On May 13, the Ox-head Bronze Pot with Coiled Chi-Dragon Patterns unearthed in Shanxi Province made its debut in the Zhejiang University Museum of Art and Archaeology (ZJUMAA). Meanwhile, the Key Scientific Research Base (Zhejiang University) of Shanxi Cultural Relics Bureau was officially established.
Present at the ceremony were HU Bing, deputy director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, ZHANG Fuming, vice governor of Shanxi Province, CHENG Yuechong, vice governor of Zhejiang Province, REN Shaobo, chairman of Zhejiang University Council, CHENG Shulin, deputy director of the Shanxi Cultural Relics Bureau, HE Lianzhen, vice president of Zhejiang University, and HUANG Xianhai, vice president of Zhejiang University.
The Ox-head Bronze Pot with Coiled Chi-Dragon Patterns in the Warring States Period (475 BC-221 BC) is a national Grade-II cultural relic. It is the first bronze vessel in the collection of ZJUMAA. This relic is delicately adorned and cast with exceptionally fine craftsmanship.
"The accession of precious cultural relics is of immense significance for the University to enrich its collection, merge cultural relics with teaching, and promote disciplinary construction and talent cultivation in relevant subjects. The strategic cooperation between ZJU and Shanxi Province has been in full swing," said REN Shaobo. In the next stage, he added, the University would make every endeavor to further cooperation and build a leading Key Scientific Research Base (Zhejiang University) of Shanxi Cultural Relics Bureau.
"2021 is the Year of the Ox. The Ox-head Bronze Pot with Coiled Chi-Dragon Patterns, as a representative bronze vessel, will provide tangible evidence for the ZJU community to savor the splendid Chinese culture," said ZHANG Fuming, expressing the hope for the in-depth partnership between Zhejiang University and Shanxi Province in terms of conservation of cultural relics and talent cultivation.
"National Cultural Heritage Administration will continue to support cooperation between Shanxi Province and Zhejiang University and look forward to the leading role played by both parties in cultural heritage preservation," said HU Bing.
"Zhejiang Province has long attached immense importance to cultural heritage work," said CHENG Yuechong, expressing hope that ZJU would make greater contributions to promoting cultural construction and cooperation between Zhejiang Province and Shanxi Province.
The Key Scientific Research Base (Zhejiang University) of Shanxi Cultural Relics Bureau will be built into a major scientific research platform of the Shanxi Cultural Relics Bureau in the south of the Yangtze River and an academic center for Chinese cultural heritage preservation. Prof. LI Zhirong from the Zhejiang University School of Art and Archaeology is appointed as director of the Base's academic committee.
