Sixteen world-acclaimed masterpieces of ancient Chinese painting
and calligraphy from the Palace Museum of Beijing are on
display in Hong Kong on Monday.
The exhibits are displayed in Phase II of the talk-of-the-town
exhibition "The Pride of China: Masterpieces of Chinese Painting
and Calligraphy of the Jin, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties from the
Palace Museum", which will run until August 11.
Star exhibits include Wang Xun's "Letter to Boyuan" of the Jin
dynasty dated some 1,600 years ago, Yan Liben's "Emperor Taizong
Receiving the Tibetan Envoy" of the Tang dynasty, Dong Yuan's "The
Xiao and Xiang Rivers" of the Five Dynasties, Zhou Wenju's "A
Literary Gathering" of the Five Dynasties, Li Song's "Puppet Play
of a Skeleton" and Chen Rong's "Ink Dragon" of the Southern Song
dynasty.
Other highlights are calligraphy by Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of
the Northern Song dynasty, and the works of calligraphy by the four
masters Su Shui, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu and Cai Xiang. Replacing
Zhang Zeduan's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" in
the first phase of the exhibition ending on Sunday, the copy by Qiu
Ying of Ming dynasty is the jewel of crown of the phase II
exhibition.
The original artistic masterpiece "Along the River During the
Qingming Festival" by the Northern Song painter Zhang Zeduan offers
glimpses of the institutions, economy, culture and customs in the
Song capital, Bianjing, the most prosperous metropolis in the world
more than a millennium ago.
Ever since Zhang Zeduan had produced the scroll, there have been
dozens of imitations. Of these, the one by Qiu Ying is considered
to be the best.
(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2007)