Seoul gets a taste of Song Dynasty art

An exhibition of ancient Chinese paintings from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) opened at the China Cultural Center in Seoul on July 7.

On show are 80 works selected from A Collection of Song Dynasty Paintings, which showcase the outstanding achievements of Song art in the genres of landscape, portrait and flower-and-bird.

The exhibit has been organized by the cultural center in Seoul, Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, and Zhejiang University, and is part of A Comprehensive Collection of Chinese Ancient Paintings, a national-scale cultural project that covers the entirety of Chinese history.

Compiled and published by Zhejiang University and the Zhejiang Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage, the project includes a total of 12,405 Chinese paintings (sets) from 263 museums and other cultural institutions at home and abroad, making it the most comprehensive and largest publication of ancient Chinese paintings to date.

Korean guests praised the exhibition, which runs until July 27, for demonstrating the deep cultural affinity between the two neighboring nations, as well as offering an intimate way to appreciate Chinese aesthetics.

Yang Runyu contributed to this story.