After reaching its peak in the 17th century, Chinese watercolor woodblock printing almost disappeared until the art form was revived in the 1930s. Xu Wenwen learns more about its history and meets the man carrying on the printing tradition and techniques today.

Wei Lizhong is very proud of a treasure in his Shizhuzhai Studio in Hangzhou - a print of "Flowers of Yandang Mountain," which copies the original painting by celebrated Chinese artist Pan Tianshou.

Why is a duplicate worthy of such pride? Because the artist Pan was once confused by and deemed the print his actual work when the print maker Zhang Gengyuan showed him the two pieces together.

The technique used to create such convincing prints is called watercolor woodblock printing, and Wei learnt it from local masters Zhang Gengyuan, Xu Yinsen and Zhang Yuanfan.

Recently, the real "Flowers of Yandang Mountain" was put up for auction in Hangzhou with an initial bid of 58 million yuan (US$8.9million), while Wei says his print is also valued at tens of thousands of yuan.

Duplicates of art master's paintings are frequently seen in today's art market, yet the technology is not a product of the modern age but has its origins in China around 500 years ago. And Wei is an ambitious artist and businessman who is dedicated to carrying on this culture.

The techniques were initiated by ancient Chinese people, who invented monochromatic woodblock printing more than 1,000 years ago, gradually transferring the skills to copy and print color paintings.

The traditional technique of creating a multi-colored woodblock print consists of tracing, carving, printing and mounting.

To copy a painting, the carver first needs to trace the original painting on a semi-transparent sheet, and then by gluing the sheet to a woodblock, the pattern can be cut according to the trace.

However, each color requires its own woodblock, so the number of woodblocks corresponds to the number of applied colors, which can be up to hundreds and even thousands.

The woodblocks are carefully prepared as a mirror-image relief matrix, so the areas to show "white" are cut away, leaving the images or characters to be shown in colors at the original surface level.

The paper and pigment that watercolor woodblock printing uses are the same as traditional Chinese painting, so the duplicates appear to have the same shading effects as normal Chinese paintings or calligraphy.

The technique reached its peak and print workshops boomed in the middle of the 17th century during China's Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), generating many exquisite prints with smooth lines and vivid colors. Workshops not only copied paintings but manufactured letter paper featuring tasteful patterns of orchids and golden fish.

Dating back to that time, Shizhuzhai Studio in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, was the most outstanding representative among all of the workshops. It not only produced refined works but released influential textbooks about woodblock printing - "Shizhuzhai Painting and Calligraphy Chart" and "Shizhuzhai Letter Paper Design."

However, the change of dynasties ruined the industry and few Shizhuzhai artworks remain today, although the two books and the techniques have been handed down.

Wei is regarded as a descendant of watercolor woodblock printing on the list of Zhejiang Intangible Cultural Heritage.

However, Wei is neither a direct descendent of the old Shizhuzhai Studio's founder, nor the offspring of its carvers. And prior to 2003, he was a total outsider to watercolor woodblock printing, so how did he get this honor?

He tells the story.

The two books and techniques of the old Shizhuzhai Studio in Nanjing were almost extinct after the Ming Dynasty and weren't revived until the 1930s when Lu Xun and Zheng Zhenduo saved the art.

Lu Xun was one of the major Chinese writers of the 20th century, and Zheng Zhenduo was a journalist, a writer, an archeologist and a literature scholar.

The two sought for the Shizhuzhai books and old woodblocks among the populace and finally achieved. With those stuffs, they entrusted Rongbaozhai Studio, a prominent art gallery in Beijing to publish a book featuring works from the collection and continued using the techniques to bring about the art form's recovery.

In the late 1950s, students of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou were sent to learn the techniques from Rongbaozhai Studio. Zhang Gengyuan, who made the convincing duplicate of "Flowers of Yandang Mountain," was the first one.

Though excellent as the academy was, the industrial art of watercolor woodblock printing was limited in academic study. Wei, who was then the boss of a printing company, noticed the dilemma and was determined to spread the art to the masses.

"In China, many industries feature old and famous shops, but the printing industry has few," says Wei. "I wanted to find out where are the memories, the history and the roots of the Chinese printing industry."

His work started in 2003 when Wei immersed himself in the innumerable papers about woodblock printing and Shizhuzhai, and his research was so meticulous and abundant that Wei is going to display much of it in an exhibition about the development of Chinese printing in July.

In 2006, he renamed his printing firm Shizhuzhai Studio, and he employed woodblock printing teachers from the China Academy of Art as consultants, recruited the college's graduates that study woodblock printing as carvers, and invited local artists to contribute paintings to the studio.

And it was only then Wei started to learn the woodblock printing craft himself.

Modern printing technology is incorporated in the new studio, which does not only print Chinese paintings but also oil paintings.

"The use of modern technology can boost the brand," says Wei. "Though Shizhuzhai is a golden brand, it is unreasonable to merely insist on old craft, which is equal to 'holding a golden bowl and begging for food.' A painting can be printed by using several kinds of techniques, so the disadvantages of different print skills can be avoided.

"Exquisite screen printing is great to print tiny things like eyelashes and hairs; etching is good to express heavy and thick color, while woodblock printing shows the shading effect best," Wei explains.

The new Shizhuzhai has achieved great success in a very short time. In the past five years, the studio has won a lot of awards home and abroad.

During last year's World Expo Shanghai, duplicates of a Hangzhou panorama produced by the company were presented as gifts to distinguished guests, including heads of foreign countries.

Currently, the studio produces thousands of machine-printed works, including letter papers and duplicate artworks.

Next year, Wei will open branch stores in Hangzhou.