CUHK
News Centre

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the Palace Museum on 28 June 2023 at the Palace Museum’s Garden of the Palace of Established Happiness for the collaboration on the special exhibition of rare rubbings opening in September 2023. The signing further cements the close relationship between CUHK and the Palace Museum, creating more opportunities for joint research, exhibition curation, professional training and academic exchange.

Professor Rocky S. Tuan, CUHK Vice-Chancellor and President, and Dr Wang Xudong, Member of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and Director of the Palace Museum, signed the MoU on behalf of their respective institutions. Professor Josh Yiu, Director of the Art Museum of CUHK, and Mr Lou Wei, Executive Deputy Director of the Palace Museum, signed an agreement specifically focused on the exhibition of rare rubbings.

The new agreement consolidates a longstanding partnership between CUHK and the Palace Museum. The Palace Museum, located in the imperial palace of the consecutive Ming and Qing dynasties, is a large, comprehensive ancient art museum with a distinguished collection. It aims to promote the excellent traditional Chinese culture and showcase China’s stories. Founded in 1963, CUHK is a world-class university with a global vision and a mission to combine tradition with modernity, and to bring together China and the West. CUHK’s Art Museum is home to a significant collection of Chinese art and antiquities with the Museum featuring precious items spanning thousands of years of China’s history. This unique collaboration is an important example of Hong Kong’s leading role in connecting the world with Chinese culture, and a signal of stronger ties between Hong Kong and mainland organizations in telling China’s stories on the world stage.

The exhibition, scheduled from September to November 2023 at the Hall of Literary Brilliance (Wenhua dian) of the Palace Museum, will feature 40 Song Dynasty rubbings from the collections of the Palace Museum and CUHK’s Art Museum, supplemented by selected calligraphy, paintings and objects. The exhibition comprises three sections: The Stele of Huashan Temple and Han and Tang Dynasties Steles, Chunhua ge tie (Model-Letter Compendia of the Chunhua Reign) and Song Dynasty Model Calligraphy, and Lanting Preface from the Grand Councillor You Si. Showcasing the collecting history, connoisseurship, research and aesthetics of precious ancient rubbings, the exhibition aims to reach people who are eager to delve into rubbing and calligraphy research, and to encourage the general public to recognize the rubbings’ cultural and aesthetic value.