As the Year of the Horse approaches, zodiac-themed economic activity is heating up with the "sound of hooves," and the related cultural and creative industries are "at full horsepower." The Beijing Grand Canal Museum has cleverly "revived" a Sui Dynasty yellow-glazed pottery horse and rider figurine, transforming it into cushions, scarves, and non-slip mats; artisans in Zibo, Shandong, have gained widespread recognition for their skill, creating dazzling colored glass horses, each piece a "beauty icon" with inherent quality. The most explosive hit, however, is undoubtedly the "Crying Horse" doll, which has charmed its way into the spotlight with its adorably naive yet slightly aggrieved expression, capturing fans domestically and even crossing oceans to become a coveted "standout piece" for netizens worldwide.
The horse, in Chinese culture, has long been a symbol of striving forward, loyalty, and good fortune. "A thousand-li horse" metaphorically refers to exceptional talent, while "immediate success upon arrival" carries wishes of blessing. The current sustained popularity of cultural and creative products inspired by the horse is no accident; it represents a concentrated release of the emotional needs, aesthetic tastes, and cultural identity of the new generation of consumers. Young people yearn to touch, integrate with, and inherit traditional culture, and cultural products aptly play the crucial role of "cultural translators." They give silent artifacts a "voice," allow profound cultural symbols to be "worn on the body," thereby transforming traditional culture into tangible, relatable everyday items that can be both "salty and sweet." This act of "cultural translation" illuminates a new consumer trend driven by passion.
Museum enthusiasts collect文创 from various institutions, turning "treasured museum pieces" into desktop scenery, allowing them to live alongside millennia of cultural heritage daily. Travel aficionados purchase distinctive文创 souvenirs, encapsulating local customs and scenery into keepsakes that become the most unique mementos of their journeys. Furthermore, many young people seek "customized experiences," engraving names and messages onto products, making them unique, personalized collections. The data speaks volumes: by 2026, the total value of China's trendy toy industry is projected to reach 110.1 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate exceeding 20%. Zodiac-themed文创 represents a highly explosive growth point within this blue ocean.
These small zodiac-themed文创 items do more than just fill shopping carts; they activate a vibrant, interlinked industrial chain. From creative design and material research to production manufacturing, brand marketing, and online/offline promotion, every link fosters new opportunities and possibilities. Take Yiwu, Zhejiang, the birthplace of the "Crying Horse"—after merchants spotted a business opportunity in a doll with a "mis-sewn mouth," factory production lines expanded from two to over ten in just 48 hours, with daily shipments skyrocketing to 20,000 units, using "Yiwu speed" to catch this wave. Encouragingly, zodiac文创 is not just a short-term Spring Festival bonus but a year-round consumption theme, with some companies reporting orders scheduled well beyond mid-March, achieving true "long-term breakout success."
The original cultural IP industry, exemplified by zodiac文创, also opens new windows of entrepreneurial and employment opportunities for countless dream-filled youth. At the Shandong Art Museum, the purely handcrafted "Scribble Horse" sold out due to popularity, prompting the production team not only to urgently increase staffing but also to invite local residents to participate in certain processes, thereby boosting local employment and livelihood while adding warmth to cultural dissemination. In Beijing's Temple of Heaven Park, post-95s entrepreneurs are mastering "tech +文创"; by scanning interactive codes on seasonal fridge magnets, consumers can see a 3D-rendered Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, a product that once achieved a daily sales record of over 1,500 units, proving that "small ideas can achieve big things."
Looking deeper, the collective breakout success of localized文创 IPs harbors strong momentum for the transformation of China's economic development model. In the past, Spring Festival cultural consumption was largely concentrated in traditional categories like couplets and New Year paintings, which suffered from severe homogenization and low added value. Today,文创 products have moved beyond "copy-paste" towards connotative innovation, significantly enhancing product value-added. In Dongguan alone, approximately 70% of large-scale trendy toy enterprises are actively building their own IPs, leveraging AI design centers to achieve prototyping in 48 hours and mass production in 72 hours, driving the industry's annual output value towards 30 billion yuan. The inheritance and innovation of intangible cultural heritage skills like glasswork, bamboo weaving, and pottery not only "revive" and "ignite" ancient crafts but also become new highlights driving regional economic growth.
Great ideas know no size limit. By understanding people's aesthetics, bringing imaginative ideas to life, and integrating millennia of cultural context into daily life, traditional culture truly "lives" in the present and leverages a multi-billion-yuan market. This wave of enthusiasm for Year of the Horse文创 demonstrates the breadth, depth, and effectiveness of the "culture+" empowerment effect. While enriching consumption scenarios, it provides indispensable creativity and vitality for the sustained breakout and long-term development of local文创 IPs, injecting solid confidence and assurance into painting a new picture of integrated cultural, commercial, tourism, and sports development.