Banhua () is the Chinese umbrella term for any

printed Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The e ...

art objects, and especially for those made by

woodblock printing Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is crea ...

, the term used for

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...

s from Asia.

History

The direct translation of 'Banhua' is 'printed picture', it is a general term for original prints or printmaking as an art form. 'Banhua' is composed of two characters: 'ban' () meaning 'block' and 'hua' () meaning 'picture'. Banhua's meaning does not limited in prints in Chinese style. As

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

first appeared in 3rd century China, artists started to use

or other methods to spread their works. Buddhist classics, novel illustrations, and the

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...

were among the first public works to be printed in China. From the 17th century, prints of New Year pictures became popular.

References

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History

References

See also