A Depiction of the Legends, Religious Imagery, and Everyday Lives of the Chinese People

Folk prints are part of China's living legacy of culture. Produced from engraved wooden blocks, these prints depict the legends, religious imagery, and everyday lives of the Chinese people. Folk prints themselves originated within popular Chinese culture, and their forms and contents open a door into the homespun outlook of the common man in China, illuminating his aspirations for a better life, and his desire for recognition and aesthetic gratification.

Folk prints can be divided into four categories based on content and function. * the printed illustrations that can be found in local chronicles, the classical Chinese cannon, various morality works, medical references, agricultural treatises, dramas, and albums; * the special prints made to celebrate the Chinese New Year and to wish for a better future; * religious prints; and, * a more miscellaneous category that would include seals of stores, embroidery handbooks, and the like.

Below, we introduce the two most common categories of folk prints, New Year prints and religious prints.

New Year Prints New Year prints have traditionally been the most beloved of all the folk print creations. New Year prints often portray the door gods, the Kitchen God, or the God of Wealth who are expected to expel evil and welcome good fortune. Other New Year prints consist of a long strip of paper pasted horizontally over the lintel of the front door with complementary strips that run down either side of the door frame. Chinese characters that form a matching versified couplet are usually printed on these door sets. Simpler New Year prints contain either some symbol of good fortune or a Chinese character imbued with especially auspicious meaning. Usually, there is a tale to be told by each picture or character.

The most commonly portrayed door gods are mythological figures such as Chung K'uei, or companion gods such as Shen-t'u and Yu-lei, and Ch'in-ch'iung and Chin-te. The savage expressions of the door gods, with their flashing eyes and intimidating countenances, are pasted on a home's outermost gate or door. It is said that the door gods can drive off malevolent spirits, thereby permitting residents to live in peace and happiness. Even today this custom lives on and each year these prints (now mass-produced lithographs) may be seen in the marketplace.

Auspicious characters most commonly featured on New Year prints include the Chinese characters for good fortune, longevity, and financial prosperity. These characters are embellished with other illustrations. For instance, the Chinese character for longevity might be illustrated with pictures of the Eight Immortals, or the Three Sages--Fu, Lu, and Shou--who also represent long life. Such a print would embody the filial wish that family elders might live as long as the legendary mountains of the south, with health and good fortune to match.

New Year prints that depict legendary stories usually draw upon Chinese history and popular fiction for inspiration. In addition to their artistic merit, such prints once had an educational function, serving as the illustrations for children's stories passed down by word of mouth.

One story commonly depicted in New Year prints is "The Tale of the White Snake." It tells the tale of a snake magically transformed into a young girl, her marriage to the young man Hsu Hsien, and their ultimately tragic separation. Another example is "T'ang Po-hu Meets Ch'iu Hsiang," a very popular story from the Ming dynasty of a young scholar and a female servant who fall in love at first sight and are finally able to marry after overcoming many obstacles.

The illustrations for "The Empty City Stratagem: --taken from the classic novel The Romance of the Three Kingdoms--show the resourcefulness of the renowned Chinese strategist Chu-ko Liang. In the story, Chu-ko Liang is trapped in a city with smaller forces and a less advantageious position than his opponent. Instead of surrendering, Chu-ko Liang throws open the city gates as the enemy draws near. The opposing army, suspecting an ambush, refrains from attacking and Chu-ko Liang's army is saved.

Another popular print illustration taken from popular fiction is "The Bottomless Pit" which shows a scene adapted from the popular novel The Journey to the West. In this particular scene, the legendary monkey king Sun Wu-k'ung uses his enchanted golden wand to fight the vicious White Rat Spirit.

Religious Prints Religious prints capture the rich color of popular religions in China. Religious prints come in an enormous variety and include prints used in ceremonies of ancestral worship, prints displayed in Buddhist or Taoist shrines, and prints produced by temple artisans.

The most basic feature of popular religious belief in the Republic of China on Taiwan is ancestor-worship. Across the island, nearly every family has an ancestral memorial tablet perched on a special platform in the home's principal gathering place, usually the living room. Prints of deities play a central role in ancestor worship. Commonly these prints portray either Kuan Yu or the "Goddess of Mercy's Cosmos."

Kuan Yu was actually a historical figure who was also known as Duke Kuan. Revered for his sense of righteousness and justice he was later deified and named Lord of Benevolence. As such, he is thought to reward his votaries with prosperity. The Goddess of Mercy's Cosmos is actually an amalgam of several established and popular deities, including the Goddess of Mercy, the local goddess Ma Tsu, the Kitchen God, and the Earth God.

Buddhist shrines tend to focus on the Goddess of Mercy alone. Her depiction in Buddhist prints seems especially amiable; she is portrayed with a benign gaze that evinces an inner feminine beauty and compassion.

Prints in Taoist shrines often extol the Great Emperor Pao Shen, a renowned physician who excels at the healing arts. His prescriptions are said to be exceedingly effective, no doubt the reason why he has so many disciples.

Over the years Taiwan's temples and shrines have produced and used many different kinds of printed images: Taoist charms, divination messages, medicinal charms, and shen-shan. Shen-shan are divine images printed in temples for the faithful to bring home and put on worship platforms to petition for peace and safety. There are several hundred of these ever-popular shen-shan prints, including ones such as "The Son of the Emperor," "Madame Ch'i-niang," and "The Monkey King." Many temples also print ghost money of all shapes and sizes. Ghost money is not counterfeit currency but sacrificial tender used to worship gods and ancestors, and intended for use in the afterlife by the departed.

Folk prints are colorful caches of the customs, beliefs, and material possessions of the Chinese people throughout history. With the passage of time, folk prints themselves have become an integral and valued part of the culture that they have preserved. Herein lies the key to the continued interest and attraction which they possess for the people of the Republic of China on Taiwan.

Chung K'uei, the most renowned of the door gods in Chinese folk
tales, is often portrayed differently throughout China.