On February 3, the China Cultural Center in Fiji successfully held a Happy Spring Festival Dragon Year Temple Fair at Nausori Shopping Center in Fiji, attended by Fiji ** Viliam Katoniwere, Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Fiji Ma Guoliang, Fiji Minister of Local Affairs Vasu Ifrymi, Fiji Post CEO Isaac Mao and other guests.
In his speech, Katoni Vire** highlighted the importance of the Lunar New Year in fostering strong family and community bonds, and said that the event highlighted the achievements and contributions of the Chinese community, reflected the long-standing relationship between Fiji and China, and provided an opportunity for people to witness and learn about Chinese culture.
Counselor Ma Guoliang said that this Happy Spring Festival Temple Fair in the Year of the Dragon is the first time that the organizers have brought traditional Chinese temple fairs to Fiji, and sincerely hopes that this temple fair can bring the long-lost traditional "New Year's flavor" of the Spring Festival to the Fijian Chinese and Fijian people.
Han Xiaoyan, Director of the Chinese Cultural Center in Fiji, presided over the Happy Spring Festival Temple Fair, and said in her speech: "The concept of Happy New Year, 'Hope, Family, Harmony and Sharing' has increasingly been recognized by people around the world, and the Chinese New Year is also the Spring Festival of Fiji and the Spring Festival of the world. The Fiji Happy New Year series of activities, which will kick off with the Temple Fair in the Year of the Dragon, will enhance the people-to-people ties between China and Fiji and promote the two countries to build a prosperous future together.
The content of the first Fiji Dragon Year Temple Fair is rich and colorful, such as the New Year Meeting, the first issue of stamps for the Year of the Dragon, the experience of Chinese intangible cultural heritage production, and the Qilu New Year Painting Exhibition, all of which have their own characteristics. In particular, the "Qilu Folk Style" - the exhibition of wood-block New Year paintings from the collection of Qingdao Museum brought a strong traditional Chinese New Year flavor to Fiji, an island country in the South Pacific. This is also the first time that Qilu New Year paintings have been exhibited in Fiji.
Shandong wood-block New Year paintings are one of the important production areas of Chinese wood-block New Year paintings. The early works of Shandong woodblock New Year paintings were mainly statues of gods. Shencha and Yu Lei, as the gods who guarded the gate during the Yellow Emperor period, are the origin of Chinese door god painting. Later, Zhong Kui, God of Wealth, Shouxing, Guanyin, etc. also became the protagonists of the fairy portraits. Famous Chinese historical figures such as Wei Chi Jingde and Qin Qiong have also been deified for their heroic and fearless images. The New Year paintings of the gods express the good wishes of human beings to pray for the protection of the gods when they are unable to resist the aggression of the natural world on their own.
On the road of seeking auspiciousness, the content of Shandong wood-block New Year paintings has been continuously enriched, the subject matter is more folklore, and the expression is more vivid and straightforward. Animals such as fish and chickens, flowers and fruits such as peonies, pomegranates, watermelons, and items such as gold ingots are all endowed with wealth, auspiciousness, fertility, and dignity because of their pronunciation and image. The white and fat doll and the slender ** are symbols of the beauty of life.
There are a large number of works depicting rural life in Shandong woodblock New Year paintings, which not only express the creator's observation, experience and expectations of real life, but also supplement the things that are not easy to express in text descriptions through the application of images, which facilitates the dissemination of peasant life and folk culture. The Confucius teaching map and the 24 filial piety strip screens not only reflect the historical allusions of the Shandong people respecting teachers and the elderly, but also inherit and promote the beautiful sentiments.
The works in this exhibition are all from the woodblock New Year paintings in the collection of Qingdao Museum, with Qingdao and Weifang as the main creation areas. The work uses the cultural elements of traditional Chinese folk festivals, the image of the New Year painting is vivid and simple, the color is bright and beautiful, and the content reflects the excellent traditional Chinese cultural spirit.
The exhibition is divided into three sections: the first section is the fairy New Year paintings, such as the god of guarding the door, Zhong Xu, Qin Qiong, Shouxing, God of Wealth, etc.; The second plate is auspicious, such as auspicious animals and plants that are deeply loved by people, such as fish, chickens, peonies, pomegranates, watermelons, etc., because of their pronunciation and image are endowed with auspicious, rich, many children and other symbols of life. The third section is traditional opera. Taken from the traditional folk operas staged during the Spring Festival, these operas focus on themes such as love and justice, praying for peace and happiness in the new year.
Qilu Folk Style-Qingdao Museum Collection Woodblock New Year Painting Exhibition" is jointly organized by the China Cultural Center in Fiji, the Sino-foreign Cultural Exchange Center and the Qingdao Museum, and will continue to be exhibited at the China Cultural Center in Fiji after February 15.