Wúhú

Wuhu stands where the Qingyi River meets the Yangtze, a port drawing boats and goods from the hills and waterways of southern Anhui. Its compact walled town belonged to Taiping Prefecture under the Ming and Qing. Merchants, craftsmen and artists gathered on its streets, giving rise to a distinctive local art in iron.

The Ming rebuilt Wuhu's walls, completing them in 1581. In the early Qing, the blacksmith Tang Peng became associated with the making of iron pictures, hammering and shaping metal into the forms of painting. A well-known account tells how he watched the neighbouring painter Xiao Yuncong at work before turning his own craft to images. Later generations of smiths continued the art in the town.