Exhibition on beauty of Chinese characters to be held in Japan

A close look at the gold slip left by Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty after offering sacrifices to heaven at Songshan Mountain in Beijing, Sept 28, 2016. This valuable cultural relic will be displayed in Japan to present the beauty of Chinese characters. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

An traveling exhibition displaying the history and beauty of Chinese characters will be held in Japan, according to Art Exhibitions China at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

At the conference, the director of Art Exhibitions China, Wang Jun, said that 118 sets of cultural relics selected from 17 Chinese museums will be displayed in Japan. Nearly 20 percent of them are national first-class relics, including oracle bones, bronze ware, and Terracotta Warriors carved with inscriptions.

Inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells and Chinese bronze inscriptions from the Shang Dynasty (c.16th century-11th century BC) unearthed from the Yin Ruins were the earliest recognizable Chinese characters.

One of the most valuable objects is a gold slip left by Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) after offering sacrifices to heaven at Songshan Mountain. It includes 63 Chinese characters; five were created by Empress Wu Zetian.

The exhibition will cover five Japanese cities, including Tokyo, Kyoto, and Niigata, from October 2016 to September 2017, and it will mark the first time that China systematically presents the evolution of Chinese characters in Japan.