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Special Stamps -Taohuawu
Woodblock New Year Pictures
On January 14th, 2004, the State Postal Bureau issued
a set of four special stamps. This, along with Yangliuqing New Year woodblock
prints featuring Taohuawu New Year Woodblock prints is the second set
of its kind.
Taohuawu prints of Suzhou were first made during the
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), in a workshop on Suzhou's Taohuawu Street. They
were most popular during the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911). Yangliuqing prints
of Tianjin, Zhuxianzhen of Henan, Yangjiabu of Weifang, Shangdong, and
Mianzhu of Sichuan, were known collectively as the five folk New Year
woodblock prints of China. These prints, hung during the Chinese Spring
Festival celebration, take the forms of door, central and hanging scrolls.
Their bold patterns in forceful lines and bright colors like scarlet,
peach, yellow, green and purple are highly decorative.
Themes of Taohuawu prints include stories of the
Unicorn, which represents good fortune, and images posted on the front
door of a house to ward off evil spirits. The themes of the four stamps
are : Playing love songs on the Pipa, the Unicorn bestowing a boy-child,
Liu Hai playing with a gold Toad, and the ten beauties playing football.
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