Band paintings, or kang (a type of heated earthen bed in northern China) band paintings, are an art form with Shanxi cultural characteristics that integrates the features of murals, color paintings, and New Year’s paintings. They are found in southeastern Shanxi’s Lvliang region and central Shanxi’s Xinzhou and Yanbei areas. The best-known are in Yuanping and Daixian counties.
Northern Shanxi can be quite chilly in winter, so rural families use heated earthen or brick beds to keep them warm. The sides of these beds can crumble easily and get clothes and quilts dirty, so people coat a two-foot-high area around the bed with carclazyte to protect the surface and keep clothes clean.
The most popular decorations for this surface are “flower-and-bird” paintings with peonies, peacock tail feathers, lotus flowers, mandarin ducks flying together, white cranes on a pine branch, giant pandas with bamboo, butterflies above chrysanthemums, magpies on plum twigs, orchids in blossom, camellias in bloom, and scenes related to the poems “Two golden orioles singing amidst the willows,” and “A red apricot reaches out over the wall”. A rich, multi-colored decoration of spring, for example, can help people forget the suffering and burdens in their lives and bring vitality and inspiration.
The landscapes of the band paintings depict high mountains, lovely peaks, plunging waterfalls, flowing fountains, green trees, and clouds like smoke and often contain scenic spots, such as Beijing’s Summer Palace, the North Sea Park’s white pagoda, West Lake in Hangzhou, the gardens of Suzhou, the landscape of Guilin, Taihu Lake fishing boats, and other images, such as verdant hills, blue water, pavilions, towers, bridges, winding fences, and green trees.
The most beautiful of these are without a doubt, those above the stove and on kitchen walls because of their size and eye-catching position, and they are done by the best craftsmen. They mostly carry auspicious or festive themes, such as a child seated on a lotus pad, to suggest childbirth; a golden pheasant and a flower to represent splendor; a cat, peony, and butterfly together to indicate longevity and wealth; a deer and crane meeting to greet spring; a pine tree, bamboo, and plum tree to symbolize close friendship; or a China rose in a flower vase to ensure safety in all seasons.
From this you can see that Shanxi band paintings embrace a variety of art forms and modes of expression to form an aesthetic that integrates elegance and popular themes.
