The Nanjing Unearthed Gold and Jade Treasures exhibition will be on display in Taicang from February to the end of March. It is the main activity of the cultural relics tour of Jiangsu sponsored by the Cultural Relics Bureau of Jiangsu province and the Taicang Press and Publication Bureau and undertaken by Nanjing and Taicang museums.

Among 80 pieces of precious relics on display: 3 are Grade 1 cultural relics and 30 are Grade 2 cultural relics. Most relics were unearthed from the tombs of nobles in the Song and Ming dynasties, such as the tombs of Zhang Tongzhi, Qin Hui, Muying, Xu Fu, Yu Tongyuan, Kang Maocai and Wang Xingzu.

Exhibits from the jade-embedding gold and silver jewelry to the dishes present the luxuries and elegant lifestyles of that time, showing prosperity of the era. They represent important materials for studying gold, silver and jade treasures of the two dynasties.

The craftsmanship of gold and silver ornaments is unique and complicated. Ming dynasty craftsmen usually used a hollow design combined with the filigree and flower-engraving, inlay and others techniques.

The technique of “leisi” (a technique that can draw with the fine gold or silver wire) made crafts more delicate and beautiful. The inlay technique reached its top form in the Ming Dynasty. Founded in 1987, the Taicang Museum collected nearly 2,000 pieces of relics such as ceramics, bronzes, paintings and jade. The new museum covers an area of 14,000 square meters. Its shape is like a granary.

The museum contains the Chinese culture of ‘tolerance’ and echoes with the history of the locale. Taicang got its name since many emperors had established granaries there in the Spring and Autumn Period.