Wed, Jan 21, 2026 page3

• Library seeks reading photos

  • By Lee Jung-ping, Chang Tsung-chiu and William Hetherington / Staff reporters, with staff writer
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  The Taoyuan Public Library is holding a Lunar New Year-themed event to promote reading, inviting families to share photographs of “reading memories,” with the winning entries awarded limited-edition red envelopes.

  The event, which runs through Feb. 1, invites families to “reorganize their home bookshelves as part of year-end cleaning, revisiting reading memories that have formed part of their children’s growth,” library director Shih Chao-hui (施照輝) said.

  “Participants are invited to submit a photograph of their family reading together, along with a recommendation of a book suitable for family reading,” Shih said, adding that entries can be submitted on the Taoyuan Public Library Web site.

  

  Limited-edition Year of the Horse red envelopes designed by paper art creator Hung Hsin-fu are pictured in an undated photograph.

  Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times

  The winners will get one of three styles of limited-edition Year of the Horse red envelope sets, he said.

  One set of envelopes, which were designed by paper art creator Hung Hsin-fu (洪新富), unfold to bring couplets alive, reimagined as vivid 3D visual surprises, he said.

  The other two sets, created by graphic designer and curator Hsiao Yen-hsuan (蕭言軒), feature “word-matrix arrangements and images of galloping horses made with gold foil that make reading fun, and give a fresh take on red envelopes,” he said.

  

  Lunar New Year couplets by calligraphy master Wu Chao-hsun are pictured in an undated photograph.

  Photo: Chang Tsung-chiu, Taipei Times

  “The envelopes can be unfolded in different ways to combine words, making it a fun and interactive way for children to read out Lunar New Year greetings and experience the joy of reading,” Shih said.

  There are 600 sets available, with each including a square spring couplet, he said.

  The top photos would earn a limited-edition notebook, and would be featured on the library’s Web site and video wall, he said.

  

  Taiwan Image Calligraphy Museum director Chen Shih-hsien holds Lunar New Year couplets that he designed.

  Photo courtesy of Chen Shih-hsien

  In related news, the Changhua County Government has invited Lukang Township (鹿港)-based calligraphy master Wu Chao-hsun (吳肇勳) to inscribe couplets with the Year of the Horse greeting: “May your success soar high like a galloping horse” (馬躍騰達).

  People can pick up the couplets free of charge at the service counter of Changhua County Hall, as well as at the county’s township and city offices, household registration offices, Environmental Protection Bureau, Taxation Bureau and Cultural Affairs Bureau, a county government official said.

  “The couplets carry special significance, as Wu’s bold yet elegant brushstrokes seamlessly blend traditional calligraphic aesthetics with modern sensibilities,” the official said. “The couplets convey the hope that careers and families will thrive with the same vigor as a galloping steed.”

  Separately, the Taiwan Image Calligraphy Museum has released its two couplets for the year, which are centered on the characters for “peace” (平安) and “smile” (笑).

  The museum said it hopes the couplets — designed by museum director Chen Shih-hsien (陳世憲) — would remind people to “brush away the frustrations of the past year, and move forward into the new year with harmony and joy.”

  The “peace” couplet is octagonal, symbolizing the warding off of misfortune and the attraction of good luck, Chen said, adding that the design incorporates English, making it easier for more people to read.

  Two golden downward strokes protrude from the Chinese characters, representing wings and symbolizing peace “landing safely,” he said.

  “The strokes, rendered in clerical script, are transformed into wings through metaphor, reflecting the essence of calligraphic imagery art, in which every point, line and plane can evoke metaphor, imagination and storytelling,” he said.

  The “smile” couplet is circular, depicting the gentle curve of a smiling face, with eyes narrowing into lines, symbolizing reunion and fulfillment, he said.

  Additional reporting by Wang Han-ping
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