Some 263 rare cultural relics from Hubei Province are expected to arrive in the United States in about three days to be displayed at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.
A file photo shows the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, United States. /CFP
The exhibition is the largest and most exquisite display of unearthed Chinese archaeological relics to be held in the United States in recent years. The exhibits include bronzeware, lacquerware, jade artifacts and silk textiles, many of which are being shown abroad for the first time.
Zeng Pan, director of the display department at the Hubei Provincial Museum, said that the exhibition will mainly feature artifacts from the Western Zhou (1046-771 BC) and Eastern Zhou (770-256 BC) dynasties unearthed in Hubei. The purpose of the exhibition is to introduce the history, culture and art of the Zeng and Chu states to overseas audiences, and showcase the achievements of Chinese civilization in bronze casting, lacquerware, weaving and other creative fields.
A file photo shows the bronze fou of Marquis Yi of Zeng on display at the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. /CFP
The Hubei Provincial Museum has selected 190 representative artifacts for the exhibition. Among them are some of the museum’s star exhibits, including the earliest ancient Chinese "refrigerator," the bronze fou of Marquis Yi of Zeng, and the "Pinnacle of Bronze Smelting," a drum stand also unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, decorated with eight pairs of large dragons and dozens of intricately intertwined small dragons.
The exhibition is scheduled to open on April 19.