Photo: Website of Hebei Museum

Nearly 200 sets of cultural relics from seven Asian countries went on display at the Hebei Museum in North China's Hebei Province on Friday. 

Be Together in the East: Special Exhibition on the Civilization of Ancient Asia displays a total of 190 relics from China, the United Arab Emirates, Syrian Arab Republic, Cambodia, Pakistan, Lebanon and Japan. 

One highlight among these cultural artifacts is an underglaze blue porcelain piece featuring Arabic writing. The blue-and-white porcelain is a Wudang bottomless vase, a type of vessel that was introduced from Persia to China and then later developed into one of the types of Chinese zun, a wine vessel used in ancient China.

Dating to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Wudang bottomless vase is cylindrical in shape. The item is very rare, and experts speculate that the artifact was a product customized to fit overseas aesthetic requirements such as those found in Islamic culture in West Asia. It exemplifies the cultural exchanges between China and other countries on the Maritime Silk Road during the Ming Dynasty, the exhibition's curator Zhang Yongqiang told media on Friday. 

Other noteworthy items at the exhibition include a miniature blue glass amphora which is believed to have been a container for holding perfume during the Roman period and a black stone fragment from the National Museum of Damascus dating back to 8800BC-9200BC. Additionally, a cylindrical tablet with a cuneiform writing inscription is another item that shows the long cultural history of Asia. 

The exhibition comparatively displays these diverse items over four sections that explore the theme of mutual learning and the intergrowth of Asian countries in a cultural context. The exhibition aims to show the cultural proximity of Asian culture, as well as show how a particular Asian culture can be distinctive and have its own history.

The exhibition is scheduled to end on February 28, 2021.