When the Chinese New Year draws in, folks will make lots of preparations, including repainting the walls white, making new clothes, and cooking big meals for the New Year’s eve.
In the countryside of North China, one of the prevailing customs is to buy and post New Year Poster. Indoor decoration with red lanterns hanging from the eaves a spicious New Year poster can best describe the happy festive atmosphere.
As a special type of art, the Chinese New Year poster has a long history and far-reaching impact. The Chinese New Year poster is a wood engraving and watercolor block printing, dyed or colored finally by hand. Many painters are farmers who express their good wishes and future dreams in the poster. They are characterized by the unique local colorism, reflecting the ideal life and taste of the artists. The contents of paintings cover every aspect of social life, ranging from portraits of historical stories, door gods, fairy tales, folk stories and customs, lucky mascots of birds and flowers, scenes of production and labor, humorous scenes to current affairs. As a result, they are also known as the encyclopedias on folklore.
This form of traditional art came into the being in the Ming dynasty and became very popular at the beginning of the Qing. As time goes by, the New Year poster also develops accordingly. It still plays an important role in Chinese New Year decoration nowadays. New Year posters are not only sent by people as gifts, but also purchased by tourists as exquisite souvenirs.