new year-print; popular print BM-1954-1113-0.5

Period:Qing dynasty Production date:1873
Materials:paper
Technique:woodblock
Subjects:kitchen deity
Dimensions:Height: 31.40 centimetres (Royal mount) Width: 21.60 centimetres

Description:
Woodblock print in ink and colour with hand-colouring on paper. Kitchen god and his wife with halos. They seat behind an altar table, below which are a wealth basin, a dog and a rooster. Among the attendants are two youths holding jars marked “good” and “bad”.
IMG


Comments:In China, images of the kitchen god were pasted above stoves so he could observe everything that happens in the home. At New Year the images were burned and the god was sent to report to the Jade Emperor, the Daoist ruler of Heaven and all realms of existence below. His testimony would determine the family’s fortunes over the coming year. Here, the beautifully dressed kitchen god and his wife have halos. They are seated behind an altar, below which are a treasure pot, a dog and a rooster. Two youths hold jars marked ‘good’ and ‘bad’ into which they will drop counters for every good and bad deed during the year. The inscriptions read: ‘Ascend to Heaven and speak of good things’ and ‘Return to your palace and bring back good luck’. Published: Michaelson (2006), Chinese Art in Detail, BMP, page 114 and 132 Michaelson 2006:The kitchen god is a very important deity, and above his head it is written that he is in charge. A week before the evening of the lunar New Year, families would take down old pictures and burn them – the ascending smoke was considered to be the god ascending to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor on the family’s activities throughout the year. Before burning the image, honey was smeared on the god’s lips, either to paste his lips together or to sweeten his report. The night before New Year, a new image would be pasted up so that the god would have a place to reside when he returned from heaven.