Twenty years ago/chose New Year paintings，the most important branch of Chinese folk art，as the subject of my master s degree thesis.At that time，my tutor Mr.WangShucun told me，"Among a//Chinese folk art，New Yearpaintings are the richest，most artistically expressive and visuallyappealing In New Year paintings，stories are told，plots are designed，characters are depicted，painting strokes are used，composition and color matching are stressed，and thy mes'are adopted for portraying the characters，describingsceneries，colors and meanings，"Since then my personalinterest and my research in New Year paintings has continuedto grow.