On June 26, the list of the 2024 "Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Person of the Year" was unveiled. Liu Zhongping was included as the municipal representative inheritor of Foshan Woodblock New Year Painting, a national intangible cultural heritage project.
Foshan Woodblock New Year Painting is a well-known folk art in South China, with a history of 600 to 700 years. As early as 2006, it was approved by the State Council and included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritages.
Liu Zhongping, known as the "New Year Painting Heroine," is the first female woodblock craftsperson of Foshan Woodblock New Year Painting in modern times. In 2014, she learned from national representative inheritor Master Feng Bintang and has been engaged in this craft for over ten years.
In 2024, her New Year painting practices, including "The Gods in New Year Paintings Come Alive" and "Worry-Relieving New Year Painting Shop," were selected as part of the application to have the Spring Festival recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
"New Year paintings are not specimens in museums; they embody the warmth of people's lives," she says. As a post-1980s inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, she has always adhered to the principle of "people's needs" in her creations.
She has kept pace with the times, broken through the limitations of traditional themes, and innovated a series of works such as "Pass Every Exam," "Singlehood-Busting Magic," and "Wealth God Blind Box."
She has skillfully transformed ancient auspicious symbols into cultural and creative products that young people love. This has revitalized the endangered Foshan Woodblock New Year Painting and brought it back into the lives of the general public.
Reporter: Lu Haoneng
Photo: Guangming Daily
Video: Liao Mingcan, Chen Xitong
Editor: Huang Qini, James, Shen He
