new year-print
- Museum number
- 1982,1217,0.113
- Title
- Object: New Spring; 新春; Xinchun
- Description
-
Woodblock print in ink and colour on paper
- Production date
- 1901-2000 (early 20th century)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 31.60 centimetres (Royal mount)
-
Width: 27 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- This is the right-hand print of a pair. Its counterpart would be a mirror image bearing different Chinese characters. The characters on this print read ‘new spring,’ the equivalent of ‘New Year’. On the ground is a branch of three citrons (sanyuan), a visual pun expressing hopes that a candidate would achieve top ranking (yuan) in all three (san) examination levels (sanyuan). This would bring fame and wealth to his family. The characters in the left margin are the name of the print shop that produced this image. As early as the 6th century, it was customary in China to paste an image of a rooster on the door on the first day of the lunar New Year to protect the household. The rooster is associated with the sun because when the cock crows all the darkness of evil is thought to disappear.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2010 May-Sep, BM, Dept of Asia, The Printed Image in China
2012 5th May -29th July, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, ‘The Printed Image in China’
- Associated events
- Associated Event: New Year
- Acquisition date
- 1982
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1982,1217,0.113
