The cauldrons of history

"My grandmother had so much comfort 17 years ago seeing the tripods visited by thousands of people every day. She said she found the best home for the bronze brothers-the warmest and safest home."

Maogong Ding, one of the three most treasured bronze Ding of China, can be seen at the exhibition in the form of a collage as it currently resides in Taiwan's Palace Museum, having left the mainland together with Kuomintang forces in 1948.

The Shanghai Museum has also introduced a new merchandise series to complement the exhibition. Aside from silk scarves and bags bearing the images of Dake Ding or its inscribed patterns, the museum has also added Ding themed macarons, coffee, cocktails and ice creams to its cafe menu.

Another exhibition now on at the museum is An Everlasting Spring: The Art of Painting and Calligraphy in Shanghai. Consisting of 146 pieces of artwork created in the past 1,000 years, the exhibition marks the first academic study on the correlation between art and the city of Shanghai.

Among the exhibits are paintings by renowned masters active in Shanghai and nearby regions, artworks that reflect the local culture and lifestyle, as well as those depicting important figures and historical events in the city, according to Ling Lizhong, head of the painting and calligraphy department at the Shanghai Museum.

The majority of the artworks are on exhibition at the Shanghai Museum for the first time, and some have come from other museums and institutions in the city like the Shanghai Library and the Shanghai Academy of Painting and Calligraphy.

If you go
The Perpetual Prosperity: Special Exhibition of Donated Ding to the Shanghai Museum
June 19-July 18
An Everlasting Spring: The Art of Painting and Calligraphy in Shanghai
June 22-Sept 21 9 am-5 pm, Tuesday-Sunday.
Museum viewing reservations are required to be made on WeChat. Shanghai Museum, 201 Renmin Avenue, Huangpu district, Shanghai. 021-6372-3500.