With the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic on October 1, 2009, China has presented a new face to the world. Over the past 60 years, Chinese society has undergone significant changes that are clearly reflected in literature, painting, film, drama and other literary and artistic works. In China, both the rich and the poor, the elite and the working class all celebrate the Spring Festival. Paintings depicting Spring Festival entertainments are one of the most popular and inexpensive consumables of the season. Before TV sets and internet became as popular as today, Chinese New Year paintings (including publicity paintings) were one of the most direct and biggest media for observations of China, which were able to reach millions of households throughout the country. This book is composed of 200 carefully chosen Chinese New Year paintings from 1949 on, and is divided into threetime periods: 1949-1965. 1966-1978, and 1979-2009. These paintings tell of the major events in China f

北京历代帝王庙始建于明代嘉靖九年（1530），清代断续沿用，距今已有470多年的历史。现为全国重点文物保护单位。它是明、清两朝祭祀三皇五帝、历代帝王和功臣名将的一座皇家庙宇，入祀中国史前时期的祖先人物三后五帝以及夏、商、周、汉、唐、宋、元、明等历代杰出帝王188位，功臣名将80位。历代帝王庙的祭祀活动为国家祭祀，每年春秋两季举行。据文献记载，从明嘉靖十一年（1532）到清末（1911）的380年间，北京历代帝王庙共举行过662次祭祀大典达16次，其中，雍正帝5次、乾隆帝6次到历代帝王庙祭拜。