A series of exhibition programs, competitions and forums focused on the
newly acquired calligraphy samples of the Northern Song Dynasty,
Chunhua Ge Tie, has started this month according to a government news
conference on September 4.

Spokesperson of the government, Jiang Lan, presided over the briefing.
Yhe head of the Shanghai Museum was invited to speech on Chunhua Ge
Tie.

The following is the content of the news conference.
Content

1. Oriental Morning News
Q: It's a fact that only the calligraphers are caring much for the
Chunhua Ge Tie. Most of the common people in the city, and even some
government officials, aren't quite familiar with it. Would you provide your
comment on it? What's the purpose of launching such a series of programs
focused on the calligraphic works?

A: The programs are launched to publicize and the promote the
popularity of the cherished ancient Chinese cultures. The purchase and the
exhibition of the Chunhua Ge Tie relate much to the whole people of China,
rather than the museum only.

I admit that the ancient culture is waning as the western chics, such
as football stars and singers, are catching on. Take the Shanghai Museum
with a staff of 481 for example, it's a pity that there are fewer than
eight people there who have an idea about Chunhua Ge Tie. It's high
time that we discuss whether Chinese culture should be preserved and
developed in time.
Yes, some overseas Chinese have figured out the consequences, but the
native people are still at a loss. They have seldom developed Chinese
calligraphy nor written with pen, ever since the permeation of the
computer language.
A large quantity of cultural relics are disappearing. Elapse of
hundreds of years have decreased some 3,000 works of the ancient calligrapher
Wang Xizhi to 20 from Tang Dynasty to today. Wang Xianzhi's works were
also lost or damaged from more than 70 in Song Dynasty to five works
today.
What's more, many domestic masterpieces are kept by foreigners today.
If they die, the pieces will immediately go to their countries and never
have a chance to travel back to China.
Finally, we are launching the programs to remind people of the
cherished relics, reiterating the significance of the purchase of it and
telling people what is Chunhua Ge Tie by displaying and publicizing it.

2
Q: Will it (Chunhua Ge Tie) be displayed regularly in the future? Will
it be published and when? What's the difference between the purchases
of the Chunhua Ge Tie and the Chu Shisong, which is now kept in Beijing?

A: Yes. It will be listed here at the museum along with other
calligraphic pieces recording the evolution of the Chinese calligraphy by time
sequence.
The Chunhua Ge Tie will be published and the first 1,000 have been
ready, which is very likely to be a market hit soon.
Here in my hand is one of them.
The Chu Shisong, bought by the Imperial Palace in Beijing, is
especially significant to the palace because it was snatched out right from the
palace in the past. The return of the piece meant a lot thereby and
more details have been recorded by the Beijing authorities.

3 Ladong Daily
Q: When will the exhibition be showed to the foreigners? Foreigners
from what countries will be invited? Will the exhibition be successful?
With a hundred percent or else?

A: It's our obligation to organize a special exhibition for foreign
visitors. People around the world, especially in Asia, have learnt about
the exhibition of the Chunhua Ge Tie through the media.
Calligraphy fans throughout the world have organized annual tours to
Shanghai for years for cultural appreciation, including that of the
Chunhua Ge Tie.
We plan to target the countries where the Chinese characters are often
used.
We welcome people from any other country and region here, to the
Shanghai Museum.

4 TVBS (Taiwan)
Q: Is there any possibility that the exhibition will someday move to
Taiwan if its debut in Shanghai proves successful?
A: If condition merit, we all hope that the cultural relics, the
calligraphic sample, will travel to Taiwan soon.
There is possibility because the Shanghai Museum has once sent exhibits
to foreign countries and vice versa. It's reasonable that similar
practices with Taiwan, an island province of China, will be feasible.
The issue had been discussed earlier last year when we prepared another
wellknown exhibition with artists from Taiwan.
We believe that the exhibition will meet the Taiwan audience very soon.

5 Takungpao

Q: It's recalled that some people spent five hours to wait to see an
ancient painting last year at another stunning exhibition. Will that
happen again this time, and what are the counter measures on the part of
the museum?

A: We'll limit the daily people flow and organize special time slots
for different groups. The normal people flow is 3,000 to 4,000 a day,
reaching its maximum of some 5,000 at weekends.
Last year's exhibition took in a daily maximum of 6,000 visitors,
including the early morning and late night extras. The number has surpassed
the normal daily flow.
We think that ancient writings' appreciation deserves time and space
and this year we promiss that every visitor will go home with
satisfaction.

6 Yomuri Shimbun
Q: We've learnt that many more first-class cultural relics of China are
kept by foreigners. Where are they and how many have you bought back,
in addition to the Chunhua Ge Tie? Do you have any further plans on more
re-purchases? Is there any relics left in Japan?
A: There are three kinds of the so-called first-class, or national
cultural relics - paintings and calligraphy, ceremics, bronze ware.
The term of "natioal relics" is a comparative measure to distinguish
the three rarest kinds from others such as jade, ivory carvings and stone
inscriptions.
Some pieces were sold or snatched to foreign countries. For those now
circulated in world markets, we are trying hard to get them back. Once
the owners show their willingness and the prices are affordable for us
government or museum.
Besides the Chunhua Ge Tie, we also bought some pieces from US the year
before last and some from Japan just recently.
However, the former foreign owners are yet to be disclosed.
We hope more domestic cultural relics could come back as soon as
possible.

7 Takungpao
Q: Is there any detailed plans for the Shanghai Museum for future
re-purchases?
A: We are now studying the cultural relics available on world markets
and selecting those most attractive to us. The local government will
make the final decision.

8 Eastday.com
Q: Is it proper to put the re-purchase of the Chunhua Ge Tie as the
most significant return of Chinese cultural relics after the founding of
the People's Republic of China? Why should we consider it as the
original copy of the Chunhua Ge Tie? How can we tell the genuine ones from the
false ones?
A: We put it as the most significant only in regard to its value in the
history of the Chinese calligraphy.
Experiences and years of serious studies led us to the clear definition
of the genuine pieces. We tell it from facsimiles through the way it
was engraved.

9 Shanghai Business
Q: How did you manage to bring it back? What about the many years when
it was circulated outside China?
A: The Chunhua Ge Tie was orginally kept by Chinese collectors in the
Southern Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. After its last
appearance in Shanghai in the 1940s, it was lost to somewhere outside
China, until an auction in the 1980s, when it was confirmed that the
volumes 4,7,8 were auctioned off to an American Jew.
As to the secrets of the owners before the American Jew and how did it
lost out is yet to be studied.
We (Shanghai Museum) caught the sight of the three volumes in the 1990s
for the first time when it was exhibited in the Palace Museum in
Beijing. We have been after it for years and now our dreams came true.

Ending speech by Jiang Lan, spokesperson of the municipal government.