英语畅谈中国文化 50 主题 第 30 章 Paintings，Calendars and Christmas Trees 年画、挂历、圣诞树A: I bought a few old Chinese New Year paintings at the Pan Jia Yuan Market. The person told me that they were block—printed Tao Hua Wu paintings.B: It’s almost impossible to buy authentic Tao Hua Wu paintings on the market now. This type of painting was originally produced in Tao Hua Wu near Suzhou. The place became well-known during the Qing Dynasty. Its paintings were sold across China as well as in Japan and Southeast Asia. During the Taiping rebellion between 1851 and 1864, the imperial court sent troops and set Tao Hua Wu ablaze. Most of its paintings, wood types, shops and books were destroyed. A: What a shame! Do Chinese people still hang up New Year paintings now?B: New Year paintings were an important part of the annual celebrations. The contents of the paintings were well-wishing stories that could add to the festive atmosphere. Some of them also carried a moral message. At a time when education was not accessible to everyone, these paintings served as useful teaching tools. Some of the typical meanings were loyalty, benevolence, kindness and retribution. For example, one painting was about a woman abusing her daughter-in-law but was later turned into a child bride herself as punishment. Beautiful lady figurines were another favorite topic for these paintings. A: Sounds lovely! Are there any others?B: During the 1950s, portraits of Mao Zedong and other leaders were popular. During the Cultural Revolution, the eight Peking Operas were the main theme. After the open-door policy in the 1980, these paintings were replaced by 12-page calendars. These calendars were a favorite New Year gift for quite some time. They were well printed and were quite expensive to buy. Because they used quality paper, many students would use out-of-date calendars to cove their textbooks as protection. A: That’s odd! What kink of pictures did they have?B: Movie stars were the main contents, a reaction to the cultural Puritanism during the Cultural Revolution. As a result of improved living standards, calendar contents later evolved to include calligraphy, traditional paintings, as well as landscape pictures. In order to make these calendars worthy New Year gifts, silk, gilded sheets and other materials rather than paper were used. Calendars went out of fashion around the end of the 1990s. No one used a calendar for gifts any more. A: What do people put up during the Spring Festival now?B: Paper cuts in some townships, but in big cities, no one puts up anything. Instead, Christmas trees have become fashionable. Imagine, the whole family are enjoying jiaozi or playing mahjion, while Christmas lights are blinking in the background. That’s pretty happy atmosphere.
