In fight to save the old, modern machines are an ally

Children work on woodblock printing with brush and ink. [Photo provided to China Daily]

However, sluggish sales suggested to him that collectors were not particularly enamored of woodblocks turned out by machine; they were eager to obtain handmade versions.

During the Beijing International Cultural and Creative Industry Expo last September Wang found a new niche market. To save on the expo registration fee he contacted a collective of four museums, saying he could put on engraved woodblock printing demonstrations for them if they allowed him to put his works on show in their institutions.

The offer was accepted, and to his surprise, the woodblocks began to attract large crowds. Many people came to see and feel for themselves how printing was done hundreds of years ago, and museum curators saw it as a good interactive program to run alongside their regular displays.

Since then, the popularity of Wang's workshops has steadily grown. In the past year alone, he has worked with about 20 museums, big and small, and other cultural organizations, providing hands-on woodblock demonstrations.

"Our machines can make woodblocks much more quickly than can craftsmen, and you don't have to limit what is on the blocks to just Chinese characters; you can show whatever you like. I think we have broadened the scope of woodblock printing."

Apart from organizing demonstrations, Wang makes coloring books with traditional Chinese Spring Festival designs printed by engraved woodblocks, a nod to the recent fad for coloring books for grown-ups.

Recently, Wang has started contacting illustrators and painters trying to reproduce their works by woodblock printing.

Wang says that he is a bit of an outsider in the traditional woodblock printing world. Though he respects woodblock craftsmen, he thinks that in order to save the craft, ways need to be found to appeal to what people are interested in these days.

"If you compare saving woodblock printing to saving the panda, what I do is a bit like artificial breeding. Yes, natural breeding is great, but it's not enough to prevent extinction."