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| Menshen (Door Gods) |
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New Year pictures have a long history and can be traced back to
the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220). Originally, people painted menshen
(door gods) on their doors with ink and colors to protect their
families from devils. During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), pictures
of door gods were gradually replaced by those of people from real
life. In the Song Dynasty (960-1279) woodblock printed New Year
pictures were traded among the ordinary people. New Year pictures
were gradually popularized and developed into an independent art
form. In the seventeenth century, during the period of great prosperity
of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), New Year pictures flourished along
with other handicrafts.
Among "door gods" (menshen) these Shentu and Yulei
are the older characters, known since the Han dynasty. These prints
are still currently produced from Qing (1644-1911) blocks and
are similar to the big "door gods" (two metres high)
produced at that time for the Imperial Palace doors. Longitudinal
cracks can already be seen in the black and in the blue blocks.
Latter issues of these prints have been embellished with red seals,
which is not a normal feature of these door gods.
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