Auspicious prints to greet our future

Ancient and modern woodblock New Year prints produced in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province are on display at Splendid Beginnings on Woodblocks, an exhibition that opened at the Capital Museum in Beijing on Jan 24. It will run through to April 24.

Woodblock printing dates back more than a millennium in China. For Spring Festival, New Year pictures were traditionally pasted on doors to ward off evil spirits and pray for safety and good fortune.

In the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province became an important production area for these prints, and for centuries the auspicious images created in the region illustrated a diversity of themes and local features, according to Sun Ke, curator of the exhibition.