Wood-block painting enthusiast Yin Qi holds two prints from his collection. Photos by Zou Hong / China Daily

 

These paintings are, in fact, wood-block prints - a typical form of decoration used in households over the Spring Festival, according to traditional Chinese folk custom.

The theme of the exhibition is "door gods", with entries from the four main forms of door god: civil, military, child and beast.

Military door gods are the most familiar type in China, with popular characters that include Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong - two generals back in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

According to folk legend, Li Shimin, the second emperor of Tang Dynasty, had difficulty falling asleep because he would imagine hundreds of imps coming to attack his dreams as he nodded off. The two generals were sent to guard his bedroom door and their god-like images were preserved as tradition.

One beast door god on display at the exhibition is a lion with a sword in its mouth. The painting is particularly rare because it has been printed on a piece of red paper, instead of a white one, and has no pair.

Some paintings were also hand-painted after their outlines were stamped, with the most advanced technique being tianshuijiao, which means "filling the color in one stroke".

"It is fabulous because few people can actually do it, even though it seems so easy," said Joao Neisinger, a tourist from Germany.