Walking into the National Mall in Washington, DC, and walking through a quiet tree-lined road, the National Museum of Asian Art is nestled in the shadow of the trees.
In the museum, some people looked down at the exhibition brochure, some stood in front of a piece of porcelain without moving for a long time, and some tourists raised their mobile phones to record a strong bright color on the wall.
The story here has been told for more than a century. In 1923, the Freer Gallery opened on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., becoming the first national art museum in the United States. Afterwards, the Sackler Museum opened in 1987, and the two museums together form today's Asian Art Museum.
If they could only choose one place to experience this museum, many people would go into the Peacock Hall. Porcelain from China meets Western interior art, becoming one of the most distinctive features of this space.
The moment he opened the door, blue, green and gold came rushing towards him. On the wall, two golden peacocks are painted with their tail feathers spread out, as if they are about to flap their wings. On the shelves nearby, there are pieces of blue and white porcelain.
This is an interior space designed by American artist Whistler in the 19th century. At that time, he was commissioned by his British employer to decorate the entire room into what it looks like today to complement his collection of Chinese blue and white porcelain. In 1904, American collector Freer purchased it, dismantled it and shipped it to the United States.
Now, the porcelain is still placed there quietly. When people pass by, they will stop and look carefully at a stroke of blue and white and a piece of glaze. A Western-style room born in London has changed its appearance because of Chinese porcelain. Today, it is one of the most recognizable spaces in the Asian Art Museum in Washington.
Such encounters can be seen everywhere in museums. Bronze ware, pottery figurines, porcelain, paintings, and Asian artworks from different eras and regions are placed in the same museum. Behind them is a long process of production, collection and research, and they also record the exchanges between different civilizations.
In museums, stories about China don’t all stay in display cabinets. In May last year, the museum returned to China the silk books "Five Elements Order" and "Offensive, Defensive and Occupying" in its bullet bank. The silk script unearthed in 1942 from the Chu Tomb in Zizuku, Changsha is the earliest physical silk script discovered so far, and it is also the only silk script from the Warring States Period that has been seen so far.
Through this precious document, people can get a glimpse of the Chinese people's understanding of the universe, time, and life at that time. The return of cultural relics that had been lost for many years has also written a new chapter for cultural exchanges between China and the United States.
China stated at the cultural relics return and acceptance ceremony that the return of the bullet library silk books is a cultural event for the Chinese people and people around the world. It is also another successful practice of Sino-US cultural heritage protection cooperation, and has injected positive energy into enhancing Sino-US cultural exchanges and the friendship between the two peoples.
After the silk book returned, the story did not end. In September this year, the Hunan Provincial Museum and the National Museum of Asian Art held a signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding on cooperation. The two parties will cooperate on exhibition exchanges, collection protection, academic research, and talent training. From the return of a cultural relic to more long-term cooperation between the two museums, cultural exchanges have reached a new extension.
Cultural relics have a way to come and a way back. They once crossed mountains and seas and met between different civilizations. Today, through protection and return, people are letting the distant history tell new stories.
