Note: This is a painting produced in the last fifty years by an artist who is presumably still alive. I do not have copyright in any way over this artist’s work. I’m reproducing it here because (a) these images are of ethnographic interest, (b) I’d hope that shining more light on contemporary mural and scroll painters will ultimately be good for their trade, and (c) frankly, these people seem unlikely to sue me. To that last point: It’s possible to commission these scrolls very easily in the villages around Wutai County. If you’re interested, email me and I’d be happy to give you the contact information of Li Ganghuan or of several other painters we met.

Above: Myself talking to Li Ganghuan. Photo credits to Becky Harris.

Structure Type: Grandfathers’ House pantheon scrolls, to be set in family shrines 家中神龕里裝爺爺家百神卷軸畫

Location: Li Family Village, Wutai County, Shanxi Province 山西省五台縣李家莊村

Period: 21st Century

Artist: Li Ganghuan 李鋼環. Mr. Li is now in his ’70s, and told us that he has retired from painting Grandfathers’ Houses scrolls due to the shaking of his hands. Nevertheless, he was kind enough to allow us to photograph several old scrolls he had set around the house, and to talk with us about the history of his art.

Mural Contents: Grandfathers’ Houses 爺爺家 are a type of pantheon scroll produced in the area of Five-Peak Mountain (Wutai Shan 五台山) in Shanxi. Each scroll is different and personalized. Usually, the gods themselves speak through a medium 神娘娘 to produce a list of a given person’s guardian deities, which is then produced by local artisans and consecrated. These scrolls are kept in family shrine-boxes and sacrificed to on holidays or other important occasions. Other such scrolls can be dedicated to single deities or deity-groups, and hung in shrine rooms for worship.

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