- Provenance
- Provenance research underway.
- Label
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The most significant and joyous of all festivals in China is the Lunar New Year, which falls on the first day of the first new moon of the year (generally in late January or February). This festival painting is not intended to be realistic, rather it depicts an imaginary scene filled with wishes for a happy New Year.
In the foreground, boys make a snow lion; two of the older ones wear peacock feathers in their caps, an allusion to becoming high officials since peacock feathers were bestowed by the emperor as a high honor. In the midground, a boy ignites a red firecracker, which is an essential element of the New Year festivities, said to frighten away evil spirits; the sulphur released was also believed to stop the spread of epidemics. Other boys make clamoring noises with drums and cymbals to scare off evil and ensure harmony during the incoming year. On the back veranda, three boys huddle around a jar trying to capture five bats as an emblem of vast fortune. The symbolism derives from puns on the word red, which sounds like "vast," and the word for bat, which sounds like "good fortune."
The work is unsigned. It is most likely a workshop painting made as a festival decoration.
- Collection Area(s)
- Chinese Art
- Web Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- SI Usage Statement
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Usage Conditions Apply
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CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)
This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
Usage Conditions Apply
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
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International Image Interoperability Framework
FS-6884_05