Buddhist prints in Song and Yuan Dynasties developed further on the basis of Tang and Five Dynasties. The engraving method is perfect and the body rhyme is rich. At the same time, landscape graphics began to appear in the scroll. There are also a large number of prints with other themes, such as scientific and technological knowledge, books and atlases on literature and art, Bianjing, Lin 'an, Shaoxing, Huzhou, Wuzhou, Suzhou, Fujian Jian 'an, Sichuan Meishan and Chengdu in the Northern Song Dynasty. In the Southern Song Dynasty, it became a unique engraving and printing center. At the same time, the overprint color edition of Siddhartha Gautama in Nanwu in Liao Dynasty is the earliest color overprint found in China, which plays an extremely important role in the history of world culture. Due to practical needs, copper plate printing also appeared in Song Dynasty, which was mainly used for printing paper money and advertisements. The "Pinghua" printmaking in Yuan Dynasty is the predecessor of China's serial printmaking.
The Ming and Qing Dynasties were the heyday of China printmaking. With the joint efforts of many literati, booksellers and seal engravers, various schools of printmaking have emerged, and a large number of excellent works have been created, and printmaking has shown a prosperous situation. Not only did religious printmaking reach its peak in the Ming Dynasty, but also the appreciation of printmaking increased greatly in the Ming Dynasty. Paintings, novels, operas, biographies, poems, etc. , are like snow, too numerous to mention. In particular, the seal cutting illustrations of literary masterpieces have many versions, spread widely and have far-reaching influence.
This period is also a prosperous period of various artistic schools of printmaking. Jian 'an School, centered on Jianyang, Fujian, is mostly the work of folk craftsmen, with simple carving. Jinling School, with Nanjing as the center, focuses on operas and novels. Or rough and bold, or elegant and beautiful, with different styles. The Wuling School with Hangzhou as the center has a wide range of themes and exquisite carvings. Huizhou School, with Huizhou as the center, has a far-reaching influence in the cultural history of China and plays an important role.
The development of printmaking has always been closely related to the book engraving industry. The centers in Song and Yuan Dynasties were Jian 'an in Fujian and Hangzhou in Zhejiang, and moved to Nanjing and Beijing in Ming Dynasty. But it is the rise of Huizhou printmaking that really makes the development of printmaking enter a new stage. Huizhou printmaking has been famous for its carving since the 0/5th century, with experts such as Lin, especially famous artists such as Huang and Wang. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Huang clan in Xin 'an carved more than 200 kinds of books, and there were 100 people who could draw pictures, which became a huge team. Representative works include "Self-cultivation Illustration" and "Biography of Ancient Lienv". When Huizhou prints are popular all over the world with elegant and exquisite styles, the illustrations of prints in Jinling (Nanjing), Wulin (Hangzhou) and Suzhou have also formed their own characteristics.
Ming Dynasty prints are not only used as illustrations for books, but also as "painting spectrum" for painters to teach painting methods, "writing paper" for literati, "ink spectrum" for famous literati and "wine brand" for folk entertainment. The earliest painting spectrum is Gu's Painting Spectrum published by Hangzhou Shuangguitang 1603. The representative of the ink spectrum is Cheng's Ink Garden, which was written in the Wanli period and drawn by Ding. Chen Hongshou, a famous painter, is keen on the creation of wine brand prints, and his works "Water Margin" and "Leaves of Bo Gu" co-produced with Huizhou Huang have become masterpieces. The earliest known ancient color-matching prints are Luo Xuan's Gu Jian Pu in Ming Dynasty, but the most influential ones are Dianzhuzhai Painting Pu published by 1633 and Dianzhuzhai Painting Pu published by 1644, written by Hu, a publisher and painter in Ming Dynasty.
In addition to the Hui school, Beijing's temple prints were also famous in the Qing Dynasty. Representative works include 1696 Jiao Bingzhen Plough Weaving Map published by Beijing engraver Zhu Gui, and 17 17 Lengmei Wanshou Festival Map. 1679, according to the manuscript, the first set of Biography of Mustard Garden printed by Jinling painter Li with color separation watermark was published, and then two, three and four sets were published, which was widely circulated and became a painting teaching material with great influence on later generations.
When appreciating a large number of works left in the development of printmaking in the past thousand years, the following artistic features are worth noting:
1 makes use of the true colors of objects as much as possible, presenting a woody taste.
2. Using the technique of "leaving black" skillfully, the depicted characters are specially treated, and the unique artistic effect of printmaking is obtained.
Give full play to the characteristics of print watermark, so that large prints can produce strong artistic effects.
Through ingenious composition, the theme is set off by different styles such as fullness, density and simplicity.
To sum up, China ancient prints have their own development track and formed a unique artistic style in the long history. Mr. Zheng Zhenduo once said: "The map of pear and jujube has made great contributions to promoting culture." . This is an appropriate evaluation of the artistic status of printmaking.