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Paper short abstract:

The paper documents how Han Chinese folk art has adapted and survived through the tempestuous political and economic upheavals of the 20th and 21st centuries, based on fieldwork with Chinese colleagues at Shandong University of Art and Design between 2005 and 2016.

Paper long abstract:

Rural arts play a central role in Han Chinese village life. They mediate relationships with the gods and express traditional values such as the hope for a happy marriage, successful harvests and the birth of many children.

For many centuries, China's arts belonged to the culture of the educated middle classes, the 'wen ren' or literati. Folk traditions such as woodblock printing, weaving and paper cutting were dismissed as craft (shou gong, hand work). At the start of the 20th century the New Culture Movement argued that, if it were to shake off Western domination, China must adopt Western culture. From the 1930s, however, some urban artists recognised that traditional woodblock printing could be harnessed for political propaganda. Folk art was recognized as 'min jian yi shu' (art among the people). Under early Communism folk arts associated with traditional religion were suppressed while others were encouraged to promote government policies.

After the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) traditional themes quickly reappeared as people sought to re-establish harmony with the gods, but folk arts soon suffered competition from mass produced copies. Recently, successful folk artists have moved toward creating fine art (mei shu), drawing on Taoist philosophy and historical novels. This has been encouraged by government recognition of skilled artists as 'Masters of hand-made art', where 'hand-made' is now celebrated in opposition to mass-production.

The paper will draw on fieldwork carried out in Shandong Province between 2005-2016 with colleagues from Shandon University of Art and Design.