|
Dwindling tradition on the rise again
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-06 06:26
Li Shunyi, 60, a resident of Jinan, East China's Shandong Province, was
overjoyed to see his son's new apartment decorated in a traditional festive
style before the Lunar New Year.
The centrepieces were traditional woodblock New Year pictures that symbolize
peace, fortune and good luck.
"I've rarely seen pictures of this kind since I moved to
the city from the countryside as a little boy," Li says.
A would-be folk
artist adds finishing touches to a Pingyang-style New Year picture in
Linfen, North China's Shanxi Province. [China
Daily] |
"However, it seems that people have lost interest in woodblock New Year
pictures in the past few years. This has led to such pictures vanishing from
ordinary lives."
Chinese people have a custom of pasting New Year or Spring Festival pictures,
called "nianhua" in Chinese, to celebrate the Lunar New Year, which began on
January 29 this year and will end on Sunday, the 15th day of the first month in
the lunar calendar.
It was even recorded in the historical works of the imperial Song Dynasty
(960-1279).
The custom is particularly popular in the countryside,
where colourful pictures or paper-cuttings remain dominant decor on doors, windows, walls, even wardrobes and stoves, throughout the
year.
Traditional New Year pictures, usually made by block printing, feature scenes
of prosperity in simple and clear lines and brilliant colours.
The themes cover a wide range of subjects, from plump
babies to the Buddha of Longevity, from landscapes to birds and flowers, from
the ploughing cattle in spring to bumper harvests in autumn.
|
