Splendors of the Han, rise of the Celestial Empire

From 22 October 2014 to 1er March 2015 at Guimet Museum

Exhibition presented as part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the French Republic and the People's Republic of China.

After the reign of "the august Emperor" Qin Shi Huangdi (221-207 BC), the rulers of the Han Dynasty (-206 BC - 220 AD) .) find the foundations of a unified empire.

For nearly four centuries, they will strengthen and expand a territory from the steppe to the north of the Indochinese peninsula based on a hierarchical administration, an agricultural economy and diplomacy favoring distant alliances and exchanges, including by the Silk Road.

For nearly forty years, first-rate discoveries, revealing the richness of art and culture of the Han era have continued to multiply, constantly renewing Chinese archeology. These works, belonging mainly to the funeral sphere evoke the aristocratic art of living as well as the daily activities; they are of a striking humanism and also testify to the conceptions of the hereafter prevailing during these four centuries. It opens on a mythological space abounding, stay immortals.

Thanks to the outstanding loan of major works from museums in many Chinese provinces and the presentation of archaeological discoveries
unpublished, the National Museum of Asian Arts - Guimet will present to the public a brilliant panorama of the creation under the Han, from painting to bronzes, ceramics and lacquerware, browsing the whole of the artistic creation, the delicacy of the object to the monumental sculptures.

This time of artistic and technical innovation is an essential moment in the history of China, whose founding role can be compared to that of the Roman Empire in Western culture.

This exhibition is only possible thanks to the insuperable generosity of many Chinese museums who, during the exhibition, have disbanded many of their masterpieces, ensuring the event a remarkable level of quality, at the height of the event commemorated.

Curator

Eric Lefebvre, curator of the China section and Huei-chung Tsao, head of collections at the China section