天津民间绝活“杨柳青”走访记

Consummate Folk Skills in Tianjin"Yang Liuqing"

天津杨柳青年画起源于明代崇祯年间,至今已有近四百年的历史,清代光绪以前是年画发展的鼎盛时期.那时,天津杨柳青镇及其附近村庄,大都从事年画作坊生产,当地流传着"家家都会点染,户户皆擅丹青"的说法,可见杨柳青年画的普及性.它悠久的历史、精湛的技艺、丰富的内容和题材、对全国乃至世界的广泛影响,印绘结合的独树一帜的形式,都堪称是中国传统年画艺术的杰出代表.

Yang Liuqing New Year' s painting in Tianjin has a historyof nearly 400 years. Its period of great prosperity was beforethe Guangxu years of the Qing Dynasty. With a long history,excellent technique, rich content and a wide range of themes,Yang Liuqing New Year' s painting is acknowledged as anoutstanding representative of the traditional New Year' spaintings in China.Yang Liuqing New Year' s painting in Tianjin is uniquebecause it adopts a 'half-printing and half-painting'method, combining plate printing with hand drawing. Theartist first carves the lines on the plate, prints it on the paperwith monochromatic printing ink for two or three times andthen draws with color brushes. With a perfect combinationof skillful woodcutting and colorful painting, it distin-guishes itself from the common drawing and all the otherNew Year' s paintings. Its working procedures includesketching, carving, printing, decorating with colors andmounting. All the traditional procedures and workmanshiphave been preserved in the Yang Liuqing New Year' spaintings.