Happy New Year! A new exhibition just opened this week at the Tokyo National Museum. This exhibition commemorates the 700th anniversary of the passing of Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322)—poet, calligrapher, and painter—who was one of the most important artists of the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) and even the entire Chinese history. Zhao Mengfu was a descendant of […]
The National Palace Museum’s “Travelers Among Mountains and Streams” by Fan Kuan (ca. 950–after 1032), “Early Spring” by Guo Xi (ca. 1023–after 1087), and “Whispering Pines in Myriad Valleys” by Li Tang (ca. 1049–after 1130), are collectively known as the “Three Treasures of the NPM”. These three large hanging scrolls represent the paradigms of the […]
The works of Chinese painting and calligraphy in this loan exhibition trace back to the former Sōraikan collection of Abe Fusajirō (1868–1937) that his son Abe Kōjirō (1897–1990) donated to the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts in 1943. Abe Fusajirō at the time had come under the influence of the famous Sinologists Naitō Konan […]
There are only a few days left of this special exhibition of bronze Ding at Shanghai Museum. Titled “Perpetual Prosperity”, this exhibition showcases 21 bronze Ding which have all been donated to the Shanghai Museum since its founding in 1952. The Ding was a cooking pot in ancient China, and later became a type of […]
This year’s Chinese New Year fell on February 12. It is the Year of the Ox according to the Chinese zodiac. Several museums in China are hosting special exhibitions on ox-related themes to celebrate this festive occasion. Among all the animals, the ox is one of the closest with humans, and it is one of […]
Nearly 1200 years ago, an Arab ship bearing a precious cargo of ceramics, gold, silver set sail from the port of Canton. Just off the shores of Sumatra, near the island of Belitung, the ship sank, and remained untouched until discovered by chance in 1998. In April 2015, it was announced that the Asian Civilisations […]
There have been few exhibitions this year because many museums around the world were closed due to the pandemic. The good news is that some of them have re-opened and we will see a few major exhibitions in the coming months. The latest addition is centered on the life of Su Shi, also known by […]
A new exhibition featuring the Ming dynasty painter Qiu Ying (ca. 1494–ca. 1552) just opened today at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Few artists in Chinese history have proven as enigmatic as Qiu Ying, whose life and art reveal a series of paradoxes. Though one of the most famous artists of the […]
The year 2019 marks the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. To celebrate this special occasion, the Tsinghua University Art Museum is hosting the special exhibition “Everlasting like the Heavens—The Cultures and Arts of the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang.” The exhibition theme was drawn from a classical Han-dynasty auspicious […]
Recently a blue-and-white porcelain plate came into our attention. We believe that this plate is from the 9th century, or the late Tang dynasty imperial court, which makes it one of the earliest surviving pieces of blue-and-white porcelain ever produced. Measuring approximately 49 cm in diameter and 7.6 cm in height, it is also the […]
