Arts and Culture take centre stage

At Zhejiang University, the promotion and preservation of Chinese arts and culture is a central part of the institution’s mission – a mission underpinned by the belief that China’s rich heritage should be made accessible to everybody and shared with the world

The Great Series of Ancient Chinese Painting

This extensive project involved the categorisation of 8,500 works of ancient Chinese art, held in over 200 separate collections across Europe, the United States and Southeast Asia. Drawing on experts in the fields of art history, anthropology, architecture, botany and fashion, the project has led to a new and comprehensive database for the study of Chinese Art worldwide.

Widely praised for its academic rigour, the research has been published and gifted to scholars the world over: the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Freer and Sackler Galleries of Art in Washington DC, are just some of the institutions that have expressed their appreciation of it.

Scientific Archaeology

The Cultural Heritage Research Institute at Zhejiang University has pioneered the development of key technologies and high fidelity digitisation that allows ancient wall murals to be viewed in unprecedented detail.

By integrating archeology, cultural relics preservation and computer science specialisms, the Institute is enabling the digital capture of art and antiquities at numerous historical sites. In doing so, they ensure their survival for future generations.

The Research on Longquan Judicial Archives

In 2007, a vast archive of judicial papers was discovered in the city of Longquan, Zhejiang Province, by a researcher working in the university’s history department. Consisting of over 17,000 volumes, comprising 880 thousand pages each, the Longquan Judicial Archives document all aspects of local public life, dating from the late Qing dynasty to the establishment of the Republic of China.

They archives offer a unique and comprehensive overview of Chinese legal and social history, at a time when the country was charting a path towards modernisation.

Under the guidance of Zhejiang experts, work is now underway on editing the archived papers for a series of anthologies intended for wider public distribution.