18 Sets (Pieces) of Han Dynasty Cultural Relics from Xuzhou on Tour Exhibition in Many Countries

Not long ago, the People's Daily published an article "The Immortal Jade Armor - China's Han Dynasty Cultural Relics Exhibition", which reported the cultural relics exhibition held in Hungary, and introduced several pieces of cultural relics of the Han Dynasty provided by Xuzhou Museum.

Exhibition Site

The year 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the “Belt and Road” Initiative, and Hungary is the first European country to join the Initiative. On 24th June, "The Immortal Jade Armor - China's Han Dynasty Cultural Relics Exhibition" jointly organized by Shanghai Museum, Xuzhou Museum and Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology was inaugurated at the Móra Ferenc Museum in Szeged, Hungary, and attracted nearly 10,000 visitors on the first day. The exhibition will continue until the end of this year, and then tour in many countries.

Exhibition Site

Xuzhou Museum selected 18 pieces (sets) of Han Dynasty cultural relics, including the jade suit sewn with gold thread, jade pillows, jade masks for display in "The Immortal Jade Armor - China's Han Dynasty Cultural Relics Exhibition”. These jade artifacts are made of precious materials with excellent skills, and are a reflection of the power and status of the feudal kings in the Han Dynasty. Among them, a jade item in the shape of a tiger's head unearthed from the Tomb of Chu King on the Shizi Mountain is made of Hetian green and white nephrite of superior quality from Xinjiang. This jade carving is a part of the two ends of the Chu King's jade pillow, and its material and craftsmanship are clearly better than other jade pillows excavated in the same tomb, showing the difference in the hierarchy of jade used for funerals in the Han Dynasty.

Exhibits in Xuzhou Museum

According to relevant historical records, the tiger was one of the favorite animals of the ancient Hungarian steppe nomads. The tiger is also found in Hungarian cultural relics, reflecting the steppe nomads’ reverence for the strong. The tiger-like decorative motifs are known to some scholars as motifs of tiger biting an animal, which are mostly found from the late Shang Dynasty to the Han Dynasty. There are tiger-shaped decorations on the golden belt buckles unearthed from the Tomb of Chu King on the Shizi Mountain. Some scholars believe that the tiger motifs were spread with the migration of Eurasian nomads, and it is a vivid testimony to the exchange and communication of civilizations in different regions.

The museum is an important place for the protection and inheritance of culture, as well as an important platform for cultural exchange and communication. In recent years, adhering to the idea of "opening the museum to the world", Xuzhou Museum has held several impressive exhibitions outside to enhance the international influence and popularity of Xuzhou's Han culture with the main theme of "showing the new Han style and telling the story of Xuzhou". Xuzhou Museum will also actively promote the exhibitions of Xuzhou’s Han Dynasty cultural relics to Toronto in Canada, and Chicago and other cities in the United States, using cultural relics as a medium to tell the story of China and increase the depth and breadth of Chinese culture globally.