Study On The Images Of Female Figures In Chinese New-year Folk Wood Engravings Of Qing Dynasty

As a folk custom of thousands of years, Chinese New-year Picture has special culture meaning. Folk wood engraving of Chinese New Year was in its prime during the Qing Dynasty. The fact that diverse images of female figures then appeared in this particular artistic form is closely related to the political, economic and ideological development of Qing Dynasty. Moreover, images of female figures in New-year folk wood engravings were regionally diversified in styles. This thesis is divided into 3 parts. The first part gives an introduction to the historical development of female figures images in Chinese folk New Year wood engravings of Qing Dynasty. The second part deals with the regional development of female figures images in Chinese folk New Year wood engravings of Qing Dynasty. The third part analyzes comprehensively the images of female figures in new-year folk wood engravings of Qing Dynasty.Springing up in large quantities in the early and prime Qing Dynasty, images of female figures in folk wood engravings of Chinese New Year became increasingly sensitive to social upheavals like late-Qing Dynasty modernization as well as diplomatic and martial reforms near the late Qing Dynasty. Many folk artists of New-year wood engraving started to depict women as intellectuals or women warriors rather than illiterate housewives and well-behaved noblewomen as had been in the past. Moreover, thematic wood engravings of Chinese New Year devoted to female figures also appeared. Despite the male-dominated society, this transformation, a reflection of women's desire to be independent, indicates that women were no longer regarded as being subordinate to men. New-year folk wood engravings which used to represent the folk customs and beliefs became an important means of publicity in Qing Dynasty, transcending its original role of being a mere custom of Chinese New Year. However, many artists of New-year folk wood engravings of Qing Dynasty still believed that women should behave in a subservient manner and never violate the virtues of women. This prejudice which was reflected in plentiful wood engravings of Chinese New Year was ineradicable in the male-dominated society. The production of New-year folk wood engravings reached its peak in Qing Dynasty. The development of female figures images in New-year folk wood engravings mirrors the social and ideological development of Qing Dynasty. Therefore, it is worthwhile conducting an in-depth analysis of the characters, the connotation and the significance of female figures images of Qing Dynasty folk wood engravings of Chinese New Year.Furthermore, what is enlightening for modern artists to nature culture is that rather than confined to the conventional patterns, New-year folk wood engraving artists of Qing Dynasty pooled multiple techniques, old and new, in order to meet the development of female .figures images in their works but lost nothing of their unique folk style.