Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 23. (Budapest, 2004)

Mária FERENCZY: Door Gods. Art and Craftsmanship in the various styles of Chinese New Year Pictures

ones published by Bo Songnian, 1995, Nos. 47^-8. Unfortunately, these pictures show but a detail of the generals' figure. The author associates these high-quality artefacts with Suzhou and dates them back to the beginning of the Qing Dynasty. As for the figures themselves, they can be closely associated with the above-mentioned ones, yet the unknown master created figures of unique strength and harmony. The gods' main weapon is the halberd decorated with a monster's head and the long-hilted sword. On the basis of other motifs, however, they are to be classified as figures belonging to a yet more remotely associated group: they are holding vessels of jewels in their hands. In the left picture, there is a spotted deer sitting on the bowl of jewels (the deer being the saddle animal of Shouxing, the star-god of Long Life; its name lends itself to a pun: lit, also meaning official income). In the right-hand side picture Kuixing, (the protector of the literate, the tutelary god of those sitting for official examinations) is standing. That is, the pictures promise long life and outstanding official career (even its style connects it to the literate circles). 19 Reproduction, Bo Songnian, 1995, Nos. 156-157. "Gate guard" - Weixian in Shandong province (more specifically, the town Yangjiapu) was another famous North Chinese centre for producing New Year pictures. Those earlier pictures that can be associated with it are characterised by a relatively static design that fills out the picture area. Typically, few colours (red, yellow and blue or dark green, and, occasionally, dark purple) were applied. The colours were printed with blocks; hand-painting was seldom employed. 2

" Reproduction, Wang, 1992, No. 135. 21 These generals are theatrical figures not only due to the shape and stylization of their armour and footwear but, more significantly, because of the standards tucked to their belts at the back. In conformity with theatrical traditions, the standards indicate the number of the armies the generals have under their command. In this picture, there is a round yinyang symbol painted on each standard. There can also be seen more common insignia, that is, the character "commander" (ling) in a circle: they are written on standards attached to arrows that stick out of the quiver (!). :: Reproduction, Hon nian, 2003, Nos. 1-2. 23 Reproduction, Mianzhu, 1990, Nos. 19-20. - Mianzhu lies in the vicinity of one of the oldest known centre of printing (Chengdu) in Sichuan province. - To produce pictures, yellowish or light peach-colour paper was used. Compact forms with no details are a characteristic feature; dynamic design is remarkable. Bright colours were applied on the woodcut drawings (printed in Chinese ink); all colours were painted manually. The sweeping strokes of the brush also enhance the dynamism of the depiction. 24 A family in mourning were in need of New Year pictures just as effective as those needed by other people; however, to indicate bereavement, red (being the colour of life) was omitted. 25 Reproduction, Wang, 1992, No. 138. 26 A popular god and a historical person: he was a general in the 3

rd century AD. His cult evolved gradually; the Emperor granted him divine rank (di) in the 16'

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' century. Since he was a soldier, European technical literature describes him as a war god; yet, in fact, the literate and artisans pleaded for his protection. 21 Zhao Guangyin (927-976) is the founder of the dynasty (ruled: 960-976); his capital was Kaifeng. In all likelihood, it is no accident that his name occurs in the Kaifeng New Year pictures - this fact proves the relations between literate tradition (that is, historiography) and folklore in traditional Chinese culture. 28 Reproduction, Mianzhu 1990, Nos. 3-4.: The editors of the book date the picture back to the Jiaqing period (1796-1821) of the Qing Dynasty. Nevertheless, the colours of the printed reproduction imply the use of chemical pigments. We may raise the question whether printing reproduces colours accurately, or the printing block is old but the picture was printed and the contours were painted later (that is, an actual reproduction was produced, cf. note 16), or maybe chemical pigments appeared in China not in the mid-19'

h century, as we have known so far, but earlier? 2

" Reproduction, Wang, 1992, No. 136. "' Reproduction, Wang, 1992, No. 137. 11 Reproduction, Unterrieder, 1984, p. 101. The volume associates the sheets (produced in the 1980s on the basis of old patterns) with Suzhou. - Suzhou (Jiangsu province) was one of the Southern cultural centres of greatest tradition; the Suzhou style of New Year pictures was named after its book street, Taohuawu. In my present knowledge, the variations of the style show remarkable differences. It was usual to apply few colours (red, dark green, a small amount of yellow); hand-painting was not used. 32 Dittrich 1984, p. 65 publishes a picture associated with the right-hand side picture. In that picture, there is not only a Buddhist rosary floating in front of the figure of Qin Qiong; he is also wearing a five-part crown decorated with the symbols of the five Tathagatas. 33 There are numerous prototypes of this kind of delineation of barbarian warriors as many foreign soldiers served in the Chinese frontier defence; for example, the Emperors of the Tang dynasty (one of whom is a character in the legend of the door gods) had Persian guards as well. We can trace the relationship between the way of depiction and the representation of the wrathful deities of the Buddhist pantheon. 34 Variations of armours can be noticed in case of the great standing generals of Jangliuqing. In the old picture of the Museum the animal's head is discernible, its species is uncertain; the three-eyed monster's head is distinctly visible in the pictures of the early 1950s. On this basis we can conclude that in the palace picture published by Bo Songnian the monster's head was simplified into a three-petal motif 33 An interesting feature is that in one of the most closely associated pictures (picture No. 6) the mirror on the general's breast was left white (with an edge of very light green), while its counterpart (picture No. 5) is of golden colour, that is, the mirrors are transformed into symbols of the moon and the sun, respectively. The yellow dial is the sun of yang character (the pale moon being the yin); the