In contrast to the folk art movement in Japan (mingei) at the beginning of the 20th century, folk art in China (minjian yishu or xiangtu yishu) did not receive special attention. However, especially during the time of the Great Leap Forward (1958-61) and also during the Cultural Revolution, peasant painting, which adopted different elements of folk art, played an important role. It was only during the 1980s/90s that traditional folk art began to attract interest in both the PRC and Taiwan. People on both sides were conscious of the fact that…