Rong Bao Zhai

Rong Bao Zhai is situated in the western section of Liulichang street outside He Ping Men (Gate of Peace) in Beijing. Rong Bao Zhai has always been an art center where scholars and artists have gathered and Xu Beihong was a once keen supporter of the studio.
Rong Bao Zhai, first opened as Song Zhu Zhai (Pine and Bamboo Studio), has a history of over 300 years. The studio only acquired its present name in 1894. Rong Bao Zhai is now state-owned and directly under the Printing Bureau of the Department of Culture, thus marking another new stage in its existence.

Rong Bao Zhai's watercolor printing method of reproducing paintings has long been renowned both at home and overseas. All the master artists working in its printing workshop are highly skilled and respected. At present, business at Rong Bao Zhai and its sales departments of the works of ancient and modern painters and calligraphists, supplying "the four treasures of the study" (i.e. brushes, ink sticks and paper), and providing services for mounting scrolls and restoring ancient paintings and works. Rong Bao Zhai plays an important role in promoting the art of painters and calligraphists and in promoting international cultural exchange.

Watercolor Woodblock Printed Paintings

The art of watercolor Woodblock printing has a long history in China and can be dated back to 868 A.D.. Ever since the Tang Dynasty most books have had illustrations, but it was not until the 16th century that process printing began to be used. In the last few decades, improvements have been made to this traditional technique of printing. Nowadays, not only poetry-writing paper and simple artistic sketches are printed, paintings on silk and huge painting scrolls are also reproduced. They are so finely done that they pose difficulties for an art expert in distinguishing them from the originals.

The process of watercolor woodblock printing consists mainly of their steps:
(1) Tracing-this is carried out by master artists. First, all the brushstrokes and color variations of the original printing are separated out and all brushstrokes of the same color are classified in the same registering. The number of registering used ranges vary between 2 to several tens depending on the colors used in paintings. And for some enormous paintings, more than a few hundred, even up to 1,600 registerings are required (e.g. in the reproduction of 'Ladies with Head-pinned Flowers'). Then the brush-strokes are traced in ink on a registering. The transparent sheets are then glued on woodblocks for carving.
(2) Carving-apart from carving along the lines traced in ink, the carver has to refer to the original work frequently in order to capture the true spirit of the painting. It is only by so ding that the carver can apply his knife blade as if he is using his brush and can thus express fully the spirit of the original.
(3) Printing-after all the woodblocks have been carved, they are then impressed on paper or silk of the same type or silk of the same type and period as used in the original. The ink and colors applied in the reproduction process are those used in the original.
(4) All the processes involved in watercolor block printing are carried out by hand. Since the requirements of the finished product are so high, the work is time-consuming and the output small, so the duplicates are widely appreciated.