This red wooden spoon is painted with deities whom local villagers believe will protect them.  The shipped item will be chosen from variety of designs in red.  If you want a specific design, please contact us.

Mashao means “horse feed spoon”. At first farmers painted shovels for horse feed with colorful guardian spirits to protect their horses from diseases.  Later on people started to paint and hang wooden spoons on the wall for protection from the guardian spirits. The practice became more popular with Shehuo festivals; people not only paint guardian spirits but also characters from folklores and Shehuo performances.    

Preformed during Spring Festival, Shehuo is a traditional festive occasion for songs and dances prevailing mainly in the countryside of North China. With a long history, these festive affairs are rooted from the primitive sacrificial activities in which ancient people prayed for harvest and affluence with their songs and dances from "She", originally meaning the God of Earth, and "Huo", literally meaning fire which ancient people believed to have the magic power of driving away the evil spirit. Read more...