In Yudong Village of Quzhou City, a group of peasant painters is using the door panel as a drawing board and the bedroom as a studio to create paintings full of local flavor and homesickness.

Yudong peasant paintings were created in the 1960s, based on traditional folk crafts such as paper-cutting, embroidery, and woodcut.

The 69-year-old Zheng Genliang fell in love with painting during his childhood and began to learn painting at the age of 5. 

In 1973, Quxian Cultural Center opened the first amateur art class. After learning the news, Zheng Genliang signed up immediately. In order to make a living, Zheng Genliang gradually acquired the skills of carpentry, but for decades, he persisted in practicing painting after work. "My wife worried that painting would delay my work, so she often hid my brushes," Zheng Genliang said.

"In recent years, the peasant paintings in Yudong Village are getting popular." Zheng Limin, the stationmaster of Gouxi Township Cultural Station and the president of Yudong Peasant Painting Association, said that the membership of the Yudong Peasant Cultural Creation Association has grown from dozens to more than 300 people.

In 2003, Zheng Limin became the stationmaster of the Gouxi Township Cultural Station and established Yudong Peasant Cultural Creation Association in the village. With the impetus of Zheng Limin, Gouxi Township Government held an exhibition of paintings, and 46 paintings by more than 20 villagers in Yudong Village were sold for more than 10,000 yuan, which mobilized the enthusiasm of the villagers. More and more peasants began to study painting in Yudong Village, and the fame of Yudong peasant painting spreads even further.

In 2009, as the representative of Yudong peasant paintings, Zheng Limin went abroad to attend the folk arts and crafts exchange meeting, where he saw exquisite handicrafts from other countries. Then he brought back the idea of product development.

"After coming back, I began to promote the development of derivative products of peasant paintings. In the first year, we invested more than 100,000 yuan to make small screens featuring peasant paintings, and we recovered the cost that year," Zheng Limin said. Since 2016, the village has docked with cultural enterprises in Shanghai and Shenzhen to develop more than 60 kinds of derivative products of peasant paintings such as scarves, backpacks, and umbrellas. With the help of the Yiwu Cultural Fair, Canton Fair, and other platforms, the derivative products of peasant paintings have been promoted at home and abroad.

In addition to selling derivative products of peasant paintings, going out to paint wall paintings is also a major source of income. "Our Yudong peasant paintings mainly focus on rural life, which is especially suitable for the current construction of beautiful countryside, so many villages invite us to paint wall paintings," Zheng Genliang said. Yu Liangyao, secretary of the Party branch of Yudong Village, introduced that in 2019, the annual output value of peasant paintings in Yudong Village was more than 7 million yuan, which increased the collective income of the village by more than 600,000 yuan.

Yu Liangyao showed us a modern building with a unique style and said, "This building is the Yudong China Rural Art Museum. There are 8 exhibition halls in the museum, and there are research places such as sketching dormitory and painter workshop."

Yu Liangyao said that in 2017, Quzhou Yudong Peasant Painting Development Co., Ltd., which was jointly established by Yudong Village, peasant painters and professional operation team, was formally established, to promote Yudong Village to embark on a professional rural revitalization and path of "culture+tourism". In 2018, Yudong Village successfully established a national 3A-level tourist scenic spot. In 2019, Yudong Village and Quzhou Golden Holiday Tourism Co., Ltd. jointly built Yudong Peasant Painting Research Base, attracting nearly 10,000 primary and middle school students to take part in the peasant painting research tours.

Among the 812 people in the village, there are more than 300 amateurs of peasant paintings, including 48 backbone members, and 6 of them have been awarded the title of the first batch of "outstanding folk art talents in the province" by relevant provincial departments. The peasant paintings in Yudong Village have created a new industrial world, and Yudong China Rural Art Museum is about to open. More than 60 kinds of derivative products such as decorative paintings, silk scarves, and umbrellas have been upgraded in an all-round way. 

(Compiled by Xu Yuhong, translated by Tao Mingzhou)