Before 1912 China had used the lunar calendar. The first day of the lunar year (usually in early February) is the most festive occasion for the Chinese people. In some places celebration of the Spring Festival can last as long as a month. According to Chinese philosophy, the Spring Festival ushers in the regenerative period of nature, and signals the start of a new cycle of life.
Posting and renewing New Year pictures is an important aspect of preparation for the Spring Festival, being the medium through which people express their expectations for the coming year. Themes of good fortune and happiness, manifested by deities and auspicious symbols, are, therefore, dominant in New Year pictures. " Deities" from Taohuawu is representative of such works.
This new year woodblock engraving measures over a meter in length, which is unusually large for a new year picture. It contains 68 characters, in a composition on five levels, separated by auspicious cloud patterns. A cluster of characters in one picture is not rare in Chinese paintings, but a concentration of dozens of characters from different religious and philosophical schools is. The characters on the first level of the engraving include Sakyamuni, Confucius and Lao Zi, representing respectively Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. On the second level is the Goddess of Mercy, and Yan Di and Huang Di, two progenitors of the Chinese nation. On the third level is the Jade Emperor, and depictions of celestial temples and dwellings. The fourth level is devoted to warriors, such as Guan Yu, a great military figure from the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280). The fifth level depicts the celestial, terrestrial and water officials.
The combination of celestial and terrestrial, and of imaginary and real figures is typical of folk Chinese art. The common people care little about differences between religious and philosophical schools. They simply believe that deities personify justice and protect their interests. To them, there is no strict delineation between deities and human beings. Deities must come from somewhere, and no small number of them are the sages of humankind. For instance, in his life on earth, Guan Yu was a great general and an upright person. Upon his death, therefore, he was worshipped as God of War. All of the 68 characters in this picture are figures of great virtue and merit in Chinese history, no matter what their origins.
(Chinatoday 04/13/2001)
