Rachel Hou/Shanghai Daily news

At the end of this month, the Shanghai Museum will stage an exhibition of rare Chinese paintings and calligraphic works collected by the Palace Museum, Xinmin Evening News reported. It will also serve as a celebration of Beijing's Palace Museum's 80th Anniversary.

The exhibition will feature 67 paintings and 36 calligraphic works, including "Pingfu Tie", the earliest Chinese calligraphic masterpiece in existence, and "Chushi Song" (also named Eulogy of Launching the Campaign), a calligraphic work bought by the Palace Museum for 22 million yuan (US$2.65 million) in 2003. For security reasons, the two national treasures will be displayed at the Shanghai Museum for only a week.

"Pingfu Tie" was donated to the Palace Museum in 1955 by legendary collector Zhang Boju, after he had paid a lot of money to buy it from Fu Xinshe, a famous painter and Manchu noble of the late Qing Dynasty.

Ping Fu Tie
in official-cursive script
collection of the Palace Museum
By Lu Ji (261-303)
Endowed with extraordinary talent from his youth, he was renowned for his masterpiece in Chinese literature history, Ode to Literature. Ping Fu Tie is recognized as the earliest authentic Chinese calligraphy extant today.

Anonymous
Chu Shi Song (Eulogy of Launching the Campaign)
in official-cursive script
With vigorous strokes and a compact composition, the calligraphy written in official-cursive script looks very elegant. It is regarded as a rare piece handed down from the Sui dyansty.
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