Power & Glory Showcases Ming Dynasty’s Many Treasures at Asian Art Museum

Power & Glory: Court Arts of China’s Ming Dynasty is a pioneering exhibition in many respects. It’s the first large scale show solely devoted to Ming period arts; one of the largest ever exhibited outside China, and the most expensive presentation in the history of the Museum, which now celebrates its fifth anniversary in the new building in the heart of San Francisco. The show also comes as a result of the Museum’s first collaboration with The Palace Museum (Forbidden City) in Beijing, the Nanjing Municipal Museum, and the Shanghai Museum. The Ming dynasty (1368–1644) notorious for its lasting rule of peace and economic stability brought about a cornucopia of highly developed court arts. Imperially supervised workshops followed strict guidelines in creating porcelains, lacquers, jewelry, and textiles for royal consumption. Zhu Zhanji, the fifth Ming Emperor, was not averse to handling brushes himself. His skillful scroll, Rats after bittermelons and fruits depicts a Chinese lunar calendar animal, revered for its intelligence and fertility. The images of rats and multi-seeded fruit together echo the emperor’s concern with the dynastic succession, alluding to a popular saying, "May you have sons and grandsons for ten thousand generations." China’s last native-ruled dynasty is presented in the exhibit by more than 240 artworks, many shown to the public for the first time. Organized and curated by Li He and Michael Knight, it was developed by a grant from the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation—a Hong Kong based philanthropic organization with a mission to foster and support Chinese arts and culture, in particular cross-cultural understanding between China and the world. The show opens on Friday, June 27 and runs through September 21, then travels to the Indianapolis Museum of Art (October 26–January 11, 2009) and the St. Louis Museum of Art (February 22–May 17, 2009). The Asian Art Museum is located at 200 Larkin Street, San Francisco, (415) 581-3500 or www.asianart.org. First Sunday of the month free, sponsored by Target. Photo: Rats after bitter melons and fruits (detail), 1427 and 1431, by Zhu Zhanji (1398-1435), reign of the Xuande emperor, (1426-1435). Handscroll, ink and colors on paper. Palace Museum, Beijing.