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During the Qing Dynasty, the Emperor's Birthday, New Year Day and Winter Solstice were the three most important festivals. The Qing court considered their emperors’ longevity to be a symbol of impressive governance, and a grand celebration was held each year. The latest exhibition in The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series, entitled “Longevity and Virtues: Birthday Celebrations of the Qing Emperors and Empress Dowagers”, showcases these rituals and the rich birthday traditions of ancient China. Visitors will be able to see how Qing Emperors took their birthday celebrations as opportunities to advocate respect for elders.

Solely sponsored by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, the exhibition runs from now until 9 October at the Hong Kong Museum of History and features 210 rare sets of items from the Palace Museum collection.

“Longevity and Virtues: Birthday Celebrations of the Qing Emperors and Empress Dowagers” is one of the major celebrations for the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Many priceless exhibits associated with the birthday celebrations of Emperor Kangxi, Empress Dowager Chongqing, Emperor Qianlong, Emperor Jiaqing and Empress Dowager Cixi are on display.

Highlights include a plaque embroidered with the four characters ‘Wanshou Wujiang’ (boundless longevity) inscribed by Emperor Kangxi, a birthday gift for his grandmother the Grand Empress Dowager; a large blue-and-white vase with ten thousand “longevity” characters and a ‘Wucai’ dish painted with Magu Presenting Birthday Gifts, specially made for Kangxi’s birthday celebration; a lined dark blue satin surcoat embroidered with four gold dragon roundels with multi-coloured longevity motifs, worn by Kangxi during his birthday celebrations; and a dark green jade seal with entwined dragon knob and the mark ‘Guxi Tianzi Zhibao’ (treasure of the seventy-year-old Son of Heaven) to commemorate the seventieth birthday of Emperor Qianlong.

The Club’s donation also supports the Hong Kong Museum of History to organise a range of educational and public programmes to attract visitors from different age groups. A number of multimedia programmes are presented in the gallery to give visitors a better understanding of the historical and cultural significance of the exhibits. For details, please visit http://hk.history.museum/en_US/web/mh/exhibition/current.html.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series is a partnership between the Club’s Charities Trust and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Launched in 2012, it supports two to three major exhibitions each year, all of which are complemented by educational programmes. Other current exhibitions in the Series are  “Eternal Life – Exploring Ancient Egypt” at the Hong Kong Science Museum and “Hall of Mental Cultivation of The Palace Museum – Imperial Residence of Eight Emperors” at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum.

Another Club-funded exhibition, “Inventing le Louvre: From Palace to Museum over 800 Years” can still be enjoyed until 24 July at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. This exhibition is one of the major programmes supported by the Club’s Charities Trust as part of Le French May, with over 100 priceless art works from the Louvre Museum on display.