A woman visits an exhibition titled "The Countless Aspects of Beauty in Ancient Art" at the National Museum of China in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

"From differences results the most beautiful harmony." Niu Dong, 13, mused before the words of Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher who lived around 500 BC.

The junior high school student from Beijing was visiting an exhibition on Hellenic art and life at the National Museum of China. Though an avid enthusiast of Chinese history, Niu was amazed by the timeless appeal of Greek aesthetics.

The quote, displayed prominently on a wall, seemed to set the tone for a journey into an intriguing world of pottery, gold and silverware, murals and sculptures. 

In China, there is rising interest in cultural things, with museums becoming increasingly popular.

"The demand for a deeper knowledge of culture, history and art at museums has soared in recent years," said Wang Xi, who works for the National Museum of China.

During the summer of 2024, an average of 1.6 million people applied for the 26,000 tickets in the daily quota of the museum. 

Cultural confidence

Guan Jian, a sociology professor at Nankai University, called this phenomenon "cultural awakening." Guan attributed it to the country's economic success in recent decades, which offers more resources and opportunities for cultural pursuits.

At the National Museum of China, Niu also visited an exhibition on ancient China. He was captivated by the bronze masks that dated back to around 3,000 years ago.

He was amazed at the skillful use of phosphorus and welding in bronze ware, which he said shows the technological sophistication of ancient Chinese people.

Li Chaoyang, a 30-year-old resident in Beijing, saw the Hellenic exhibition as an opportunity to broaden his horizons. "Exploring how other societies evolve, their perspectives on beauty, and their pursuit of it helps us see the world in a fresh way," he said.

The exhibition, themed "beauty," showcases 279 relics that illustrate ancient Greece's aesthetic evolution from the late Neolithic period to the first century BC. Spectators can breathe in Hellenic scents from rose and myrrh, while enjoying an art film in a small Hellenic-style theater at the exhibition's finale.

In the first three weeks since its opening on Nov. 6, the exhibition had received more than 45,000 visitors, with 62 percent of them under the age of 35. It runs until June 5, 2025.

Exchanges and resonance

As he strolled among the exhibits, 25-year-old Zhang Guyu noticed the many parallels between Chinese and Western mythology, reminiscent of what Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung called the "collective unconscious."

Pointing to figures of Zhurong in Chinese mythology and Prometheus in Greek mythology, who are both revered as bringers of fire to humanity, Zhang said such cultural resonances reflect a universal quest to understand the world and humanity's place within it.

"Themes of love, beauty and sacrifice for the greater good run through all these myths," said Zhang, an English interpreter.

In 2023 alone, China added 268 new museums. Numerous high-profile exhibitions were held this year, including a showcase of the ancient Inca civilization in Shenzhen and an exhibition on ancient Egypt in Shanghai.

Nationwide, 6,833 museums in the country logged 1.29 billion visits in 2023.

Many of the young visitors at the Hellenic exhibition were there in part to complement their studies. For example, Niu's visit was inspired by the upcoming history curriculum of next semester. Similarly, Wang Yudan, a senior high school student from Chengdu in Sichuan, traveled here over the weekend to experience the artifacts firsthand.

"Seeing the objects in person is more inspiring than reading about them in textbooks," she said. "It makes history more engaging and easier to absorb."

Gao Zheng, director of the National Museum of China, emphasized the relevance of ancient civilizations to modern challenges. The wisdom contained within these artifacts holds unique value for addressing the problems of the times, he said.

As one visitor wrote in the Hellenic exhibition guest book, "One can see as far into the future as one can into the past."

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