Visitors may wonder why a plain-looking, rusty, bronze ding vessel is the centerpiece near the entrance to the "2006 Special Exhibition for the Cultural Heritage Day of China" which runs from June 5 to July 5 at the National Museum of China in central Beijing.

However, this ding vessel, named as Zilong, is by no means an ordinary exhibit.

"Indeed, this is a national treasure that deserves the most attention from visitors to the exhibition," said Zhang Xiwu, a cultural heritage expert from the China Information Centre on Cultural Heritage (CICCH), China's top advisory body responsible for cultural heritage evaluation, conservation, acquisition and related construction, training and education programs.

The showpiece has been recognized as "the earliest known bronze ding vessel of the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046BC) that bears the inscription of the Chinese character of 'long' (dragon) on its interior surface."

And it is so far the largest known round-shaped, three-legged, bronze ding vessel of the Shang Dynasty that bears inscribed ancient Chinese characters, experts say.

As the Chinese regard themselves the "descendants of the dragon" and the ding vessel was viewed as a sacred ritual object symbolic of State power and sovereignty for ancient Chinese dynasties, the Zilong ding vessel is widely considered by scholars and experts as another priceless national treasure on a par with the legendary Simuwu rectangular ding vessel. The Simuwu rectangular ding stands at a height of 133 centimeters and weighs 875 kilograms, which was discovered in 1939 by farmers at the Yin Ruins of Anyang in Central China's Henan Province, and is regarded as the world's biggest ancient bronze ware item ever to have been excavated.

It is believed that the Zilong ding vessel was excavated in the 1930s in Huixian County, Henan Province and was soon smuggled to Japan, where it only appeared in public two or three years ago, attracting intense attention from Chinese experts in cultural heritage protection and acquisition.

After some eight decades away from China, the precious ding vessel was finally purchased in Hong Kong and returned to the Chinese mainland in April, said Zhang, who declined to reveal how much CICCH spent on this item.

The Zilong ding bronze vessel is but one example of 100 items and sets of selected cultural heritage displayed at the exhibition which covers an area of at least 1,500 square meters, said Ma Yingmin, vice-director of the National Museum of China.

"Behind each and every treasure on display is an intriguing story about how they were 'rescued' and put into China's national treasure troves," Ma said, adding that "about 90 per cent of the cultural heritage exhibits here are being shown to the general public for the first time."

Divided into three major parts, the grand exhibition begins with an introduction to Cultural Heritage Day.

The second part has a large photo exhibition, aiming to give the visitors an overview of China's rich cultural heritage resources and how they are facing the threats of urbanization, globalization, and commercialism and tourism. It also highlights the constant efforts and achievements that have been made, including international co-operation in various fields, to preserve world cultural heritage both in China and elsewhere over the past few decades, according to Dong Baohua, deputy chief of State Administration of Cultural Heritage, a co-organizer of the exhibition.

Besides items from China's major archaeological discoveries such as the gold adornment of sunbirds, now adopted as the "China Cultural Heritage" log, the third part also features some of the top treasures that have been acquired in China and from other parts of the world, with the support of the Ministry of Finance, which has reportedly drawn at least 196 million yuan (US$24.5 million) since 2002 from a "Special Fund for the Protection of Key Rare Cultural Heritages of China" to help CICCH and other major Chinese museums acquire national treasures.

Over the past few years, a total of 204 items and sets of top-quality national treasures have been purchased with financial assistance from the Ministry of Finance, according to Zhang Xiwu.

However, "the preservation, protection and especially the acquisition of China's cultural heritages are not the sole responsibility of government organs, but a mission shared by all Chinese people," Dong pointed out.

He said that, in recent years, more and more Chinese collectors and businesspeople, with a strong sense of national pride and an awareness of the significance of China's cultural heritage, have purchased important items of cultural heritage from overseas collectors or at auctions at home and abroad and then donated these to the State.

Some highlights in the third part of the exhibition include the graceful "Yan Shan Ming" hand scroll created by Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) calligrapher Mi Fu, the "Chun Hua Ge" royal collection of model copies of Chinese calligraphic art which was first printed in the Northern Song Dynasty, seven exquisitely carved Northern Wei Era (AD 386-534) Buddhist icons originally from the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Henan Province, and a "Five Bulls Scroll," created by Han Huang, a renowned artist and high-ranking official of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

The "Yan Shan Ming" hand scroll was purchased for 29.9 million yuan (US$3.74 million) from a Japanese collector.

The "Chun Hua Ge" collection, bought back to Shanghai Museum from the United States in 2003 at a cost of at least US$4.5 million, has been regarded as the "great grandfather of the model copies of Chinese calligraphic art" for centuries by Chinese artists and art historians.

The seven Buddhist sculptures, which were smuggled overseas in the early 20th Century, were finally returned to China last October.

The "Five Bulls Scroll" is known to the world as the oldest surviving colored Chinese ink painting done on a sheet of paper.

In the last display hall of the exhibition, visitors can not only appreciate some 12 sets of colorful shadow puppets, along with musical instruments used during puppet shows, but also can watch live performances from the Changli County Xiangdong Shadow Puppet Troupe.

From June 5 to 20, the troupe will give at least four live performances a day, with a repertory of three programs, said troupe founder Zhang Xiangdong, a retired civil servant and lover of shadow puppetry.

To help the visitors better understand the exhibition, video shows, touch-screen display units, audio guides and leaflets on China's cultural heritages are also available during the month-long exhibition, the organizers say.

The ticket price for the exhibition, which is open daily from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, is 5 yuan (60 US cents) to attract more visitors, said Ma Yingmin from the museum.

(China Daily June 6, 2006)