The part of the painting "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" collected in the Zhejiang Provincial Museum in Hangzhou Photo: VCG

A cultural event commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the reunion of the two halves of the ancient painting Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains on the island of Taiwan was held in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province on Tuesday. The event was seen as the first major cross-Straits cultural exchange event of 2021.

Over 350 people from both sides of the Straits attended the event at the Zhejiang Provincial Great Hall of the People. "This is a Chinese cultural pageant in cross-Straits exchanges," reported Chinese media.

The painting was separated as two halves in 1650 and one of them was brought to the island of Taiwan in 1949.

The two halves of this ancient Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) painting are housed in the Zhejiang Provincial Museum in Hangzhou and the Palace Museum in Taipei. On June 1, 2011, the two pieces were reunited for a time in Taipei due to the efforts of far-sighted people across the Straits.

Due to an outbreak of COVID-19 on the island, Hung Hsiu-chu, chairperson of the Chinese Cyan Geese Peace Education Foundation, and her team were unable to attend the event in Hangzhou in person, but she expressed her congratulations in a video played at the event.

In the video, Hung said that the public excitement surrounding the reunion of the two halves in 2011 demonstrated that the bonds that tie Taiwan residents' blood to Chinese culture cannot be cut off even if some powers on the island try to obstruct the exchanges, according to a report from media outlet China Taiwan.

Besides inviting scholars and officials who took part in the 2011 exhibition to share their experiences, the event also saw a performance from popular Chinese singer Zhou Shen, who sang a song that showed the struggling spirit and strong will of today's youth.

Painters from the mainland and Taiwan cooperated to recreate the ancient painting to celebrate the event. Young painter Huang Shiting from the island said that she saw it as an inheritance of Chinese culture.

Wang Zaixi, then deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, who witnessed the reunion of the painting in Taipei back in 2011, said that Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains holds a special meaning for the mainland and Taiwan as its fate is similar to that of both sides. 

The mainland and the island belong to one country but are separated because of historical reasons, just like the halves of the painting. The reunion of the painting represents a national reunification. "I believe that with China's development and peaceful rise, the reunification of both sides of the Taiwan Straits will not be too far away," Wang added. 

Wang Yunting (TaimeiPKGIRL), a vlogger from Taiwan with more than 1.3 million followers on short video platform Douyin, told the Global Times on Tuesday that she was excited about the event and wished that the cultural exchanges across the Straits could grow stronger in the future.

"Although this is a cultural event, it represents a doubling of goodwill from the mainland towards Taiwan. The authority in Taiwan should not have suspicions. The painting can be rejoined again and on display in Hangzhou," Wang said.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said that he hopes the people on both sides of the Straits, especially young people, can learn more about history through the event, and jointly shoulder the mission of carrying forward, innovating and promoting Chinese culture. "We also hope that more Taiwan compatriots will take an active part in the mainland's new development and join hands to paint the most beautiful picture of national rejuvenation in the new era."