Soot New Year Paintings of Gaomi

The soot New Year paintings of Gaomi is an item of National Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection List, known as "one unique of China". Originating in the early Ming Dynasty, it has a history of 600 years. At the beginning, folk artisans drew inspiration from and made innovation on copying the literati paintings and temple murals, which gave birth to the initial soot New Year paintings. It was named after the soot sketching process, and final products need to go through 16 steps, i.e. face opening, face powdering, face fumigating, face rinsing, eye powdering, eyebrow opening, lip roughing, hair drawing, dyeing, coloring, line drawing, pattern dyeing, pattern knockout, rouging, gold and silver outlining, and gloss oil painting. The paintings have simple and concise designs, and bright colors, showing a forthright and graceful aesthetic taste, and the rich heritage of folk culture, which are highly appreciated and valued by mass people. In 2006, it was included in the first batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection List.