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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)
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