FILE PHOTO: A Wuqiang New Year picture known as “Year after Year of Abundance”

Traditional New Year pictures are among the most vibrant and colorful aspects of Chinese New Year customs. Displayed in homes, they symbolize the expulsion of evil spirits and the welcoming of good fortune, infusing the festive season with joy and celebration. China is home to several renowned centers of New Year picture production, including Yangjiabu in Weifang, Shandong Province, Mianzhu in Sichuan Province, Yangliuqing in Tianjin, and Taohuawu in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. Among these, Wuqiang in Hebei Province once stood as the largest producer of New Year pictures in northern China.

According to the Shenzhou Fengtuji (Shenzhou Local Chronicles) from the Qing Dynasty, Wuqiang’s low-lying terrain made it prone to frequent floods, and its poor soil yielded meagre harvests. Faced with these hardships, local farmers turned to New Year picture production as a vital source of income.

Variety of Wuqiang New Year pictures

The origins of Wuqiang New Year pictures can be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty. By the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1661–1722) during the Qing Dynasty, the craft had flourished, and by the late Qing period, Wuqiang was home to 144 registered picture workshops in its southern region. These workshops operated year-round, while local farmers also engaged in picture-making at home during the off-season. From August to November each year, merchants from across the country would flock to Wuqiang, transporting vast quantities of New Year pictures via land and waterways. The renowned He family of Wuqiang amassed great wealth through the trade of these artworks along the Fuyang River.

Numerous picture shops and rural workshops produced an extensive array of New Year pictures, depicting diverse themes drawn from daily life. Among the most enduring subjects are the “door gods” [traditional deities displayed on doorways or gates to ward off misfortune and negative influences]. These are categorized into civil and martial figures. Civil gods include Tian Guan, one of the Three Officials in Taoist belief, as well as the “Three Gods of Happiness, Prosperity, and Longevity” [widely revered in Taoism and folk traditions]. Martial gods feature figures like Yu Lyu and Shen Shu [two mythological deities in Chinese mythology], alongside Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong [two renowned military generals from the early Tang Dynasty known for their bravery and loyalty]. 

Beyond door gods, Wuqiang New Year pictures include Zhong Tang paintings—large vertical compositions displayed in the center of a household’s main hall, often featuring deities, tigers, or eagles as protective symbols. Heng Pi pictures, horizontal paintings hung in bedrooms, tend to be larger in size. Deng Fang pictures, created for the Lantern Festival, are designed to be pasted onto lanterns, typically featuring riddles illustrated across four square sheets. These categories offer only a glimpse into the breadth of Wuqiang New Year pictures, which also encompass traditional window paper cuts, Kitchen God paintings [usually on the stoves], and various other forms.

Art of farmers

The defining characteristic of Wuqiang New Year pictures lies in their simplicity and directness. Without need for explanation, they express the most genuine emotions and humble wishes of the people, making them instantly relatable. Unlike the refined style of literati painting, Wuqiang New Year pictures reflect the unembellished sentiments of their creators—mostly farmers whose thoughts and desires flowed freely onto paper.

Wuqiang New Year pictures often employ bold lines to convey the thoughts of the artists, using two primary techniques. The first is creating visual puns by cleverly combining symbolic imagery. For instance, in “The Civil and Martial Gods of Wealth,” Guan Yu—the Martial God of Wealth—is typically depicted above Bi Gan, the Civil God of Wealth. This arrangement, known as “Shang Guan Xia Cai” (lit. “Guan is above while Cai is below”), sounds similar to “Sheng Guan Fa Cai,” symbolizing “promotion and wealth,” as the characters for “guan” (official) and “cai” (wealth) form a wordplay that reinforces aspirations for success and prosperity. The second technique involves adapting narratives to highlight joyous elements while downplaying sorrowful ones, aligning with the festive spirit. Opera-themed pictures, for instance, often depict stories with both tragic and happy elements. In Wuqiang New Year pictures, happy endings are accentuated, and melancholy is softened to preserve an atmosphere of celebration.

Another hallmark of Wuqiang New Year pictures is their exaggerated style, particularly in depicting figures. Facial expressions are highly expressive, with emotions such as joy, anger, sadness, and happiness conveyed through subtle changes in the eyes and features. Enlarged heads enhance the clarity of these emotions, making the characters more vivid and engaging. The vivid and captivating nature of Wuqiang New Year pictures comes from this focus on detail. In “The God of Wealth and Good Fortune,” Bi Gan is portrayed with a calm, benevolent gaze, radiating warmth and approachability. In “Welcoming Spring,” a child’s crescent-shaped eyes sparkle with delight as they play with toys, firecrackers, and kites. Animal-themed pictures further exaggerate auspicious imagery. In “Year after Year of Abundance,” a chubby baby holds a goldfish, whose scales and tail fin are meticulously detailed. The fish, occupying the diagonal of the painting and appearing even larger than the baby, emphasizes the word yu (fish), which sounds like “abundance” in Chinese. This visual play reinforces the wish for surplus, prosperity, and good fortune in the coming year. This picture conveys the notion that there should always be surplus in everything—be it in celebration or provisions.

Bright colors and full composition

Wuqiang New Year pictures are distinguished by their striking use of three primary colors—garnet, locust yellow, and indigo blue—set against black and white base tones. This seemingly simple palette challenges the artist’s mastery of color application, as layering two hues creates new shades with subtle variations. The bold contrast of red and green lends these prints a powerful visual impact. While this simple approach originated as a cost-effective solution for multi-layered printing, it has become a defining artistic feature, setting Wuqiang pictures apart from the intricate, multicolored styles of regions like Suzhou’s Taohuawu.

True to the celebratory spirit of the New Year, Wuqiang prints embrace a sense of abundance, leaving little empty space in their compositions. Auspicious symbols are densely arranged, filling nearly every gap with motifs of fortune and prosperity. In “Civil and Martial Gods of Wealth Offering Treasures,” a majestic elephant stands atop a bed of coins, bearing a treasure basin crowned with a towering “money tree” [said to shower riches upon those who shake its branches], symbolizing wealth. The two gods of wealth, Zhao Gongming and Bi Gan, flank the scene, each holding precious treasures, while six children eagerly gather coins, embodying an atmosphere of overflowing prosperity.

Spiritual legacy of Yan and Zhao  

Deeply influenced by the customs and traditions of the Yan and Zhao regions [the ancient Yan and Zhao states of the Warring States period, located in present-day northern Hebei and Shanxi provinces]—historically known for their resilience and valor—Wuqiang New Year pictures capture the spirit of unyielding determination, righteousness, and heroism. Typical examples include “Forced into Liang Hill” [inspired by the classic novel Shuihu Zhuan, referring to situations in which ordinary people are driven to rebellion by oppression or injustice], and “A Civet Cat Replacing the Crown Prince” [based on a well-known Song Dynasty historical drama in which Concubine Li was jealous of Consort Liu after she gave birth to the emperor’s son. With the help of a corrupt eunuch, Concubine Li secretly swapped the newborn prince with a dead civet cat, framing Consort Liu for sorcery. The prince was secretly saved and later reclaimed his rightful position as emperor].

During China’s war against Japanese aggression, Wuqiang artists collaborated with progressive painters from institutions like the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts, adapting traditional motifs to reflect the realities of war. Works such as “The Door Gods Defending the Border” transformed the iconic New Year images of guardian deities into symbols of national defence, boosting morale and strengthening the people’s resolve.

Though the golden age of New Year pictures has waned with advances in printing technology and rural modernization, Wuqiang remains committed to preserving this rich artistic heritage. The establishment of China’s largest New Year picture museum stands as a testament to this dedication, ensuring that the vibrant legacy of Wuqiang New Year pictures continues to inspire future generations.

Du Zhiyong is a professor at the College of Chinese and Literature at Hebei Normal University.

Edited by REN GUANHONG