Exhibition features Palace Museum, Dunhuang

Two Chinese cultural heritage sites have joined hands to present a major exhibition highlighting their lasting glamour and the significance of the ancient Silk Road.

On Friday, Beyond the Bounds of History: A Collaborative Exhibition between the Palace Museum and Dunhuang Academy opened in the Meridian Gate Galleries in the Forbidden City in Beijing. It will run for two months.

The Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, Gansu province, carved from the 4th to 14th centuries, represent the longest-used Buddhist shrine complex in the world. Exquisite murals and sculptures remain in 492 of the caves there. The Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, was China's royal palace from 1420 to 1911. It is also the world's largest architectural compound made of wood.

Both sites achieved UNESCO World Heritage status in 1987, and were among the first Chinese entries on the list.

When he visited the site in 2019, President Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of expanding the influence of the Mogao Caves through studies and conservation.

A comprehensive cooperation agreement was reached between the Palace Museum and Dunhuang Academy－the institution devoted to management and conservation of the Mogao Caves since its founding in 1944－and the exhibition is part of the collaborative project.

"In recent years, we've explored Dunhuang culture in a modern context," Su Bomin, director of the academy, said at Friday's opening ceremony of the exhibition. "Stories of Dunhuang can be better told if we introduce more creative ideas."

Over 180 exhibits are displayed at the exhibition, including 35 hand-drawn facsimiles of murals, six copied sculptures and 70 replicas of other works of art in the Mogao Caves with the help of digital techniques.

Some exhibits are on loan from 10 other museums in Gansu province to demonstrate how the Mogao Caves influence other grotto temples in the region.

Lou Jie, a researcher with Dunhuang Academy, said the exhibited murals also demonstrated multiculturalism in Dunhuang through a mixture of different religions and showed how Buddhism became localized in China after it was introduced from India.

A good example is Guanyin, a Buddhist bodhisattva which first appeared as a masculine image but gradually became a goddess of mercy in traditional Chinese culture. The juxtaposition of Dunhuang murals and the artworks from later periods clearly showed that transition.

"From Dunhuang, we can see a microcosm of traditional Chinese rituals, philosophy and aesthetics, as well as dancing, fine garments and craftsmanship," Lou said.

Several bowls from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), which were unearthed from the caves, have been chosen to be displayed at the exhibition.

"We can thus have a dialogue with the ancient painters and feel the warmth of history," Lou said.

Life-size replicas of three caves are also set up at the exhibition to bring an immersive experience for visitors to better understand the evolution of Dunhuang art throughout history.

The Palace Museum has contributed 47 artifacts from its collection to the exhibition, echoing the themes of the Dunhuang relics.

For example, a hulei, a Tang era stringed musical instrument, is showcased because it appeared in the exhibited mural facsimile. The artifact is believed to have mixed elements from various cultures along the Silk Road.

"The Mogao Caves boomed because of the Silk Road," said Luo Wenhua, a researcher with the Palace Museum and a curator of the exhibition.

"Its cultural legacy is mixed into the blood of our culture and its inheritance never ends. Multicultural elements of Dunhuang were part of royal life in the Forbidden City, and also compose part of our life today," he said. "The relics from the Palace Museum and Dunhuang jointly demonstrate the inclusivity and vitality of Chinese civilization."

Through precious documents and manuscripts, a section of the exhibition is designed to show how generations of State leaders and conservators have protected the two heritage sites from war, desert heat and aridity in Dunhuang and aging processes of relics.

This highlighted exhibition also marks a comeback decades in the making. In 1951, a widely influential exhibition on the Mogao Caves was held in the Meridian Gate Galleries, which was visited by then-premier Zhou Enlai and many key cultural figures.

"Dunhuang and the Forbidden City are like a pair of cultural ambassadors," said Wang Xudong, director of the Palace Museum. "Through their relics, they enable us to have a glimpse of ever-evolving and rich tangible cultures in China as well as Chinese people's psychological pursuits throughout history."