Zheng Mingchuan
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Zheng Mingchuan, Male, Han, from Shanghaishuhuachubanshe, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Mubanshuiyinjiyi (Ⅷ-77). The tradition is documented in Shanghaishuhuachubanshe. Within the regional tradition and school record of Mubanshuiyinjiyi in Shanghaishuhuachubanshe: The silk-based works are delicate and elegant, the paper-based works antique, remote, and richly moist; together with Rongbaozhai's woodblock water-printing they stand as the two great schools of Chinese woodblock water-printing, known as "Duoyunxuan of the South and Rongbaozhai of the North". The traditional woodblock water-printing craft of "carving images in wood and printing them on plain paper" originated from China's ancient carved-block printing and is an important component of traditional Chinese culture. As early as the Tang dynasty, the woodblock water-printing craft was already fairly mature. Since the Song and Yuan dynasties, woodblock-printed book illustrations became popular; after the Ming dynasty this fashion reached its zenith.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Zheng Mingchuan is anchored in the documented technical standards of Mubanshuiyinjiyi in Shanghaishuhuachubanshe. Within the documented technical tradition of Mubanshuiyinjiyi in Shanghaishuhuachubanshe: In the late Ming, complex overprinting techniques such as "douban" (separate-block) and "gonghua" (embossing) were widely adopted, and woodblock water-printing achieved great technical progress. This technique then spread widely among the people, used to print letter-paper albums and folk New Year pictures, becoming a traditional reproduction and printing craft unique to China. Since its founding in the 26th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty (1900), Shanghai Duoyunxuan has inherited the traditional woodblock water-printing craft; after more than a century of making, research, and development, Duoyunxuan's woodblock water-printing has become a re-creative art integrating painting, block carving, and printing. Its works are finely and delicately made, with carefully selected materials, emphasizing style, brushwork, and flavor, possessing a refined, elegant, and gracefully moist style. From its founding in the 26th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing (1900), Shanghai Duoyunxuan has treated woodblock water-printing as a craft requiring constant emulation of ancient methods; over more than a century, the three tasks of carving, printing, and painting have merged in the hands of one group of artisans into a re-creative art. The douban and gonghua that became popular since the late Ming are methods of splitting a painting into many color plates printed in separate passes; the number of plates and the accuracy of registration directly determine the vividness of the finished product. Its two appearances — the delicate and elegant silk-based works and the antique, remote, and richly moist paper-based works — together with the northern Rongbaozhai are called "Duoyunxuan of the South and Rongbaozhai of the North", showing that woodblock water-printing is not a single carving method but two branches differentiated by material and purpose. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Dividing the painting into colour blocks": Engraving the image on wood and printing it on plain paper begins with splitting the painting into colour blocks, one colour to each block. "Cutting the blocks": The image is reversed onto the wood before cutting; the pressure of the knife sets the tone and the depth of the cut sets the ink. "Register-printed colour blocks": Douban is the process of registering many colour blocks onto one sheet in turn, widely used from the late Ming. "Blind embossing with gonghua": Gonghua presses a relief pattern onto the printed sheet without colour, the hardest layer of work beyond colour printing.
Dividing the painting into colour blocks
Engraving the image on wood and printing it on plain paper begins with splitting the painting into colour blocks, one colour to each block.
Cutting the blocks
The image is reversed onto the wood before cutting; the pressure of the knife sets the tone and the depth of the cut sets the ink.
Register-printed colour blocks
Douban is the process of registering many colour blocks onto one sheet in turn, widely used from the late Ming.
Blind embossing with gonghua
Gonghua presses a relief pattern onto the printed sheet without colour, the hardest layer of work beyond colour printing.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Zheng Mingchuan was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Mubanshuiyinjiyi, with Shanghaishuhuachubanshe as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Mubanshuiyinjiyi in Shanghaishuhuachubanshe: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Shanghaishuhuachubanshe as its declared area, and Shanghai Duoyunxuan Group Co., Ltd. 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
The traditional woodblock water-printing craft of "carving images in wood and printing them on plain paper" originated from China's ancient carved-block printing and is an important component of traditional Chinese culture. As early as the Tang dynasty, the woodblock water-printing craft was already fairly mature.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chongdefu | Rongbaozhai, Beijing | 01-0189 | Other regional school |
| Wang Liju | Rongbaozhai, Beijing | 01-0190 | Other regional school |
| Gao Wenying | Rongbaozhai, Beijing | 03-1336 | Other regional school |
| Jiang Min | Shanghaishuhuachubanshe | 03-1337 | Same declared area |
| Xiao Gang | Rongbaozhai, Beijing | 04-1862 | Other regional school |
| Wei Lizhong | Hangzhoushixiacheng, Zhejiang | 05-2773 | Other regional school |
| Zheng Mingchuan | Shanghaishuhuachubanshe | — | 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。