A succession of abundant harvests

In China there has been a long folk art tradition whereby auspicious prints such as this one were produced and sold in towns and villages all over the country as part of the home decorations for Lunar New Year celebration. Being local products, the style of these prints varied according to the district. In the Yangliuqing style, this print is from the market town of Dongfengtai in Tianjin, a municipality east of Beijing. This kind of prints were produced in surrounding villages and brought to Dongfengtai for sale.

Yangliuqing New Year prints started in late 14 century and were popular until late 19 century, but the production declined at the end of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Since 1950s, with the government's support and promotion, Yangliuqin New Year prints returned to their prosperity. However, in early 1980s, government price reforms increased the state subsidies for agricultural products and made agriculture a more lucrative source of income than the print-making which subsequently ceased.

The motifs of lotus flower and fish relate to an auspicious idiom in Chinese, lian nian youyu [連年有魚], meaning a succession of abundance. By using homophonic words in Chinese, lian is the pronunciation for both lotus and succession, while yu for both fish and abundance.