Rare Chinese Buddhist art has come to Bangkok. Until Sunday, the "Buddhist Faith Art Of The Ming Dynasty" exhibition is being held at the National Gallery on Chao Fah Road, near Sanam Luang, Bangkok.
The exhibition features 136 paintings copied by Chinese artist Zhao Qingsheng from the fading Buddhist paintings of Pao Ning Temple in Suzhou, a city in China. The original paintings were commissioned by a Chinese emperor of the Ming dynasty 580 years ago. Depicting stories relating to Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism, they are recognised as national ancient artefacts. They are kept in the Shanxi Province Museum, China.
Chinese artist Zhao Qingsheng and his wife.
"My work was inspired by my wishes to show Chinese culture to people in other countries and make the new generation recognise the importance of culture," Zhao noted. "I like all the paintings I painted."
The copies of the paintings are the fruits of 23 years of hard work by Zhao, a famed artist and on China's ancient artefact conservation committee. Among highlights are the paintings of Chinese goddess Guan Yin and Virocana Buddha, a dharma divine state of the future Sri Ariya Mettrai Buddha.
Zhao was born in Mongolia in 1961. In 1979, he was accepted into the military due to his excellent academic performance in painting. Throughout his military service, he won various awards, including third-class merits. He studied painting with Chinese calligraphy expert Pan Jiezi and Chinese landscape painting expert Liang Shunian.
In 1990, he was transferred to head the technology centre of the National Heritage Office of Shanxi province, which is in charge of cultural heritage conservation in the province. He later copied murals of the Liu and Yuan dynasties, as well as paintings in numerous caves and temples.
After more than 20 years of his best efforts and hard work to bring many precious paintings back to life, Zhao finally won acceptance and support from numerous scholars, including Buddhism Association of China chairman Zhao Puchu, Taoism Association of China chairman Lu Jimin and former Palace Museum director Lao Zhemen.
He copied Buddhist paintings of Pao Ning Temple in Suzhou exactly according to the sizes, contents, techniques and patterns of the original ones, including paper dating to the Ming dynasty. This is considered the success of traditional Chinese painting conservation.
This exhibition at the National Gallery, Bangkok, is the first overseas display of this set of Buddhist paintings.
"This is the first time for Thais to be able to see Chinese art, which is 600-700 years old. Thai people must come to study, especially about Buddhism. As a Thai who loves culture and art, I wish this exhibition would allow people to learn more about China and Chinese art," Vikrom Kromadit, a Thai businessman, said after the recent opening of the exhibition.
The National Gallery is open 9am-4pm from Wednesday-Sunday. Admission fee is 30 baht for Thais and 200 baht for foreigners. Call 02-281-2224.
