HK Palace Museum showcases nation's cultural treasures

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Exhibits on display at the newly opened Hong Kong Palace Museum include a vase from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a ceramic work featuring the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, and a vase from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

Global arts hub

Louis Ng Chi-wa, director of the new museum, said earlier that establishing the institution in the city is a fitting tribute to local residents' affinity for Chinese culture and also Hong Kong's standing as a cultural hub.

Ng, a veteran museum expert and historian, said Hong Kong people have great enthusiasm for the nation's time-honored history and culture.

In 2007, to mark the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, the Beijing Palace Museum loaned the original copy of the classic Chinese painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival to Hong Kong for exhibition, creating a sensation in the city. The renowned painting, which is more than 5 meters long, depicts a scene on Tomb Sweeping Day during the Song Dynasty in present-day Kaifeng, Henan province.

Created by Northern Song painter Zhang Zeduan, the artwork offers a view of life in what was then Bianjing, the dynastic capital and the world's most prosperous metropolis at the time. In 2010, a digital version of the painting was also displayed in Hong Kong, attracting some 930,000 visitors. Related souvenirs sold out in just two hours.

Ng believes that with a Palace Museum now open in the city, Hong Kong people have more opportunities to view exhibitions and appreciate Chinese culture.

Moreover, by establishing a foothold in Hong Kong, the museum can help Chinese culture go global, bridging the world's diverse civilizations, Ng said. He added that many of his team members have decades of experience working overseas, and they are skilled at telling China's story to world audiences.

"The team is quite well-known to foreign visitors who come to see relics, especially those representing Chinese culture. As a result, we are able to convey the core of our culture in a way that is easily accepted by such visitors," Ng said.

After hosting its opening displays, the Hong Kong museum will stage a special joint exhibition with a European museum, featuring the collections of Chinese emperors during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties, along with those of European royalty spanning 600 years, Ng added.

He also hopes to showcase other overseas cultures, such as those in Central Asian and Islamic regions, which have rarely been on display in Hong Kong. Exhibitions themed on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and other mainland regions are also being considered.

Daisy Wang Yiyou, the museum's deputy director, who has years of overseas work experience, said the institution will not be limited to Chinese art. It will also offer a Hong Kong perspective and a global vision, presenting the finest items from the Beijing Palace Museum and other important global cultural institutions.

"Our starting point is Chinese art, but our goal is broader than that," Wang said.

Next year, the Hong Kong museum plans to display relics from Sanxingdui, a world-renowned Bronze Age site that flourished in present-day Sichuan province. After being exhibited in the city, the relics will be shown at museums in the United States.

Ng said many collectors keen to contribute to the nation's cultural development have donated high-quality ancient items to his team. By early last month, the museum had received six batches of donations worth a total 500 million yuan ($74.7 million), he said.

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