The golden serpent bids farewell to the old year, the fine steed embarks on a new journey. On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, Little New Year's Eve Celebration, the 2026 "Spring Fills Central Plains, Hometown Henan—Celebrate the New Year in the Library" Little New Year Joy Party, hosted by the Henan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and organized by the Henan Provincial Library, was simultaneously launched at the Songshan Road and Jiankang Road branches. This event coincided with the official implementation of the "Regulations on the Promotion of Reading for All," using traditional New Year customs as a thread to blend bookish reading with multicultural experiences, offering readers across the province a festive and profound New Year cultural feast.
The area filled with the scent of ink for writing Spring Festival couplets and sending blessings became the most festive scene on site. Many well-known calligraphers from Henan Province wielded their brushes and ink on site, with couplets full of blessings for the Year of the Horse, such as "Fine horses gallop to welcome the New Year, the courtyard filled with the fragrance of books bringing blessings" and "Success brings great fortune upon horse, spring fills the Central Plains and a new journey begins," vividly bringing the blessings of the New Year into the brush and ink. Many readers stopped to admire and line up to receive them. Each pair of bright red couplets not only added a festive atmosphere to the New Year but also conveyed a strong cultural warmth. The "Writing the Character for Fu" activity was very popular among young readers. Under the company, children carefully wrote stroke by stroke under their parents' company. Their youthful brushstrokes were full of beautiful hopes for the Year of the Horse, inheriting calligraphy culture through the fragrance of ink and planting seeds of cultural confidence.
The Little New Year Joy Festival centers on the "Six Arts of the Gentleman" of Chinese studies—ritual, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics—as its core creative thread. It deeply integrates traditional New Year customs with classic Chinese studies. Through immersive interactive experiences, readers can encounter the Year of the Horse in the "Six Arts, Enjoy New Year customs, and savor the fragrance of books," and feel the profoundness of outstanding traditional Chinese culture. The folk interaction area became a popular gathering place on site, where Hanfu NPCs interacted with readers to travel through time and immerse themselves in the joys of traditional New Year customs. Long lines of classic folk games like pitch-pot form in front of the event, with readers fully engaged. The precise moments of arrow-feathered pitch-pot spark cheers, breathing new life into the ancient folk game in the Year of the Horse. The "Imperial Carriage" Campaign and the Year of the Horse Festival knowledge quiz area were equally lively. Children actively participated and answered questions; those who answered correctly could receive exquisite gifts such as the internet-famous pet pony and the Little New Year specialty sesame candy.
The concurrent "Traditional Craft Experience Activities for Welcoming the New Year" were also in full swing, offering readers a New Year gift. Readers immerse themselves in the pleasure of rubbing the character "Fu" or zodiac horse patterns on gold-sprinkled Xuan paper, experiencing the unique charm of the fusion of ink fragrance and paper. Everyone personally operated the woodblock printing of New Year paintings, making door gods or auspicious New Year paintings, their focused figures blending harmoniously with the joyful chats. This Spring Festival gift, crafted by readers and blending traditional craftsmanship, not only carries beautiful wishes for the new year but also allows intangible cultural heritage to be passed down at fingertips, adding a unique sense of ceremony to the Spring Festival.
The "Outstanding Henan, I Paint the Children's Art Touring Exhibition" also opened today simultaneously. The 100 outstanding children's artworks on display were selected from submissions from 75 libraries across 18 cities across the province, vividly showcasing Henan's innovative vitality and cultural charm in the new era. These works will also be exhibited in 42 libraries across the province, allowing more people to experience the vitality of Central Plains culture through the innocent brushstrokes of childhood.
The 2026 "Spring Fills Central Plains, Hometown Henan—Celebrating the New Year in the Library" series will run until March 20 (the second day of the second lunar month). The nine online and offline reading promotion activities cover themed lectures, public welfare classes, intangible cultural heritage experiences, and book-themed check-ins. We welcome readers to Yutu, to accompany the fragrance of books, welcome spring with literary charm, and celebrate a New Year filled with the fragrance of books and harmonious elegance.