This wood block print depicts a Military Door God with five children. The children represent the five talented official sons of Dou Yujun (窦禹钧), who lived in the Five Dynasties period. As depicted, the middle child in a civil official robe rides a Qilin (麒麟) and holds a ‘ruyi’ (如意) sceptre, which is translated as ‘as you wish’. This signifies that a successful scholar will be bestowed upon the family by the mythical beast. The boy in armour with a battle-axe is envisaged to be a general. Another one holds a lotus (荷), a homophone of ‘he’ (和), which means harmony. Such ‘nianhua’ are not only meant for protection but also to invoke an abundance of blessings. This print should be pasted facing a laterally inverted one.This print was produced in Taohuawu, a village in Suzhou province in China famous for its New Year prints.
