What is a monthly card?

Card-type one-page calendar, and dialect refers to calendar.

After the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the original woodblock New Year pictures in Shanghai primary schools were gradually replaced by the new "Yueka" New Year pictures, which evolved into a new historical period in the history of Shanghai New Year pictures. "Moon Card" painting has become a new variety in the history of Chinese New Year pictures.

What is a "monthly card" painting?

The birth of "Moon Card" painting originated from the power politics of western powers. 1843, Shanghai was forced to become an international trading port, but the result quickly promoted the modernization of Shanghai. The so-called "monthly card" painting is the product of a large number of European and American capitals entering Shanghai at this time. Many foreign capitalists set up factories and shops in Shanghai and dumped goods for advertising. Its form is to learn from and use the "calendar painting" style with solar terms in the most popular folk New Year pictures in China, and to integrate it into commercial advertisements. At first, foreign manufacturers hired China painters to design "Moon Brand" paintings. In addition to commodity promotion, most of these pictures show images of traditional themes in China, or traditional scenery in China, or ladies, or drama stories and scenes. Later, it developed into a picture with fashion beauty as the main image. At the beginning, the artistic technique was represented by China traditional meticulous painting, and the color was light or heavy. Later, it developed into a realistic technique with western exquisite brushwork and watercolor painting. The colors are bright, clean and beautiful, and most of them are offset printed on coated paper with more advanced technology. The upper and lower ends are also inlaid with copper edges, and the middle of the upper copper edge is perforated, which can be hung up and given to customers free of charge with the goods sold, which is very popular. After people get this kind of commodity poster with solar terms in the calendar, they can hang it at home all the year round, which can be used for decoration and appreciation, and can also refer to the date and solar terms. People used to call it a "monthly card". This kind of "monthly card" will be distributed to customers in large quantities before the Spring Festival every year, and people will appreciate it as a New Year picture.

The time when the "monthly card" painting was produced.

As for when the "Yuepai" began, according to the earliest records found so far, on December 28th, 9th year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty (1883 65438+125th of October), Shenbao published it in the name of "the owner of Shenbaoge sincerely wishes to open it", and the article wrote: "Our library entrusted a stone cave to refine Huayang Yuepai. This card is specially treated, and the characters are divided into two colors: green in China calendar, red in western calendar and green in western calendar. The 24 solar terms in the China calendar are listed below each month, and West Renye Fang is allowed to pay attention on Sundays, so you'd better check it. Printing with thick white foreign paper, and then printing clever lace around the card is very pleasing to the eye. The words "it is suitable for you to hang the painted wall or put it in the book felt". From then on,1885 65438+February 24th (11th year of Guangxu), two lottery companies in Shanghai published advertisements for issuing lottery tickets in Shenbao, and both indicated that the lottery tickets were accompanied by "monthly cards". This shows that the "moon card" painting popular in Shanghai during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty has become a common practice.