Zhong Haixian
Lineage & School of Heritage
From 1934 to 1943 he served an apprenticeship in Tantou under his father; after completing his apprenticeship he ran the Chengrenfa New Year Painting Workshop jointly with his father; and in 1954 he and his wife Gao Lamei independently operated the Gao Lamei New Year Painting Workshop.
Mastery, Signature Works & Repertoire
In 1955, with the transition to joint public-private operation, Zhong Haixian, by virtue of his specialized skill, became a worker at the Tantou Town Dyeing and Paper Society. During the Cultural Revolution he was forced to stop producing New Year pictures, and most of the eighty-odd printing blocks he had inherited from the Chengrenfa New Year Painting Workshop were burned to ashes. After retiring in 1988, he took up his old craft once more. He is master of the techniques of woodblock New Year picture production: the carved lines are fine yet firm, fluent and rounded, resistant to wear, and highly expressive. His unique special processes, such as paper steaming, glue sizing, and powder brushing, give Tantou woodblock New Year pictures not only brilliant colors but also a relief-like artistic effect. His main representative works include Lao Shu Qu Qin (The Mouse's Wedding), Miaozu Yingxiong Xiang (Portraits of Miao Heroes), Qin Shubao and Yuchi Gong, and others.
Honors & Recognition
Male, of the Han ethnic group, born in 1928 in Longhui, Hunan; he died in 2009. He was a national representative bearer of Tantou Woodblock New Year Pictures, a first-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.
References & Archival Sources
Representative Items of This Bearer
Profile
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