TREASURES OF THE Chengde Summer Palace, the largest exhibition about the Qing dynasty held in Hong Kong, uses exquisite works of art and historical pieces to trace the turbulent years from the early 18th century to the early 20th century.
Hongkongers may be interested in seeing a copy of the Sino-British Conventions of Peking, which was ratified in Chengde by Emperor Xianfeng. Article 6 of the document further consolidated Britain's colonial rule over Hong Kong by ceding the area south of Boundary Street in Kowloon (Hong Kong Island having been ceded with the Treaty of Nanking).
Other highlights of the $2 million, 120-piece exhibition, at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, include a rare zitan screen decorated with a 3,000-year-old lingzhi fungus, first-class pieces of Tibetan art, imperial jade seals, robes, ceramics and lacquer wares.
'Some of the exhibits had never been shown before and many of them are unique,' says Dr Joseph Ting Sun-pao, the museum's chief curator. He says he wanted to bring the exhibit to Hong Kong partly because he felt people would be 'interested in the relation between the Qing dynasty and Europe, such as the Macartney Mission to China in 1793'.
The curator also says, half-jokingly, that he hopes television soap operas about the Qing dynasty will inspire people to visit the exhibition. 'Some are even about Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong,' he says.
The exhibition, which opened in Beijing last year to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Chengde Summer Palace, is the first to showcase the palace's treasures. Chengde's 124 groups of buildings cover 56sqkm. It's the largest existing royal garden in China and was declared a World Cultural Heritage site in 1994.
Because the ruling Manchus were originally from northeastern China, they found the summer heat in Beijing unbearable. Also known as bishu shanzhuang ('the garden to get away from the heat'), it was constructed under the command of Emperor Kangxi in 1703. Extensions were completed in 1792 under Emperor Qianlong.