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We can get knowledge from ancient culture that will enlighten our life, just as elucidated by The Analects of Confucius, or Lunyu, ‘The Master said, I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there.’ One of the embodiments of ancient culture, is tangible materials such as objects produced or used by mankind in everyday lives, which serve as manifestations of historical imprints and craftsmanship. As such, it has been a long time since Chinese people have been into the hobby of collecting antiques. As great German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, ‘Collectors are happy souls.’ Indeed, possessing rare and precious collections will give one incomparable delights. But in essence, the art of collecting, a long and arduous task, is to benefit others, and collectors are nothing but passersby through millennia, who temporarily keep the cultural relics or artworks, before passing them down onto the next generation.
Therefore collectors’ pleasure chiefly comes from the collecting process, when they
personally hold the collectibles - epitomes of historical imprints and forefathers’ fruit of painstaking effort - carefully appreciating them, probing the history, culture and epochal spirit behind them, until mastering their artistic features and background, then passing them down with the accompanying cultural knowledge and historical lessons drawn. It is this whole process that gives collectors utmost satisfaction and delight.
In fact, every relic or artwork is a manifestation of the history, culture and craftsmanship of a period and has multiple values associated with historical, cultural and artistic merits. That said, economic value could be an indicator, yet not the only one, for examining a piece’s historical and cultural importance. Furthermore, focusing too much on the economic value of the collectibles may lead people forget the true meaning of collecting. Likewise, if investors purchase relics and artworks only for speculative investments, inflated art markets and proliferation of fakes might arise, thus creating a negative impact on collection activities. Indeed, collecting should not be an investment tool for profiteering, but rather, a fundamental tool to convey historical facts and propagate civilization.
In pursuing this line, many master collectors have set historical examples. Take for instance Zhang Boqu (1898-1982), who risked ruin to buy, with his huge fortune, Ping Fu Tie (Ping Fu Rubbing) by the Jin Dynasty master calligrapher Lu Ji, the most ancient extant calligraphy in China, as well as the Spring Outing by Sui Dynasty artist Zhan Ziqian, the most ancient landscape handscroll in existence in China, plus two calligraphy originals by Tang Dynasty outstanding poets, Poem about Zhang Hao Hao by Du Mu and Poem of Shangyang Tai by Li Bai. What he did was not for private benefit, but to shoulder up, voluntarily, the responsibility to preserve the quintessence of Chinese culture. Zhang squandered all his assets on buying these precious relics, all of which were eventually donated to public institutes. With extreme efforts, he successfully safeguarded these iconic masterworks from the political turbulence of China, forwarding civilization far and wide and contributing greatly to the country and Chinese people. Zhang’s example highlights the great contributions a collector can make!
Therefore it goes without saying that private collections crucially contribute to safeguarding traditional culture: since even developed and wealthy nations are unable to include into public collections all their valuable relics, private collections can supplement the public ones, participating in the preservation of relics fulfilling the expectations of the country. In a word, private collecting facilitates the circulation of relics and artworks in the market, enables one to appreciate culture within one’s financial capacity, inspires one to uphold civilization and prompts one to be engaged in protecting, inheriting and promoting culture. While private and public collections supplement each other, we may say that private collectors are engaged both financially and physically in their labour of love - besides investing on collecting arts, they also treasure the collectibles, trying by all means to preserve them intact.
Xing Wen Ya Hui, a collectors’ society in Macao, was founded in October 2014, and the 4th World Chinese Collectors Conference will be held in November 2014 in Shanghai. Coincidentally, the Macao Museum of Art (MAM) organises Delights of the Spirit: Artworks from Hong Kong and Macao Private Collections. With the support of the society, MAM is able to showcase fine works of art on loan from collectors, providing a platform for exchanging experiences in collection, promoting the protection of culture in the community, while strengthening exchanges between Hong Kong and Macao collectors. This exhibition also echoes the aforesaid conference in Shanghai. The exhibits are selected based on criteria like authenticity, historical and artistic value, local characteristic, and rareness.
We are deeply grateful to Xing Wen Ya Hui for their varied support, including contributing with planning ideas. MAM hopes that the public may appreciate this exhibition, with the many exhibits helping visitors to understand Chinese traditional culture, as well as the historical mission to pass down our civilization. From this point of view, museums, collectors and exhibition-goers are all partners in promoting culture.
Despite changing times and the rise and fall of dynasties and nations, artworks endured, transcending time and geographical boundaries to be handed down to present collectors, after many hardships, twists and turns. As such, the civilizational merits and historical significance of these works cannot be manifested solely by their commercial value, which is why art collection is so enthralling. Collectibles can always give collectors delights of the spirit; there is always ineffable joy that prompts them to carry on with forerunners’ immortal cause of passing down culture.
Chan Hou Seng
Director
Macao Museum of Art
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