Tai Liping began to learn how to make prints at age six, from his father and grandfather. Their town was well known for printmaking and his father was director of the New Year Printmakers Association of Fengziang. In 1966 Mao instituted the Cultural Revolution and the old ways of printmaking, especially New Years prints of Door and House Gods, were disallowed. Many of the old blocks were destroyed. After 1976 when the Country saw the end of the Cultural Revolution Tai could resume the family work. He searched out blocks that had not been destroyed and carved new ones to replace destroyed designs. These traditional Chinese Folk art prints are now available again in about 350 different designs.

About Chinese New Years Prints

The name comes about from the popular tradition of placing these prints on the outside of house doors where they would be exposed to the weather and thus needed constant replacement. New Years Day became a traditional time to replace them. The images are of door gods, good luck images, stove gods, Buddhist images, folk tales, etc. The function of door placement was that the image would protect the house. The tradition goes all the back to the Tang Dynasty. (618 - 907 CE)