving step is in turn divided into four parts: transferring the design, carving the block, tapping the base, and revising. Its principal tool is the "fist knife" (quandao), used together with curved chisels (for hollowing out), flat chisels, chive-edge chisels, needle chisels, root-trimming chisels, peg chisels, water bowls, iron rulers, and small palm-fiber brushes. Color-registration printing likewise follows a set procedure, mainly comprising the steps of checking the blocks, mixing pigments with glue, selecting and loading the paper (clip-feeding), smoothing the blocks, aligning the paper, printing, and clamping with water. Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints inherited the woodblock printing craft of the Song dynasty, combining hand coloring with multi-block color registration. Their principal forms are door-god prints, central-hall hanging scrolls, and panel screens, and their themes are mostly prayers for blessing and auspiciousness, the driving away of evil, current customs and events, and opera stories. Over the past thirty years, as people's way of life has changed, the practical function of Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints has greatly diminished, while their purely ornamental function has, on the contrary, somewhat increased. Changes in the market have affected the preservation of the traditional skills of Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints, and the development of modern printing technology has dealt a heavy blow to the hand-carving and printing techniques of traditional woodblock New Year prints. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Archival Record of the Working Procedures": The production of Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints is generally divided into five process steps: drafting the design, carving the blocks, printing, mounting, and facial finishing (kaixiang). The carving step is in turn divided into four parts: transferring the design, carving the block, tapping the base, and revising. Its principal tool is the "fist knife" (quandao), used together with curved chisels (for hollowing out), flat chisels, chive-edge chisels, needle chisels, root-trimming chisels, peg chisels, water bowls, iron rulers, and small palm-fiber brushes.
Archival Record of the Working Procedures
The production of Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints is generally divided into five process steps: drafting the design, carving the blocks, printing, mounting, and facial finishing (kaixiang). The carving step is in turn divided into four parts: transferring the design, carving the block, tapping the base, and revising. Its principal tool is the "fist knife" (quandao), used together with curved chisels (for hollowing out), flat chisels, chive-edge chisels, needle chisels, root-trimming chisels, peg chisels, water bowls, iron rulers, and small palm-fiber brushes.
Core Technique I
Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints were once popular in Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and elsewhere, were sold as far away as Hubei, Henan, and Shandong, and spread abroad, exerting a great influence on Japanese ukiyo-e and other printmaking arts;
Core Technique II
collections of Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints are also held in Britain, France, Russia, Germany, and other countries.
Core Technique III
The drawing, carving, and printing of Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints are divided into three lineage traditions.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Yebaofen was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Taohuawu Woodblock New Year Pictures, with Suzhou, Jiangsu as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Taohuawu Woodblock New Year Pictures in Suzhou, Jiangsu: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Suzhou, Jiangsu as its declared area, and Suzhou Gong Gong Cultural Center (Suzhou Art Museum, Suzhou Cultural Center, Suzhou Mingren Hall) as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints originated in the Ming dynasty, when several dozen print shops operated in the Qili Shantang area and the Taohuawu quarter inside Changmen Gate in Suzhou, with annual output reaching as high as several million sheets, hence the name Taohuawu. Taohuawu woodblock New Year prints flourished during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns of the Qing dynasty. At the height of prosperity there were the Zhang Xingju, Zhang Wenju, Wei Hongtai, Lü Yunlin, Lu Fushun, Lu Jiashun, Moxiangzhai, Zhang Zai, Taiyuan, Zhang Lin, and Ji Xiangji shops; those that appeared slightly later, such as Wang Rongxing, Chen Tongsheng, Chen Tongxing, Wu Jinzeng, Wu Taiyuan, and Hongyunge, also exerted considerable influence at the time.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fang Zhida | Suzhou, Jiangsu | 03-1221 | Same declared area |
| Wang Zude | Suzhou, Jiangsu | 05-2573 | Same declared area |
| Yebaofen | Suzhou, Jiangsu | — | 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。