3,250,000 In 1736 and to an impressive 21,400,000 recorded in the 1812 state census.34

The influx of permanent settlers from Hunan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Fujian, Guangdong,

Jiangxi, and other surrounding areas boosted the regional economy and brought a fresh

wave of skilled artisans. By the early eighteenth century, Chengdu regained its status as a

major printing center, with at least ten large publishing houses to rival the top printing

centers in the nation.35 While Chengdu’s publishers specialized in printing books, the

outlying print centers specialized in the wholesale production of paper and single sheet

prints, including Mianzhu, Jiajiang 􀡃􀡾, and Liangping 􀨃􀯜. These centers where linked

together by waterways and well-established trade routes for the export of goods to

surrounding provinces (fig. 9).

33 The origins of the term taofu appear in Han dynasty records as a legal contract between two parties who

would each take one half of an engraved document. For a discussion on early taofu and other auspicious

objects, see Tiziana Lippiello, Auspicious Omens and Miracles in Ancient China: Han, Three Kingdoms

and Six Dynasties, Monumenta Serica Monograph Series (Nettetal: Steyler Verlag, 2001).

34 Sun Xiaofen 􀷤􀽫􀙯􀀍Qingdai qianqi de yimin tian Sichuan􀀁􀱢􀕽􀰭􀯹􀖥􁁍􀫶􀹁􀶹􀔫 [The populating of

Sichuan by migrants in the early Qing period], (Chengdu: Sichuan daxue, 1997), 9.􀀁

35 Cynthia J. Brokaw and Kai-Wing Chow, eds. Printing and Book Culture in Late Imperial China,

(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), 28.

18

Chengdu’s success as a printing stronghold over the centuries is largely due to the

region’s abundance of high-quality natural resources for making paper and mineral

pigments. Historic records and archaeological evidence point to Mianzhu as a major

supplier of fine papers to Chengdu since early times. Mianzhu’s paper making industry

began as early as the Eastern and Western Han period, when the site was named after the

“silky bamboo” forests that supplied supple, absorbent, and highly durable bamboo fibers

for paper production.36 During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the paper industry

In Mianzhu reached a high level of development, with over one hundred large workshops

producing at least nine different varieties of paper.37 Mianzhu’s printing industry

flourished in tandem with the paper industry, as the nearby mountains provided the

minerals needed for mixing brightly colored pigments.

Although rural Sichuan is often characterized as a remote and inaccessible

hinterland, its various printing centers exported their goods across the nation and abroad.

Mianzhu’s strategic location and proximity to Chengdu afforded it a great advantage in

the industry, along with its production of luxury goods such as its famous sorghum

liquor, tobacco, medicinal herbs, smoked meats, tea, and raw lacquer. Located near the

Min and Tuo rivers, Mianzhu’s traders distributed their wares along waterways that

linked up with the Yangzi river transport networks (fig. 9). Local records document the

transport of prints, papers, and tobacco via wooden boats from the Sheshui tributary near

36 Sichuan Mianzhu County Gazetteer Editing Committee􀀁􀶹􀔫􀫥􁇰􀽅􁆽􀑉􁉈􀺾􁃴􀟶, Mianzhu Gazetteer 􀫥

􁇰􀽅􁆽, (Mianzhu: Sichuan kexue jishu chubanshe, 1992), 27.

37 Details concerning Mianzhu’s early twentieth-century paper industry are based on a 1938 interview with

a local paper maker named Chen Jiru 􀓧􀠿􀳀, recorded by local official Zhou Boqun 􁇛􀑵􀲕. The details

are summarized in Zhao Jiliang 􁅵􀠿􀨅,􀀁“Jiefangqian Mianzhu shangye jingji qingkuang diandi” 􀢳􀙢􀰭􀫥

􁇰􀴅􁀼􀣜􀠶􀱦􀦃􀗄􀖯 [A brief discussion of Mianzhu’s pre-liberation economy]􀀁in Mianzhu wenshi ziliao

xuanji 􀀁􀫥􁇰􀻓􀵎􁈧􀨘􀿊􀠠􀖻􀵅􀳘􀠠 [Anthology of Mianzhu's historical studies vol.13]􀀍 ed. Wang Peisheng

􀺦􀮡􀴳􀀁and Zhang Changlu 􁅦􀓄􀩢, (Mianzhu: Sichuan sheng mianzhu xian zhengxie xuexi wenshi ziliao

weiyuanhui, 1994), 51-55.

19

Qingdao village as well as the dissemination of paper goods via human carriers who

walked to Chengdu and surrounding villages.38 In an interview, Mianzhu’s renowned

painter and printmaker Zhang Xianfu 􁅦􀼵􀚶 (1919-2000) recounted his early memories

of walking with his father to distant markets every year, carrying their prints and

paintings on their backs to sell in Chengdu and the surrounding temple fairs, sometimes

walking as far as Yunnan province and back during the warm months.39 In mid-summer,

merchants from surrounding provinces also arrived in Mianzhu in large donkey caravans

to trade their silver for fine paper products and other items.40

Affectionately known as “Little Chengdu” during the late Qing period, Mianzhu’s

temples, teahouses, liquor shops, and print shops replicated on a smaller scale the

cosmopolitan street life of the provincial capital and kept apace with its fashions, trends,

and political life. Mianzhu’s bustling markets and scenic walkways have been praised in

“bamboo stick” poems of the nineteenth century and in a verse by the famous poet Du Fu

􀘄􀚡 (712-770), who praised its bamboo-lined rivers during one of his visits in the eighth

century.41 These writings establish Mianzhu as an idealized pastoral getaway for

Chengdu’s wealthy and cultured elites.

38 Zhao, “A brief discussion of Mianzhu’s pre-liberation economy,” 51.

39 Liu Zhumei 􀨾􁇰􀪼, “Re ai nianhua shiye de Zhang Xianfu” 􀲣􀎹􀭍􀟂􀵙􁀼􀖥􁅦􀼵􀚶􀀁[Zhang Xianfu's

passion for the nianhua industry] in Mianzhu nianhua ziliao xuanbian 􀫥􁇰􀭍􀟂􁈧􀨘􀿊􀑉􀶹 [Mianzhu

nianhua selected research documents volume 4] (Mianzhu: Mianzhu nianhua she, 1982), 1-6.

40 A detailed description of the annual nianhua trading schedules during the early twentieth century is

documented in interview records put together in the 1950s by officials in Mianzhu leading the print reform

activities. See Wei Chuanyi 􀻉􀔮􁁬, “Mianzhu nianhua diaocha cailiao" 􀫥􁇰􀭍􀟂􀗘􀒰􀒋􀨘􀀁[Mianzhu

nianhua interview records] in Zhongguo Mianzhu nianhua 􁇏􀝓􀫥􁇰􀭍􀟂􀀼China’s Mianzhu nianhua], ed. Yu

Jundao 􁂿􀤮􀖡􀀁(Beijing: Zhongyang wenxian chubanshe, 2007), 136-140.

41For a comprehensive collection of bamboo stick poems written in Mianzhu during the Qing period, see

Zhang Zhaoyuan 􁅣􁅹􁃷, A selection of Mianzhu poetry 􀫥􁇰􀵂􀷁, (Chengdu: Sichuan renmin chubanshe,

1998). For Dufu’s poetic dedication to Mianzhu, see Han Chenwu 􀝢􀓮􀻳, Shisheng: huanyou zhong de

Dufu 􀵂􀴼􀀛􀀁􁂬􀟑􁇏􀖥􀘄􀚡􀀁[The Sage-poet: Dufu’s world of adversity and sorrow], (Baoding: Hebei daxue

chubanshe, 2000), 134.

20

The evolution of Mianzhu’s printing industry is thus characterized by this unique

combination of being both geographically remote yet still connected to the nation’s larger

flows of information and goods. The reasons that have been cited for nianhua’s decline in

the early twentieth-century primarily reflect developments near Beijing and Shanghai.

For instance, the displacement of woodblock printing is often attributed to the

introduction of mechanized printing technologies from the West. The rise of industrial

printing during the early twentieth-century was largely centered in Shanghai, sparking a

“Gutenberg revolution” that transformed the region’s politics and printing industries.

Historian Christopher Reed has documented in detail the dramatic rise of “print

capitalism” in Shanghai, leading to the gradual displacement of traditional block printing

methods that could not keep up with the speed and affordability of mechanized presses.42

Similarly, Leo Ou-fan Lee, Ellen J. Laing, Laikwan Pang, and others have written

extensively on how Shanghai’s changing print culture of the early twentieth century

served as a locus of Chinese modernity, giving rise to an emergent “advertising art” and

an urban visual culture that activated new modes of viewing and consumption.43

At the same time, reform-minded urban intellectuals in Beijing began leading

various print reform movements that further transformed the woodblock printing

practices in the region to support the “Self-Strengthening Movement”. The Republican

leadership institutionalized these print reforms during the 1910s and 1920s as part of their

42 Christopher Reed, Gutenberg in Shanghai: Chinese Print Capitalism, 1876-1937, (Vancouver:

University of British Columbia Press, 2004), 8. Reed uses the term “print capitalism” to draw attention to

the role of technology in a capitalist system, as it developed after the Industrial Revolution. The term also

demarcates a distinct shift from craft-based handmade books and printing to the use of mechanized printing

machines.

43 These studies include: Leo Ou-fan Lee, Shanghai Modern: The Flowering of a New Urban Culture in

China, 1930–1945, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1999); Ellen J. Laing, Selling Happiness:

Calendar Posters and Visual Culture in Early Twentieth Century China (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i,

2004); and Laikwan Pang, Distorting Mirror: Visual Modernity in China, (Honolulu: University of

Hawai’i, 2007).

21

broader efforts to secularize and modernize the nation. These unevenly enforced

campaigns banned and confiscated certain images of popular religion, such as prints of

the wealth deity, the stove deity, and various minor and demigods. Ellen Johnston Laing

and James Flath have discussed in detail the reformed nianhua of this period, which were

known as gailiang nianhua 􀚿􀨅􀭍􀟂. These reformed nianhua reflected a range of

political themes, including representations of historic wars, current affairs, and the

changing social status of women.44

In the Chengdu region, Shanghai’s commercially printed goods arrived long

before the large mechanized presses infiltrated the region’s printing industry. While Flath

documents the displacement of traditional woodblock printing methods by lithography as

early as 1909 in Hebei, there is no evidence that Mianzhu’s printshops adopted

mechanized printing until after the Cultural Revolution.45 While Japanese incursions of

the 1930s forced Shanghai’s industrialized printing industry to move inland to Sichuan,

records show that the new technology did not immediately replace handmade paper

production and woodblock printing. In his study of Sichuan’s handmade paper industry

based in Jiajiang, historian Jan Eyferth has argued that traditional techniques continued to

dominate because they could be easily expanded at a low cost. In addition, the industrial

44 Flath, Cult of Happiness, 126-149; Ellen J. Laing, “Reform, Revolutionary, Political and Resistance

Themes in Chinese Popular Prints, 1900-1940” Modern Chinese Literature and Culture 12, no. 2 (2000):

123-176.

45 Flath’s study discusses the introduction of manual or electric lithograph presses to the print shops of

Yangjiabu in Hebei and Yangliuqing near Tianjin, where most of the larger workshops were using these

methods by 1927; Flath, Cult, 20. Christopher Reed’s study addresses the destruction of the printing

machinery in Shanghai during the Japanese attacks of the early 1930s and the subsequent transfer of the

industry inland; Reed, Gutenberg, 155-157.

22

paper mills used wood pulp from soft timber, which was more expensive and not as

readily available as the native grasses and bamboo used for handmade paper.46

The early twentieth-century print reform campaigns were also rarely implemented

in Sichuan, as regional warlords fought amongst themselves and against Republican

forces for control of Chengdu. In 1916, Sichuan declared independence from the

Republic, immediately sparking open fighting in Chengdu. Between 1916 and 1937, there

was frequent warfare and a changing of hands in the Chengdu region. 47 Coerced into

survival mode, local communities formed street militias and the powerful trade guilds

took over many state functions, including the settling of disputes, famine relief, and the

repair of key infrastructure.48 The chaotic upheavals of warlordism and lawlessness

forced many of Mianzhu’s paper and print shops to shut down, although production never

completely ceased.49

During the Japanese occupation of 1937-1945, Mianzhu’s economy actually

received a brief boost as large waves of migrants fled the Japanese from other parts of

China to seek refuge in Sichuan, where the new wartime capital was established in

46 According to Eyferth, in 1943, after the relocation of large paper mills to Sichuan, mechanized

production accounted for less that one-quarter of Sichuan’s paper output. See Jan Eyferth “Socialist

Deskilling: The struggle over skills in a rural craft industry, 1949-1965,” in How China Works: perspective

on the twentieth century industrial workplace, ed. Jan Eyferth (New York: Routledge, 2006), 48.

47 The complex power struggles occurring in Chengdu at this time are documented in Kristen Stapleton,

Civilizing Chengdu: Chinese Urban Reform, 1895-1937, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000).

48 Feng Tiren 􀙿􀸸􀲥, “Mianzhu shanghui shihua” 􀫥􁇰􀴅􀟶􀵎􀟅 [Historical accounts of Mianzhu's trade

associations], in Mianzhu wenshi ziliao ji 􀫥􁇰􀻓􀵎􁈧􀨘􀠠􀀁14 [Anthology of Mianzhu's historical studies

vol. 14], ed. Wang Peisheng 􀺦􀮡􀴳 and Zhang Changlu 􁅦􀓄􀩢 (Mianzhu: Sichuan sheng mianzhu xian

zhengxie xuexi wenshi ziliao weiyuanhui, 1995), 112-19.

49 According to the elder printmakers I spoke with for this study (to be discussed in later chapters), nianhua

production never ceased in Mianzhu although the number of shops declined dramatically in the early 20th

century. Production levels reached their lowest point during the Cultural Revolution, yet even in the worst

economic conditions, simple prints were made for the Lunar New Year season. The continuity of

production in Mianzhu over the course of the 20th century is further confirmed by interviews conducted by

print reform officials during the 1950s. A key document is: Wei Chuanyi 􀻉􀔮􁁬, “Mianzhu nianhua

diaocha cailiao" 􀫥􁇰􀭍􀟂􀗘􀒰􀒋􀨘􀀁[Mianzhu nianhua interview records] in Zhongguo Mianzhu nianhua 􁇏

􀝓􀫥􁇰􀭍􀟂􀀼China’s Mianzhu nianhua], ed. Yu Jundao 􁂿􀤮􀖡􀀁(Beijing: Zhongyang wenxian chubanshe,

2007), 136-140.

23

Chongqing in 1938. The collaboration between rural printmakers and intellectual elites is

a phenomenon that is perhaps best documented in the woodblock print movement led by

the writer Lu Xun in the 1930s, although there is no evidence that Mianzhu’s printmakers

were involved in wartime propaganda.50 Upon the withdrawal of the Japanese in 1945

and the outbreak of a civil war between Nationalist and Communist forces, Mianzhu’s

workshops fell into decline again. When the Communist forces officially declared victory

in 1949, the number of Mianzhu’s surviving paper makers and printmakers had declined

dramatically. According to one count, there were still eighty-four paper shops functioning

in Mianzhu in 1943, a number that dropped to about thirty in 1948. There is no estimate

for the number of printshops that remained open, although it is documented that roughly

seventy printmaking families joined up with the Communist print reform programs that

were launched in 1949. 51

Contrary to the prevailing view of nianhua’s demise, the winter street markets in

Mianzhu never ceased to take place and small quantities of auspicious prints and

paintings continued to circulate during the 1950s print reforms, even during the outright

ban on nianhua. Mianzhu’s print reform officials often complained in their bureau reports

that traditional nianhua prints continued to be produced and circulated in the community

despite the reform efforts of 1950s and 1960s.52 This was often cited as a reason for

increased efforts in “reeducation” and “training” so that local printmakers were properly

equipped to make reformed prints. Photographs taken by officials in the 1960s also show

50 For in-depth discussions of the Lu Xun woodblock print movement, see Shirley Hsiao-ling Sun, “Lu

Hsun and the Chinese Woodcut Movement, 1929-1936” (PhD dissertation, Stanford University, 1974) and

Julia Andrews, Painters and Politics in the People’s Republic of China, 1949-1979, (Berkeley: University

of California Press, 1994), 11-27.

51 Zhao, “A brief discussion of Mianzhu’s pre-liberation economy,” 54-55.

52 In his 1957 report, Wei Chuanyi cited the continued production of traditional nianhua in Mianzhu’s

workshops as a sign that local printmakers lacked the ability to conceive and produced the desired forms of

reformed nianhua. Wei Chuanyi, “Mianzhu nianhua interview records,” 139.

24

traditional prints being sold alongside reformed ones (fig. 10). Interview accounts also

point to the continuous circulation of simple mimeographs of household deities in the

winter street markets throughout the years of the Cultural Revolution. This is

corroborated by studies that document how a number of state-sanctioned prints were

regularly appropriated for ritual use as door deities or as other household divinities during

the Cultural Revolution.53 In short, ritual print activities did not cease but continued to

adapt to the changing conditions of life before, during, and after the Cultural Revolution.

Not long after the Cultural Revolution drew to a close in 1976, there were signs of

a return to ritual industries in Sichuan. By 1978, nianhua were widely available in the

street markets and state-led efforts were already underway to revitalize woodblock

printing to launch a folk art export industry. All over Sichuan, a broad resurgence of

ritual goods and services sprang forth to support lunar calendar festivals, processions,

pilgrimage, geomancy, divination, temple building, ancestral worship, life-cycle rituals,

and lineage rituals. Under Deng Xiaoping’s programs for “reform and opening,” liberal

economic reforms and relaxed policies around cultural production led to the

decollectivization of land and the decentralization of economic decision-making power

that increased the influence of local and provincial governments.54 It is likely that

Sichuan’s distance to the capital allowed these reforms to take hold sooner, as it was

among the first provinces in China to begin dismantling communal farms in favor of