A Wish Of National Salvation

After the Anti-Japanese War broke out,art workers in Wuqiang of Hebei Province,Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts,Yan'an City and anti-Japanese bases in the rear area created a series of prints of threshold guardian about the Anti-Japanese War through combining the theme of the Anti-Japanese War with Chinese traditional prints of threshold guardian by using gravers,with a view to effectively publicize the war of resistance.Those prints were posted in every house,which became a propaganda tool for the fight against Japanese aggressors,political propaganda and public mobilization,the social atmosphere of "everyone is responsible for the war of resistance".During the Anti-Japanese War,prints of threshold guardian guided by war policies were constantly endowed with new contents and themes on the basis of the traditional formats of threshold guardian prints,presenting the public's wish of national salvation,stimulating their determination to win the war and witnessing the unconquerable faith of the Chinese nation.Being a special artistic presentation form during the Anti-Japanese War,print of threshold guardian was not only a visual culture of Chinese folk culture derived from the social and historical background and also a popular culture that took the folk art form as the aesthetic under the influence of “policy aesthetics”.It was also the beginning of novel New Year pictures that established the model of the new threshold guardian and had an important influence on the then and later New Year pictures.In this thesis,more than a dozen prints of threshold guardian created during the Anti-Japanese War are deeply explored from four perspectives of the origin of prints ofthreshold guardian about Anti-Japanese War,image research,artistic language research and its influences.This paper explores the artistic features of the prints of door gods in the Anti Japanese War,analyzes the relationship between images,social culture and political factors,and reveals the hidden social and cultural concepts and deep spiritual connotation behind the prints of door gods in the Anti Japanese war.In the first chapter,the generation background and development of prints of threshold guardian about the Anti-Japanese War are sorted out to explore the origin and development of threshold guardian about the Anti-Japanese War.In the second chapter,the characteristics of the prints are analyzed from four aspects of image & posture,clothing & accessories,weapon props and background text.In the third chapter,the composition,styling,colors and graving techniques of the prints are studied,so as to figure out artistic features of those prints.In the last chapter,the influences and historical significance of prints of threshold guardian about the Anti-Japanese War as well as its social & cultural connotations are concluded,further construct the relationship between the door god print and the Anti Japanese culture.