Palace Museum Exhibitions in Britain
The Palace Museum has maintained long-term friendly cooperation with many British museums and cultural institutions. It has sent exhibitions to the UK several times . Among them, China: The Three Emperors, 1662-1795, an exhibition co-hosted by the Palace Museum and the Royal Academy of Arts in 2005, drew the greatest attention as the largest and highest-level overseas exhibition of treasures in the Palace Museum since 1949.
The exhibition featured about 400 pieces of treasures from the reigns of Emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, ranging from calligraphy and painting to jade, bronze, porcelain, lacquerware, embroidery, furniture, and Western instruments. Of these relics, 95 percent were from the Palace Museum, and many had never before been exhibited abroad. The exhibition vividly displayed the lives and cultural achievements of the three Qing emperors, reflecting the political, religious, military, cultural, and artistic prosperity of this period.
As early as 1935, the Palace Museum selected more than 700 pieces of relics to participate in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art in London, which was organized by the Royal Academy of Arts. Back then, the exhibition attracted more than 400,000 visitors from Germany, Italy, France, and other countries, marking an important milestone for Chinese culture going global.
In 2024, the Palace Museum joined hands with the Science Museum of Britain to hold the exhibition Zimingzhong: Clockwork Treasures from China's Forbidden City, which displayed 23 clocks from the Palace Museum in the UK for the first time, becoming another highlight of China-UK cultural exchange.
1935 年在伦敦皇家艺术学院举行的开箱仪式
The unpacking ceremony of Palace Museum relics sent to the Royal Academy of Arts in Britain for an exhibition in 1935.
赴英交流展
故宫博物院与英国文博机构长期保持友好合作，数次赴英国举办展览。其中，2005年与英国皇家艺术学院联合举办的“盛世华章”展最受瞩目，是1949年以来故宫博物院展出规模最大、珍品级别最高的赴外展览。
该展览精选中国清代康熙、雍正、乾隆时期约400件珍品，涵盖书画、玉器、青铜器、瓷器、漆器、织绣、家具、西洋仪器等类别，95%来自故宫博物院，其中不少是首次亮相海外。展览生动展现了三位清代皇帝的生平伟业与文化修养，再现了这一时期政治、宗教、军事、文化、艺术的辉煌盛况。早在1935年，故宫博物院就曾选送700余件文物参加伦敦中国艺术国际博览会，而展厅就设在英国皇家艺术学院。当时博览会吸引了来自德国、意大利、法国等国40余万观众，是中华文化走向世界的重要里程碑。
2024年，故宫博物院与英国科学博物馆合作举办“凝时聚珍”展，首次在英国展出23件故宫钟表，成为中英文化交流的又一亮点。
