Fish prints in China first appeared in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The art has been carried on. Xu Binli, a native on Mayi Island in Putuo District of Zhoushan, China’s largest archipelago, is a fish print maker.

Before he became a fish print maker, Xu was a champion sea angler as the archipelago provides him with opportunities to take a sail out and angle on the sea. He is one of the earliest professional sea anglers of the country and a winner of national sea angling competitions. It was about 10 years ago that he ran into Li Shixin, a master of fish prints based in Shandong, another province in eastern China. Xu had been engaged in making fish prints before he met Li, but his skills were just rudimentary. It was under Li’s guidance that Xu learned how to make finest fish prints. He learned to apply colors to his fish prints. He also learned how to add the impressions of shells and tree leaves to the margin of his fish prints.

“In making a fish print, a printmaker needs to add the fish eyes manually to the print. Sometimes, the fish fins need a special touch as the spreading fins make a fish print look vivid,” says Xu. For the islander, fish prints are more than visual records and field notes that provide detailed information on a fish he catches from the sea. Poems and sea impressions can be added to fish prints to make them into souvenirs and artworks in the style of traditional Chinese painting.

In recent years, Li Shixin and Xu Binli have joined hands in holding some national and international fish print competitions. The competition notices are distributed through public and private media and professional websites.

In 2017, they held an international competition for fish prints. The event attracted some master fish print makers from Japan and South Korea to present their fish prints. The masters from Japan and South Korea came to visit the exhibition when it was on the road. The road show included exhibitions in Beijing, Yantai and Rizhao in Shandong Province, Nanjing in Jiangsu Province, and Xiapu in Fujian Province.

Xu Binli promotes fish print making across the country. He gives lectures at schools and urban communities and teaches the art to young and old enthusiasts.

“At present, fish prints in China are comparable to those by fish print masters in Japan and South Korea. Moreover, our fish prints present some elements of traditional painting, calligraphy and poetry. Our fish prints look more like artworks and present a special oriental charm,” says Xu.

Xu is now thinking about launching a tourism development project on the home island. He has already set up a fish print studio and is holding training classes for local residents on the island. Part of the blueprint for the development is of course fish prints. He wants to have some fine fish prints on sign boards across the island. He plans to hold regular fish print exhibitions on the island. He wants to turn the island into a tourism destination where tourists can have BBQs, angle on the sea, engage themselves in sports games such as sea angling competitions.