Museum hails 60 years of donations

Gao Jie and Tom Qian

AN exhibition of donations for the 60th anniversary of the founding of Jiading Museum opened to the public on September 27.

More than 70 exhibits, including paintings, seals and jade antiques, are on show. Over the past 60 years, the museum accepted donations from 242 people, including celebrities such as Gu Weijun, Hu Juewen, Hu Shuchang and Zhang Bihan.

Xu Beihong’s “Painting of two horses” was donated by Hu Shuchang, a famous Jiading entrepreneur, in 1980. In the painting, the two horses rise into the air as they run ahead, symboling China’s hopes. There are also comments written by another famous entrepreneur and politician Hu Juewen in 1963.

The painting is a proof of a friendship.

Xu met Hu Juewen and Hu Shuchang in Chongqing, the temporary capital of the Republic of China in the 1930s. Hu Shuchang became a good friend of Xu’s. In order to express his gratitude, Xu painted the work.

At that time, Xu proposed that Hu Shuchang should be entrusted to publish the artwork to the world after the war. In order to keep his promise, Hu Shuchang loaned the painting to Shanghai Duoyunxuan Gallery to make copies using collotype printing technology, thus fulfilling Xu’s long-cherished wish.

Hu Juewen, Hu Shuchang and other members of the Hu’s family donated many paintings, calligraphic artworks, wooden carvings and decorative artworks to the museum.

“As descendants, we should not forget the original intentions of our ancestors and inherit their glorious traditions. Each donation expresses our deep love for Jiading.” Hu Shilong, a family representative, said.

Two bronze wine cups from the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC) were donated by Zhang Bihan and Zhu Weicong. The cups — top class cultural relics rated by the Chinese government — are the most treasured items in the museum.

Zhang and his family have donated more than 200 cultural relics over the past 30 years, including some masterpieces by China’s top artists and scholars.

“Some cultural relics had been sold to foreign countries, and they bought them back and donated to us, which was really moving,” Zhu Yunxian, the museum’s deputy director, said.

The exhibition will go through December 18.