Themed as “Welcome Spring Festival”, a specific exhibition of Wuqiang New Year pictures opens since January 31st in the National Library of China, which will last until the end of March.
During the exhibition, more than 100 New Year pictures are showed to visitors. In addition, some interactive activities, such as New Year picture making, lantern riddles guessing, help to promote the traditional craftsmanship and the traditional Chinese culture comprehensively.
Wuqiang locates in Hengshui City, Hebei Province. Wuqiang has a long history of woodcut-printed New Year picture, which is a tradition in the Spring Festival. The New Year picture is said to bring good fortune to people and can ward off evil spirits.
The earliest Wuqiang New Year picture can be dated back to the Song and Yuan Dynasties (960-1368). Wuqiang New Year pictures gained inclusion in the country's first national-level list of intangible cultural heritage in 2006. Some pictures on display this time had never been exhibited to public before, while some are from the New Year Pictures Museum in Wuqiang.