Chinese peasant painting (nongminhua): history milestones and main production centers

Abstract

Stylistic transformations of Chinese peasant painting nongminhua is inextricably linked with changes in the political life of the CPR. In its development this folk craft passed through three stages, the first of which fell during the “Great Leap Forward” period (1958–60). During this time nongminhua existed in the form of works of naive propaganda painted as wall murals and later on paper. In the second stage, which coincided with the later years of “The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution” (1966–76), nongminhua was produced in the form of political posters in socialist realist style. The ongoing third phase, which began during “Reform and Opening Up” period of the 1980s, is characterized by the rejection of politicized content and focus on folk art. The author of the present article traces the history of some of the most important centers of nongminhua production, which emerged in different periods. Earlier, we had already made a prone study of the largest nongminhua production center in Huxian county (Shaanxi Province), and in this article we will focus on the history and style of other regions. The latter were chosen for the following reasons: Shulu (Hebei Province) and Peixian (Jiangsu Province) are important for our research as origin areas of nongminhua, Jinshan (Shanghai) is of interest as a centre of the formation of the modern style, and Longmen (Guangdong Province) is examined as one of the largest nongminhua production centers at present. Unfortunately, the size of the article does not permit to explore a larger number of important centers, so our study will be continued in subsequent work. Refs 10. Figs 5.