It''s almost Lunar New Year, and that means time to hang new spring couplets on your front door. Taoyuan City has just unveiled the couplets it will be sending free of charge to city residents. One is a traditional work of calligraphy, sure to delight fans of classical arts. The other is an unusual papercut design, based around the theme of the Year of the Ox.
It''s almost Lunar New Year and Taoyuan City has released its new spring couplets. Renowned calligrapher Yu Tung-sheng put his pen to paper this year.
Yu Tung-sheng
Calligrapher
I used the phrase "Spring Returns to Earth," to wish us an end to the pandemic in 2021.
The city also launched an unprecedented spring couplet in paper cut form. Its message? "Wishes Fill the Earth, Head for 2021."
The thick red lines are three "ox" characters, which together form the character "head." Look closely between the lines, and you see herds of little oxen enacting cultural customs: sweeping the earth, gathering around a banquet table, completing an Atayal seed-sowing ceremony, and washing pomelo leaves in Hakka style. All Taoyuan''s ethnic groups are included.
Cheng Nuo-han
Papercut artist
We cut it into lots of boxes and created it through paper cutting. At Lunar New Year we can see rituals where the Minnan people, Hakka, indigenous Taiwanese, and new immigrants are all making prayers together.
Cheng Wen-tsan
Taoyuan mayor
Apart from our "Spring Returns to the Earth" couplet, we have also launched this special version allowing all residents to pray for blessings and increase the festivity.
Both of Taoyuan''s New Year couplets are rich with symbolic nuance. They''ll be given to city residents to hang on the front door and wish the neighborhood a happy New Year.
