Traditional wood-carving painting shines new vitality in E China’s Anhui

Starting in 1910, Tongshou’s wood-carved painting became the most well-kept and well-documented historical cultural relic in east China's Anhui Province.

As the 4th generation inheritor of Tongshou’s wood-carved painting, Tong Min started to learn the craft with his grandpa's brother when he was seven years old. He reopened the family workshop in Hefei in 2018.

How to revive a traditional handicraft and be recognized by people today became a challenge for intangible cultural relics inheritors.

According to Tong, compared to traditional wood-carved paintings that are mostly traditionally cultural themed such as zodiac signs and auspicious signs, people today add a modern perspective to traditional art. The size and frames of paintings have also been reformed in order to be applied to daily lives.

Aside from an exhibition hall and workshop, a research center focusing on Anhui’s traditional folk culture has been established. The research center also has its own database to analyze and restore different samples of paintings.

Tongshou’s wood-carved painting was listed in the sixth batch of intangible cultural relics in Anhui Province in May 2022.

“Since the amount of cultural elements has been increased and the squad of learning traditional culture has been expanded, there must be output to let the culture develop,”said Tong.