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In celebration of the Year of the Snake, Yangzhou Library held a Spring Festival-themed event from the first to the third day of Chinese New Year, inviting people to explore the snake culture embodied in its ancient books and create their own cultural and creative products using intangible cultural heritage techniques.
People hold spring couplets at the event. [Photo/yznews.cn]
On Chinese New Year's Eve, younger generations pay homage to their elders and receive red envelopes in return. The money gifted is called Ya Sui Qian. In ancient times, households pasted portraits of menshen, or the Door God, on their doors, to fend off evil spirits and safeguard their homes.
Gu Xiaoci, a Yangzhou practitioner of woodblock printing technique, selected characters from ancient books such as Fu (Blessing), Lu (Prosperity), Shou (Longevity), and Xi (Happiness) to create red envelopes, and employed a technique called qianyin, a traditional method of stamping seals on official documents in ancient China, to print the characters on envelopes. Gu also made pendants printed with the characters for the Door God using the same method.
Red pendants are printed with the image of the Door God. [Photo/yznews.cn]
In Chinese traditional culture, snakes are perceived as symbols of wisdom and foresight due to their clam demeanor and resilience. In ancient times, the snake's ability to shed its skin was seen as a form of renewal, signifying longevity.
Gu carved a verse from one of Tang Dynasty (618-907) poet Li Shen's poems that depicts a mystic and noble snake included in Complete Tang Poems into the woodblock, allowing people to print it on paper and then attach it to bamboo slips to create snake-themed bookmarks, as a means of self-encouragement.
Elegant bookmarks featuring snake-related poems are laid out. [Photo/yznews.cn]
