A major exhibition of Chinese cultural relics from China's Bronze Age opened in San Francisco, U.S. state of California, on Friday, allowing people there to get a rare look at the archaeological treasures from China.
The exhibition, titled "Phoenix Kingdoms: The Last Splendor of China's Bronze Age," showcases more than 260 works from ancient Chinese Chu and Zeng kingdoms in the multistate Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BC) unearthed from tombs in the central Chinese province of Hubei.
The exhibition, held in the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, brings to life the distinguished Bronze Age cultures that flourished 3,000 years ago along the Yangtze River, a cradle of Chinese civilization.
This is the largest exhibition of cultural property China has ever organized in the United States in recent years. Many of the artifacts, including bronze ware, lacquer ware and jade ware, have never been exhibited outside China before.
"If anyone wants to put a monetary value on the objects in this exhibition, one is doomed to fail because they are truly priceless," said Jay Xu, director and CEO of Asian Art Museum.
Xu said it's an exhibit filled with firsts.
"The first ice box made of metal. In this case, bronze. How old it is? 2,500 years old," he said, introducing one of the exhibits.
Xu also showed his favorite piece that has mesmerized him for days — a drum stand that is more than meeting the eye.
"This is arguably the most sophisticated piece of bronze making in the entire universe. And what's going on very crazily here? There are so many dragons. It is a tremendous mental exercise to figure out how many dragons," he said.
Many of the artifacts at the exhibition help shed light on what was once considered a buried period of history.
"Those works so far actually function as some kind of important evidence, help us to fill in the gaps between legend and written history," said Zhang Fan, curator of Chinese art of the museum.
Zhang showed the collection's largest bell, which contains inscriptions that solved a mystery.
"The inscription mentioned one important historical event recorded in history, and that particular record helps us to make the conclusion that Zeng and Sui are actually the same state. It solved some kind of historical debate," he said.
Addressing the event, China's Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism Li Qun praised the cooperation between Hubei and San Francisco, calling it the largest cultural property exhibition China has organized in recent years.
"Civilizations have become richer and more colorful through exchange and mutual learning. I sincerely hope that cultural heritage institutions and museums from China and the United States will work closely together adhering to a vision of civilization that promotes equality, mutual learning, dialog and inclusiveness, and jointly write a new chapter of China-U.S. people-to-people exchanges for both to prosper individually and collectively," Li said.
The exhibition, running from April 19 to July 22, is organized by the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and the Hubei Provincial Museum.
Located in the heart of San Francisco, the museum is home to one of the world's finest collections of Asian art, with more than 20,000 artworks ranging from ancient jades and ceramics to contemporary video installations.
China's Bronze Age art comes alive in exhibition in San Francisco
