Looking back at the Year of the Rabbit, welcoming the New Year, and looking forward to the Year of the Dragon, the year after year.
Take stock of the past year, congratulate this year, hope for the coming year, and connect the year after year.
China's Xi of "saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new and congratulating the new year" has been passed down for thousands of years, and there is a relevant record in the "Dream Lianglu Volume 1 and First Month" compiled by Wu Zimu of the Southern Song Dynasty: "The first lunar day is called New Year's Day, and it is commonly called New Year. The first year of the year, this is the first of these. For three days, the government released the money of public and private houses, and the scholars and husbands congratulated each other, and the men and women of the fine people also wore fresh clothes, and went back and forth to worship the festival. Neighbors sang along the door with food, messengers, crown combs, collar wipes, satin, flowers, toys and other objects. Regardless of whether you are rich or poor, you can play Lin Palace and Fanyu endlessly. The family drinks and feasts, laughing and laughing. This Hangzhou custom, the Xi of extravagance in the past, has not changed to this day. It is about the Xi and scenes of the New Year at that time, and the last sentence "has not changed to this day", and it is still the same.
One is renewed, and everything is renewed. Unconsciously, the white horse passed through the gap, and the 2024 Spring Festival is coming. Standing in the New Year's bells, we are full of infinite reverie for this Year of the Dragon. Nowadays, the carved fence and jade bricks have been changed, and the old streets and alleys have been wiped out of dust, but our Chinese New Year Xi has endured, and people's desire to pray for happiness and longevity has never changed.
In order to fully display the characteristics of traditional Chinese folk culture, explore profound cultural connotations, and meet the needs of the masses for Chinese New Year gifts, the People's Bank of China has been issuing Chinese New Year coins since the end of 2014. The Chinese New Year coin not only embodies the interweaving and coexistence of traditional culture and modern design, but also is an excellent carrier for the dissemination of Chinese folk culture and folk art, which is worth reviewing and appreciating.
In order to welcome the arrival of the Dragon Year of the Lunar Calendar and inherit and carry forward China's Lunar New Year culture, the People's Bank of China will issue 2024 Lunar New Year commemorative coins and banknotes from December 15, 2023, including 1 gold commemorative coin, 1 silver commemorative coin, 1 two-color copper alloy commemorative coin, and 1 commemorative banknote, all of which are legal tender of the People's Republic of China. Let's take a look at the 2024 Chinese New Year 1-gram gold commemorative coin today.
The obverse of the coin presents a new look of "blessing on blessing", and the design extracts traditional Chinese auspicious ornamental elements such as peony, tangled branches, and hollow letter. The new pattern not only has the beautiful meaning of the auspicious ornamental elements themselves, but also has the good wishes for longevity and longevity contained in the outer outline of the "longevity peach".
The reverse view of the coin follows the theme of the word "Fu" to express the good wishes of welcoming the Spring Festival. The character "Fu" continues to use the character "Fu" of the 2023 Chinese New Year coin, which is selected from the Manjushri Prajna Sutra, which means that the new shape and theme of the Chinese New Year coin will continue to connect the past and the future. In order to form a unique memory symbol for a new round of Chinese New Year projects, the coin for the first time created a dragon baby **IP image with the word "blessing" and wearing a dragon robe, implying that the zodiac is blessed and the Year of the Dragon is auspicious, and the image of the dragon baby is cute and vibrant, providing the possibility of extending and developing more content.
In terms of production process, the obverse of the coin features a mirrored underside, a multi-level sandblasted main motif and a country name and date name. The back is sandblasted on the bottom, the main pattern "Fu" and other elements are sandblasted at multiple levels, and the denomination is brightened. Limited by the size of the coin surface, in order to highlight the main image, the contrast between sandblasting and mirror surface is used to clearly and concisely depict the main image and the shape of the word "Fu".
From 2015 to 2024, each Chinese New Year silver coin issued has a big blessing on it, which is our expectation for the New Year, wishes for the future, and hopes that the blessing coin can pass on the beautiful meaning of the New Year's blessing to everyone. In particular, the 2024 "Blessing on Blessing" will form a unique memory symbol for a new round of Chinese New Year projects, and the blessings will be continued.