"元旦开笔"[1] The first writing of the New Year. Its a small ritual performed by ancient Chinese intellectuals on the first day of the New Year. It has a history of about 1,000 years. During the Qing Dynasty, the emperor's ceremony became more grand and lengthy, including writing words of blessing with ornate Chinese brushes, symbolically turning the pages of the New Year's calendar (in the early Qing Dynasty, European missionaries participated in the improvement of the traditional Chinese calendar) [2] and drinking from a golden cup symbolizing the eternal and unbreakable borders. Ironically, one of the golden cups was stolen by French invaders during the Second Opium War [3].
[1] https://imagepphcloud.thepaper.cn/pph/image/114/965/140.jpg [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Adam_Schall_von_Bell [3] https://wallacelive.wallacecollection.org/eMP/eMuseumPlus?se...