Painting of Rat welcoming dragon

INFORMATION ON THE PAINTING OF MOUSES WELCOME THE DRAGON Material: Lacquer carving - Size: 50 x 60 cm Adapted from Dong Ho folk paintings The painting is called "mouse carrying lanterns", some places call it "mouse carrying dragons", but it is not to honor the dragon and phoenix, but like a happy festival, a day to demonstrate the strength of mice with a status lower than the dragon. Mice are afraid of light, but still carry lanterns, as if to implicitly send a message about the mice being prosperous and confident in celebrating when Tet comes and spring returns. The image of mice in Dong Ho folk paintings is also shown in the painting "Mouse dancing with dragons". The painting shows folk humor, depicting a group of Chinese mice carrying a dragon in a festival. In the past, Chinese people in Hanoi often organized fun games such as dragon dances and lion dances on festivals such as the Mid-Autumn Festival. Dragon dances were paraded through the streets. Dragons were made of paper or fabric attached to poles. The mouse is personified holding a pole, dancing and wriggling. The procession includes mice holding lanterns shaped like fish, fruits, some groups holding flags or badges, some groups playing trumpets, drums on carts, playing gongs, and setting off firecrackers. There are 11 mice in total. Notably, the mice in this painting have very long tails. This may be because the artist wanted to describe a characteristic of the Chinese people in the Qing Dynasty who had a special way of braiding their hair in long pigtails. The Dong Ho artist used the image of mice to talk about agility, love of learning, and intelligence. The mouse is the first animal in the 12 zodiac animals, so the mouse is an animal that symbolizes abundance, prosperity, fertility and eternal development, prosperity, and abundant wealth. Therefore, many families often display statues or paintings of mice in their homes to pray for good luck, fortune, and prosperity for their families.