By Dr. Beth Harris, Dr. Steven Zucker

These enigmatic, rectilinear tubes reveal clarity of thought and took great effort to produce. What can they mean?

Learn more

By Dr. Beth Harris, Dr. Kristen Loring Brennan

The writing on these bones is 3000 years old, but scholars can decipher an incredible 40 percent of the characters.

Learn more

By Dr. Beth Harris, Dr. Kristen Loring Brennan

Not for everyday use, this ritual bronze vessel is significant in function and in heft. It weighs over 400 pounds!

Learn more

By Dr. Beth Harris, Dr. Jennifer N. McIntire

Dressed in robes and adorned with jewels, this princely figure has foregone nirvana, maintaining earthly ties.

Learn more

By Dr. Kristen Loring Brennan, Dr. Steven Zucker

Every inch of this contemplative space was carefully crafted—there’s bamboo, patterned paving, and scholar’s rocks.

Learn more

By Dr. Jennifer N. McIntire, Dr. Steven Zucker

This enormous Buddhist wall painting exemplifies an important format of Chinese painting rarely seen in the West.

Learn more

By Dr. Beth Harris, Dr. Steven Zucker

Dragons! Elephants! A phoenix! Many motifs cover these tall vases, but it’s the inscriptions that date the pair.

Learn more

By Dr. Steven Zucker, Jan Stuart, Freer Gallery of Art

A red so rare, so impossible to make, the process was lost before the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Learn more

By Dr. Beth Harris, Dr. Kristen Loring Brennan

Journey to the Purple Mountain and the burial of the first Ming emperor

Learn more

By Dr. Steven Zucker, Stephen D. Allee, Freer Gallery of Art

The angry ducks of Bada Shanren.

Learn more