Rabbit is cute and lively in the traditional Chinese zodiac culture, which means auspiciousness and is a symbol of vitality and happiness. The zodiac version of the 2023 "Forbidden City Calendar" is titled "The Jade Rabbit welcomes the Spring Festival and the Good News of China". Based on the long-standing concept of the zodiac, cultural relics related to the rabbit's image, wedding, family, and baby drama are selected to express the perfect and beautiful blessings.
"Forbidden City Calendar·2023" cover
In terms of form, the 2023 "Forbidden City Calendar" continues to be innovative, with the overall appearance of glass green, full of vitality, and fashionable with a national trend. According to reports, since the revision of the Forbidden City Calendar in 2022, the Forbidden City Calendar will select color elements from the Forbidden City buildings and cultural relics, and use a national trend color. The main color of the 2023 "Forbidden City Calendar" is green: it comes from the characteristics of a rabbit. As a herbivorous animal, the rabbit is cute and lively, and green can create a sense of vitality; green comes from the meaning of a rabbit, which is in line with the meaning of a rabbit's multi-child meaning and the theme of a baby drama and a hundred-child theme; green also comes from the colors of the Forbidden City buildings and cultural relics collections, such as the roofs of the three roofs in the south of the Forbidden City covered with green glazed tiles, such as the warm and moving green landscape paintings.
"Forbidden City Calendar·2023" inner page
2023 "Forbidden City Calendar" cover originated from the painting collection of the Palace Museum - the scroll of "The Double Rabbits of Wutong" by the Qing Dynasty court painter Leng Mei. The two rabbits looked back and looked at each other under the sycamore tree, and the atmosphere was quiet and peaceful. The word "rabbit" in a full moon is a stone drum font in the Palace Museum, and it is unique and lively in the ancient and grand atmosphere. In addition, the color of the 12-month chapter page also comes from the color elements of the cultural relics, opening a new color every month, giving it a full sense of ritual.
In addition, the 2023 "Calendar of the Palace Museum" continues and improves the combination of culture and technological means, and applies AR technology to the calendar to make the cultural relics in the calendar "live". For example, after scanning the code on the cover "The Double Rabbit Picture of Wutong" you can immerse yourself in the three-dimensional effect of ancient paintings, giving new vitality to traditional culture.
This year, the Palace Museum Publishing House launched a new member of the calendar family - "Painting and Calligraphy Edition". Once the calendar with elegant appearance and rich content was released, it was sought after by enthusiasts of the "Painting and Calendar".
"Forbidden City Calendar·Picture and Calligraphy Edition·2023" cover
Calligraphy Edition calendar has many innovative ideas, such as presenting a type of theme story every quarter. The four seasons are themed on the stories of "beautiful women in the future", "elegance under the forest", "all kinds of sentient beings", and "ceremonies in the temple". Let readers appreciate the beautiful and soul-stirring love of the ancient boudoir ladies, sigh at the steadfastness of Boyi and Shuqi, and look homeless, listen to Dongpo's sigh of life and the universe when he visits Chibi at night, and enjoy the prosperity and noisy market in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", "Steping on the Songs", and "Peering Man" and feel the political wisdom of ancient monarchs and ministers or moral models from "Steping on the Geely Charm", "Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage" and "Snowy Night Visits to the Public Picture".
"Forbidden City Calendar·Picture and Calligraphy Edition·2023" Inner Page
Picture and Calligraphy Edition Calendar focuses more on innovation. With new printing technology and the theme of each quarter, it has designed four theme fragrances: rose, jasmine, apple, and sandalwood in a unique way, highlighting and setting off the spiritual temperament of the characters in each season's story, and adding a beautiful experience of smell. At the same time, the calligraphy and painting calendar selects traditional Chinese colors, with peach red, stone green, apricot yellow and indigo as the theme colors of the four seasons. The traditional colors match and interpret the character's identity and story theme, so that the seasons have distinct themes and outstanding personalities in color distinction. In addition, the calligraphy and painting calendar also uses high technology and provides an AR animation every quarter to make the characters and stories in classic paintings come alive and increase the fun of the calendar.
"The Palace Museum Calendar" is a cultural business card of the Palace Museum and a flagship product of the Palace Museum. It has been published for 13 consecutive years and has sold nearly 5 million copies.At the press conference, Wang Xudong, director of the Palace Museum, said that "The Palace Museum Calendar" is a best-selling publication with millions of readers, and is inseparable from the dedication and exploration of several generations of Forbidden City experts, and reflects the efforts and achievements made by the Forbidden City people in researching, protecting and inheriting the excellent traditional Chinese culture.
"Forbidden City Calendar·Parent-Child Edition·2023" cover and inner page
According to reports, in addition to "Forbidden City Calendar·2023" and "Forbidden City Calendar·Picture and Calligraphy Edition·2023", Forbidden City Publishing House has also launched "Forbidden City Calendar·Parent-Child Edition", "Forbidden City Calendar·Chinese-English Comparison Edition", "Forbidden City Calendar", etc., and jointly formed the "Forbidden City Calendar" family series.
Author: WenhuiPo reporter Li Yang in Beijing
Picture: provided by the Palace Museum
Editor: Jiang Shengxin
1Editor: Jiang Shengxin
