A special exhibition of China Media Group's (CMG) 'Journey Through Civilizations: An Encounter with Liangzhu' 2024 World Tour opened on Monday in Lima, the capital of Peru, offering visitors an immersive experience of ancient Chinese culture from around 5,000 years ago.
The exhibition, which has previously been held in Singapore, Ethiopia, Egypt, Japan and at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York City, marks its latest stop on its global tour.
Located in the Yangtze River Basin in east China's Zhejiang Province, the Liangzhu site (3300 BC–2300 BC) was first discovered in 1936 with pottery and stone artifacts, followed in the 1980s and 1990s by the uncovering of numerous tombs, altars, and large palace foundations.
The archaeological ruins reveal an early regional state with a unified belief system centered around rice cultivation in Late Neolithic China, and it has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2019.
The exhibition focuses on the exquisite jade artifacts of Liangzhu culture and introduces ancient city ruins, water conservancy systems, socially stratified cemeteries, and other unearthed cultural relics.
Over 150 teachers and students from the Confucius Institute at Ricardo Palma University attended the exhibition and watched a documentary about Liangzhu culture.
"After watching this documentary, I learned about the significant role Liangzhu culture plays in China's history and culture. I also discovered that its jade and pottery share many similarities with those of the Inca Empire in Peru," said Senahy Torres Rivas, a student of the university.
"I think there are many similarities between the ancient civilizations of China and Peru. For example, the artifacts discovered in Liangzhu are made of jade, while in Peru, many of our ancient artifacts are pottery. Pottery is a representative of Peru’s ancient civilization, while jade represents China’s ancient civilization," said Rosa Falla, another student of the university.
The exhibition also featured a hands-on interactive area, where teachers and students experienced a variety of cultural merchandise inspired by Liangzhu culture.
"If I have the chance to go to China, I would like to visit its museums, such as the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, which houses the Terracotta Warriors. It is known as the Eighth Wonder of the World. I think this might be the place I want to visit most," Torres Rivas said.
At the opening of the exhibition, Cecilla Tello, dean of the Confucius Institute at Ricardo Palma University, emphasized the value of cultural immersion for her students.
"The most important thing for our students is to be very close to the Chinese culture and this was a very nice opportunity for them to be really close, to experience in a very real way the magnificence of this culture. I think our students really enjoyed this opportunity, and they learned a lot. For our students that learn Chinese in a very professional way, because we teach Chinese for translators and interpreters, this was the most important experience that they had maybe during this year," she said.
Exhibition on China's ancient Liangzhu ruins opens in Peru
Exhibition on China's ancient Liangzhu ruins opens in Peru
