Celebrating the Lunar New Year with You | An Appreciation of the Comic Series “One Hundred Illustrations of Ancient Customs” (Part 5)

The Year of the Rabbit, Gui Mao, has arrived! All the staff of the Tang Xianzu Memorial Hall in Fuzhou City extend their New Year greetings to you. Wishing you a year filled with abundant wealth, boundless good fortune, and great prosperity!
 

During the Spring Festival, our museum’s official WeChat account will continue to share the illustrated series “One Hundred Scenes of Ancient Customs,” showcasing the rich cultural essence and historical legacy of Chinese folk traditions, and accompanying you as you celebrate.

Happy New Year!
 

33. Drinking Changpu Wine (Ming Dynasty)

Having gathered calamus by the time of the Dragon Boat Festival, we brew a fine wine to send forth its fragrant aroma.
 

With zongzi and sugarcane juice, I wish you long life—why not let loose and drink your way into a drunken paradise?
 

— “Drinking Calamus Wine”


 

34. Hanging the Zhong Kui (Qing Dynasty)

On the fifth day, at the home of a jinshi from Mount Zhongnan, I deeply cherished a life with a vast, open mouth.
 

Laughing at him, though still unmarried to the lovely maiden, he has already understood that the “Yi Nan” flower is a fine bloom.

— Qing Dynasty, Zheng Banqiao, “Inscription on Huang Shen’s Painting of Zhong Kui Offering Wine to His Sister”


 

35. Drying Books and Turning Sutras (Jin Dynasty)

On an autumn evening, books are dried in the sun; by the stone spring, medicinal herbs are washed, their fragrance lingering.

— Tang Dynasty, Du Mu, “Grass Cottage on West Mountain”


 

36. Spider Silk for Skillful Craftsmanship (Tang Dynasty)

On this Qixi night, gazing at the azure sky, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl cross the bridge over the river.
 

Every household prays for skill on the autumn moon, threading through countless red silk threads.

——Tang Linjie, “Praying for Skill”


 

37. Needle-threading is a test of skill (Song Dynasty)

In the boudoir, she pounds white silk, thinking of the frontier passes; on the tower, she threads her needle, waiting for the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
 

— Ming Dynasty, He Jingming, “The Double Seventh Festival”


 

38. Offering to Mokharola (Song Dynasty)

A piece of mud defiles the sacred; ornate statues are fashioned with lavish extravagance.
 

A double‑canopy red gauze kitchen, gracefully standing at the base of a flower vase.
 

A young wife tastes sourness for the first time, and at once her heart is filled with joy.
 

I humbly beseech the great Bodhisattva’s spirit: May my child be just as you are.

——Song Dynasty, Xu Fei, “Clay Child”


 

39. Throwing the Needle (Qing Dynasty)

Every year at the threading festival, I meet my northern neighbor, and even put my remaining skill to the test of the needle’s artistry.
 

Whose home alone beholds the dragon‑shuttle’s shadow, embroidering mandarin ducks that never cross the threshold.

——Qing Dynasty, Wu Manyun, “Poems on Seasonal Customs of the Jiangxiang Region”


 

40. Worshipping the Star of Success (Qing Dynasty)

Before the colorful pavilion, they offer prayers to Lady Qiniang; in the village of Sanjia, they pay homage to the God of Literature.
 

The bridge spans the magpie star, linking the constellations; heaven and earth each go about their own business.

——Qing Dynasty, Qian Qi, “Bamboo Branch Verse: Worshiping Wenchang”