Divine rule and earthly bliss

The Asian Art Museum's East Asian Art Collection holds 485 Chinese prints that were donated by the collectors Charlotte and Gerd Wallenstein. Forced to emigrate from Berlin the couple lived in the northeastern Chinese city Tianjin from 1940 until 1947. There they gathered the extraordinary collection of Chinese New Year prints and popular woodcuts. Due to their character as objects of everyday life these prints were commonly used and produced in large quantities but hardly passed down to the posterity. Therefore, the preservation and publication of this nearly encyclopedic collection is a truly fortunate circumstance. It does not only document the diversity of this type of popular woodcuts but also provides insight into a variety of different aspects of tranditional vernacular culture in Choma. The catalog presents this unique collection, introduces the history of popular single sheet woodblock printing since the 9th century A. D. and delivers profound insight into popular Chinese culture.