A Beijing show highlights pig motifs on cultural items

A new exhibition celebrating the Year of the Pig opened to the public at the Capital Museum in Beijing on Tuesday. The first day of Lunar New Year falls on Feb 5 this year.

The show, Harmony and Good Harvest, gives glimpses of how the pig has been depicted in Chinese culture through 60 exhibits that illustrate the economic and social aspects of people's association with the animal over time. The pig symbolizes propitiousness and good harvests, and reflects people's yearning for better lives, the show's curator Zheng Hao says.

The pig is among the earliest domesticated animals in ancient China and was seen as a symbol of agriculture.