Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
New Spring
Not on view
This print employs multiple puns to convey its felicitous message. In the Chinese language, “rooster” is homophonic with the character for “good luck.” As the two Chinese characters at the top mean “new spring,” the image of a large rooster completes the congratulatory phrase “Great luck for the New Year.” In the foreground, three yuan (citrons) symbolize success at the three levels of civil service examinations that paved the way to coveted officialdom, because the fruit’s name puns on the top rank at those examinations.
The characters near the left margin identify the printshop that produced this image.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
