The 2015 Palace Museum datebook goes viral

The 2015 Palace Museum datebook. [Photo/ ifeng.com, Sina Weibo]

The 2015 datebook published by the Palace Museum has been selling well since it hit the shelves last year. Sales of the 66 yuan ($10.59) datebook via the Internet are high as well and the calendars are sold out at many online stores. According to the official online store of the Palace Museum, since 2015 is the Year of the Sheep and the ancient Chinese considered sheep as ‘beautiful’ and ‘a(chǎn)uspicious’, the Palace Museum designed the 2015 calendar’s theme ‘Year of Beatitude’, to emphasize the blessing of the new year.

The Palace Museum datebook was first published from 1933 to 1937, one book for each year. Most of the typeface for the dates on these calendars came from the ancient rubbings of Kai calligraphy and Li calligraphy, near pictures of cultural relics such as classic Chinese paintings and artworks. The War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression interrupted publication and it wasn’t revived until 2009. The 2010 Palace Museum edition, which was based on the 1937 version, came out and became popular again.

2015 is the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Palace Museum, while the 2015 datebook gathered the most auspicious Chinese culture to celebrate the new year’s coming.