New Year paintings, a kind of paintings unique to China, are only used during the Spring Festival, hence their name.

In ancient times, New Year paintings were pasted on doors rather than inside the house, hence there are records about "drawing a tiger on the door" and "pasting a rooster painting on the door." During the Song Dynasty (960-1279), when board carvings had been created, New Year paintings were called "Paper paintings", and later in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), they were called "folk paintings." During Guangxu Reign of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), when reform was prevailing in every aspect of social life, folk paintings were also reformed and given the name of "reformed New Year painting.".

Ever since then, New Year paintings have been widespread. Those produced in Yangliuqing of North China's Tianjin Municipality, Weifang City of East China's Shangdong Province, and Taohuawu of Suzhou City in East China's Jiangsu Province are the most famous.

Traditional New Year paintings, most of which are wooden carvings, feature bright colors and simple lines, and cover a wide variety of subjects, such as abundant harvests, landscapes, flowers and birds. In rural China, hanging New Year paintings is a must when the Spring Festival comes.

Author: Jessie