A Comprehensive Collection of Ancient Chinese Paintings, a project by Zhejiang University and Zhejiang Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage, is by far the world’s most comprehensive collection of pictures of paintings in ancient China. A total of 248 books under 67 volumes cover a sum of more than 12,000 pieces (sets) of Chinese paintings on paper, silk (including brocade and damask), linen, and other materials from 263 museums and other cultural institutions at home and abroad.
The project started in 2005 and will conclude in 2023. It is the first time in history that a nation has made such a comprehensive and systematic collection and synthesis of its ancient paintings worldwide, offering the artistic resources to be shared and utilized by the entire world.
Thanks to the most advanced image acquisition and digital processing technologies, A Comprehensive Collection of Ancient Chinese Paintings has restored the true essence and spirit of ancient paintings to the greatest extent possible, accomplished lossless restoration of ancient painting images, and fundamentally solved the problem of the dispersion of famous paintings, as well as the dilemma of collecting and utilizing cultural relics.
The collection provides significant insights into the evolution of human civilizations. It promotes the connection and innovation between classical artistic traditions and contemporary society, which is an “encyclopedia” for the study of ancient Chinese art and culture, as well as an irreplaceable eternal record of human classical art history.
