The woodblock printing industry declined in the 1950s, forcing 91-year-old national inheritor Guo to move on to other jobs. (Photo : Getty Images)
The Lunar New Year has allowed to shed some of its spotlight on forgotten or overlooked Chinese cultural arts. Guo Taiyun, a 91-year-old man from Kaifeng in Henan Province, gladly showed reporters from China Daily the centuries-old craft he inherited from his predecessors.
Guo was introduced to the world of woodblock printing when he became an apprentice when he was 13 years old.
The teenage Guo left school and worked in a shop in Kaifeng that sold prints.
"I didn't starve and expected to make a living from it later," Guo said.
Besides selling prints and learning how to do the actual printing, Guo had to perform other chores such as dyeing paper and carving woodblocks. Four years into the apprenticeship and he was able to pick up certain techniques from experienced craftsmen he met along the way.
"Facial details of figures in the images are the most important. If a face is not lively, the block is useless," Guo said.
Guo later graduated from apprenticeship and went on to open his own small workshop.
"It was a good business. I could support by family of seven for the entire year by working for only three months," he shared. "Even the poorest families would put up New Year pictures, which were even more important than having good meals."
The woodblock printing industry declined in the 1950s, forcing Guo to move on to other jobs. He was invited by the government in the 1980s in an effort to protect the craft. Now, Guo has become a national-level inheritor of woodblock printing.
Through a crowdfunding project set up by Chinese tech giant Alibaba, Guo and other craftsmen make woodblock prints to help promote the craft. Their prints were uploaded online in January, which drew a lot of interest from the public.
The crowdfunding project has so far been able to collect over 50,000 yuan ($7,700). For every donation they make, sponsors will get freebies, including pictures made by Guo.
"I am so glad that it is catching public attention again," Guo said.
