In the early days, greeting cards were called “name cards”, mainly introducing oneself. In the Western Han Dynasty, it was called “paying respects”. Today, when VIPs meet, they still say “paying respects”. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was called “name cards”. The term “name card” is still used in Japan and is commonly used as a business card.

The use of greeting cards in China has a long history. In ancient times, it was a custom for upper class officials to greet each other with famous cards. Zhou Hui, a Song Dynasty scholar, said in the “Qingbo Magazine”: “During the Song and Yuan dynasties, during the New Year’s celebration, servants were often used to carry name thorns on their behalf.” This record originated from an interesting story: one year during the Chinese New Year in the capital, a scholar did not want to personally visit every household, so he came up with a lazy idea. He first wrote many cards with blessings, and then instructed his servants to put a card at the door of every visited house. After knocking on the door, he quickly slipped away without waiting for the door to open, so that the interviewee thought he had personally visited. Perhaps this person repeatedly slacked off and leaked the news, and as soon as one household heard a knock on the door, they immediately rushed out and caught the ‘poor’ servant. This is seen as an act of ‘forgery’. At that time, literati had a wide circle of friends, and it would take both time and energy to visit them from all over. Therefore, some of their friends did not personally go there, but instead sent servants to bring a card made of plum blossom paper, two inches wide and three inches long, with the recipient’s name, address, and congratulatory words written on it, to pay their respects on their behalf.
It is necessary to respect each other by reporting everything to oneself first, and today’s society sometimes does not pay attention to these traditions.
After the Tang and Song dynasties, the names and functions of greeting cards improved, known as “door shaped” or “flying cards”. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, they were also called “red slips”, “New Year’s greeting cards”, and so on. Listening to the names, one can see that the functions became more and more secularized, and literati gradually moved away from elegance. The reason is actually simple. In ancient times, education was not widespread enough, and there were few people who could read and write. Initially, greeting cards were passed down among high-ranking officials and nobles, with a high starting point. As we entered the commercial society, greeting cards gained a touch of enthusiasm but lost a touch of sourness.

It is said that during the Chinese New Year, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, used red gold foil to make greeting cards and wrote the imperial edict “Celebrating with the whole world” to bestow upon his ministers. Due to its invention by emperors, this form quickly became popular among the common people. However, the common people were not as extravagant as the royal family and dared not use gold foil. Instead, they used plum blossom paper for vertical writing, with the official name of the recipient at the top right and the name of the recipient at the bottom left. Legend has it that Zhang Shinan, a person from the Southern Song Dynasty, recorded in his writings that his family once held greeting cards from famous Northern Song Dynasty artists such as Huang Tingjian and Qin Guan. This is definitely a classic collection, and if preserved to this day, it should be a priceless national treasure.

It’s very interesting to say that famous cards and greeting cards were originally personally presented by the person to show their seriousness. But in the Song Dynasty, the commercial atmosphere was strong and people became increasingly busy, so those who could not be personally delivered were sent to be delivered by servants, gradually forming a custom. The advantage of this is that one person can give more gifts, such as personally visiting, the quantity given is extremely limited, and people with many friends may be impolite; Sending someone to present it has many benefits, saving the tedious formalities of meeting hosts and greatly improving efficiency.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there was a set of etiquette for presenting greeting cards and cards. According to regulations, servants were not allowed to personally present greeting cards with their hands. Therefore, the “bow box” was invented, which is a rectangular box held by servants during greetings. The size is just right to accommodate greeting cards and cards. After meeting the host, the servant cannot directly hold the card or card, but must open the bow box for the host to take out. Large households will make their own worship boxes, and I have hidden multiple Ming and Qing Dynasty rosewood and yellow pear worship boxes. Among them, the worship box of “Fuzhen Hall Zhao” made of Qing Dynasty rosewood is exquisitely crafted, demonstrating the extraordinary identity of the Zhao family owner.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, a unique style of congratulatory letters emerged. There is a record in Volume 1 of the “Jianhu Shouji” by the Qing and Chu people: “On New Year’s Day, ancient bamboo slips were used in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties to pay New Year’s greetings, and there were names for them. During Kangxi’s reign, it was easy to use red slips to write congratulatory messages to someone. Those who had never returned before and did not bow down on the road were also included in the slips.” Red slips were specially made of red paper to express the meaning of auspiciousness during festivals, and obviously could not be used as name paper on weekdays. This red sheet can be said to be a true New Year card that appeared in ancient China.

The commercial mailing of greeting cards also began in the Song Dynasty. According to Zhang Shinan’s “Annals of the Traveling Officials”, during the winter solstice and New Year’s Day festivals, “all officials outside would report to their chief officials”, which is the earliest record of postal service as a messenger for greeting cards. Due to the fact that greeting cards can communicate emotional interactions between people, and such interactions are often expressed in short sentences, such as the Song Dynasty often writing “Congratulations to Zhengdan”, over time, congratulatory language has become standardized, concise, festive, and exchanging good wishes, conveying people’s hopes and aspirations for life.

Due to the fact that greeting cards printing are used to communicate emotional interactions between people, and such interactions are often expressed in short sentences, such as the Song Dynasty, which often wrote “Congratulations to Zhengdan”.

The Guanfu Museum uses cultural relics as backgrounds every year, emphasizing the expression of cultural relics related to the zodiac signs of that year. Over time, collecting a set of zodiac cultural relics greeting cards is also a good collection. It is the Year of the Ox. The Guanfu Museum and the Taurus celebrate the New Year and wish the people of the country a happy New Year.