Museums across China help preserve masterpieces

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03:05

"The Series of Ancient Chinese Paintings" are published works on over 10,000 masterpieces from before the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It is a collection of the artworks edited and published over the past 14 years, presenting a considerable number of national treasures preserved in museums.

At the Palace Museum in Beijing, Shi Maqi, one of the editors, came to collect 18 photos of Painter Dong Qichang's Landscape album. The visit is for "The Complete Works of the Ming Dynasty" which will soon be published.

The museum owns more Chinese cultural relics than any other site in the world. It has very strict rules for extracting photos of the relics. Every opening of the ancient paintings needs a three-year “sleep time”, and only professional staff are allowed to open some extraordinarily precious paintings. All shooting work can only be carried out by staff from the Museum.

In 2009, the Palace Museum reopened a sealed "The Vast Land" for "The Complete Works of the Song Dynasty." It took a week to finish photographing a 12-meter-long scroll.

A painting from "The Series of Ancient Chinese Paintings. /CGTN Photo

Shan Jixiang, curator of the Palace Museum, said: "This is unprecedented. The Palace Museum provides so many precious treasures at once, and records high-definition-images to present them in the series. This is the first cooperation of its kind."

Compiling the series needs support from museums all across China.

Photographer Zhang Yilin and his colleagues from the Publishing House of Zhejiang University have visited Tianjin Museum three times. More than 7,000 paintings from the Ming and Qing Dynasties preserved in this centuries-old Museum have been added to the series.

Li Kai, deputy director of Tianjin Museum, said: "The Series of Ancient Chinese Paintings, after much sorting and compiling into dozens of scrolls, has become an ever-lasting exhibition. People have convenient access to this book at any time, this can not be replaced by any exhibition."

Not long before, Liaoning Provincial Museum exhibited some ancient Chinese works. Daily visits reached 12,000. Most of the exhibition's works have been collected in the series.

A painting from "The Series of Ancient Chinese Paintings" on display. /CGTN Photo

Ma Baojie, curator of Liaoning Provincial Museum, said: "Our idea is to share the collections on the premise of good protection. The Series of Ancient Chinese Paintings is a crucial cultural project, a way to make full use of, and protect cultural relics."

With ancient Chinese paintings scattered around the world, publishers have spared no efforts hunting for works as many as possible. So far, 67 volumes have been published.

"We will give full-fledged support and participation to the project, either by providing background information or shooting photos. This is challenging," added Ma.

Li Kai, deputy director of Tianjin Museum, said: "The goal for the ancient paintings is to preserve and protect them... and more importantly, to let more people know about the splendid ancient culture. This is our mission."

The series is scheduled to be completed in 2021.