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Best
of Taiwan |
 Folk
prints originated within popular Chinese culture. It portrays legends,
religious imagery, and daily lives of the Chinese people engraved on wooden
blocks. Folk prints can be divided into four categories:
- Printed illustrations
that can be found in local chronicles, classical Chinese canon, morality
works, medical references, agricultural treatises, dramas, and albums.
- Prints for the
Chinese New Year festival and for better luck.
- Religious prints.
- Miscellaneous
categories, such as seals of stores, embroidery handbooks, and more.
Among the four basic prints,
the New Year prints are the most sought after. New Year prints delineate
gods and symbolize good fortune. Some characters on a print tell a tale
or story.
Religious prints
are also important in Chinese folk paintings. Often rich in color, religious
prints are used for many purposes. There are prints for ceremonies of
ancestral worship displayed in Buddhist or Taoist shrines, and prints
made by temple artisans.
Folk prints have
become an indivisible part of Chinese culture and will incessantly be
cherished by the people of Taiwan and those who appreciate its value.
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