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Wanted: A Chinese national treasure to wow the world
By Yang Jian |
January 19, 2009, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A secret "national treasure" will be unveiled in the China Pavilion as the centerpiece to attract visitors, according to the organizer of the World Expo 2010.
What could it be? An extraordinary relic, a mummy, a painting, an example of one of China's four great inventions ?? paper-making, gunpowder, printing and the compass? A display like that at the opening ceremony of 2008 Beijing Olympics?
Could it be a modern treasure? A person perhaps? People? An invention, a cure? Something ancient and modern, something harmonious?
The organizer is looking for the treasure, but won't reveal anything before the opening of the China Pavilion on May 1, 2010.
Expos have long been the venue for the exhibition of great art, inventions and extraordinary things. These include Rodin's bronze statue "The Thinker" at the World Expo 1900 in Paris; the world's first earth satellite (USSR) exhibited at the 1958 Expo in Brussels, Belgium; a moon rock from the surface of the moon shown at the Expo 1970 in Osaka, Japan; at the 2005 Expo in Aichi, Japan, exhibited a fossil of a mammoth unearthed in Russian Siberia.
These treasures became the most popular exhibits on the Expos.
In the China Pavilion of Expo 2010, the country's achievements in urban development from ancient to modern times will be the main focus. The theme is "Better City, Better Life."
So far, 185 countries and 45 international organizations have confirmed participation in the Expo.
The treasure for the China Pavilion should reflect the country's culture and fit the Expo theme, said He Jingtang, the pavilion's chief designer from the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
It should involve some core philosophical thinking of China such as "human harmony with the nature" and kindness and love to others, said He.
For example, the treasure might be the famous Chinese painting such as "Along the River on the Qingming Festival," he said.
The painting, a wide handscroll of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), depicts prosperous city life and is one of the top-level national treasures in the Palace Museum in Beijing.
Besides, cultural relics, ancient architecture and even Chinese traditional gardens were possibilities, he said. Modern technology and multimedia could be part of the exhibit.
He's ideas were shared by Zhou Hanmin, deputy director general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination. Zhou has said the treasure should be a combination of both the historic achievement and modern technology.
Harmony will be the core meaning of the treasure, predicted Huang Jianzhi, another deputy director general of the Expo Bureau.
Huang said the organizer might even clone a little mammoth from the Aichi Expo's treasure and exhibit it in the China Pavilion to show the continuity of World Expo spirit.
The national treasure will be exhibited on the top floor of the 70-meter-high China Pavilion. The exhibition area will be about 11 meters high, said He. All the heavy exhibits will be put on the top floor, he added. The pavilion will be 160,000 square meters, the largest national pavilion at the Expo.
All the exhibits in the pavilion will be conserved and transported just like top-grade national relics. After the organizer decides on the national treasure, He will design an exhibition space for it.
The pavilion might have more than one national treasure, said Zhou who promised the treasure would "surprise the world."
The organizer launched a global donation among Chinese people for the China Pavilion on December 18, 2007. People can donate money and provide exhibits for the pavilion on the Website (jz.expo2010china.com). The donation is also a public collection for the national treasure.
The pavilion will be converted into a museum of Chinese history and culture after the Expo closes on November 1, 2010.
What could it be? An extraordinary relic, a mummy, a painting, an example of one of China's four great inventions ?? paper-making, gunpowder, printing and the compass? A display like that at the opening ceremony of 2008 Beijing Olympics?
Could it be a modern treasure? A person perhaps? People? An invention, a cure? Something ancient and modern, something harmonious?
The organizer is looking for the treasure, but won't reveal anything before the opening of the China Pavilion on May 1, 2010.
Expos have long been the venue for the exhibition of great art, inventions and extraordinary things. These include Rodin's bronze statue "The Thinker" at the World Expo 1900 in Paris; the world's first earth satellite (USSR) exhibited at the 1958 Expo in Brussels, Belgium; a moon rock from the surface of the moon shown at the Expo 1970 in Osaka, Japan; at the 2005 Expo in Aichi, Japan, exhibited a fossil of a mammoth unearthed in Russian Siberia.
These treasures became the most popular exhibits on the Expos.
In the China Pavilion of Expo 2010, the country's achievements in urban development from ancient to modern times will be the main focus. The theme is "Better City, Better Life."
So far, 185 countries and 45 international organizations have confirmed participation in the Expo.
The treasure for the China Pavilion should reflect the country's culture and fit the Expo theme, said He Jingtang, the pavilion's chief designer from the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
It should involve some core philosophical thinking of China such as "human harmony with the nature" and kindness and love to others, said He.
For example, the treasure might be the famous Chinese painting such as "Along the River on the Qingming Festival," he said.
The painting, a wide handscroll of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), depicts prosperous city life and is one of the top-level national treasures in the Palace Museum in Beijing.
Besides, cultural relics, ancient architecture and even Chinese traditional gardens were possibilities, he said. Modern technology and multimedia could be part of the exhibit.
He's ideas were shared by Zhou Hanmin, deputy director general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination. Zhou has said the treasure should be a combination of both the historic achievement and modern technology.
Harmony will be the core meaning of the treasure, predicted Huang Jianzhi, another deputy director general of the Expo Bureau.
Huang said the organizer might even clone a little mammoth from the Aichi Expo's treasure and exhibit it in the China Pavilion to show the continuity of World Expo spirit.
The national treasure will be exhibited on the top floor of the 70-meter-high China Pavilion. The exhibition area will be about 11 meters high, said He. All the heavy exhibits will be put on the top floor, he added. The pavilion will be 160,000 square meters, the largest national pavilion at the Expo.
All the exhibits in the pavilion will be conserved and transported just like top-grade national relics. After the organizer decides on the national treasure, He will design an exhibition space for it.
The pavilion might have more than one national treasure, said Zhou who promised the treasure would "surprise the world."
The organizer launched a global donation among Chinese people for the China Pavilion on December 18, 2007. People can donate money and provide exhibits for the pavilion on the Website (jz.expo2010china.com). The donation is also a public collection for the national treasure.
The pavilion will be converted into a museum of Chinese history and culture after the Expo closes on November 1, 2010.
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