Phoenix Kingdoms: The Last Splendor of China's Bronze Age

This stunning exhibition unveils the remarkable art and historical legacy of two mysterious kingdoms of ancient China.
 
Phoenix Kingdoms brings to life the distinctive Bronze Age cultures that flourished along the middle course of the Yangzi River in South Central China about 2,500 years ago. With over 150 objects on loan from five major Chinese museums, Phoenix Kingdoms explores the artistic and spiritual landscape of the southern borderland of the Zhou dynasty, featuring remarkable archaeological finds unearthed from aristocratic tombs of the phoenix-worshipping Zeng and Chu kingdoms. By revealing the splendid material cultures of these legendary states, whose history has only recently been recovered, Phoenix Kingdoms highlights the importance of this region in forming a southern style that influenced centuries of Chinese art.
 
This exhibition catalogue includes six essays that contextualize the stylistically rich material—mythical creatures, elaborate patterns, and elegant forms—and introduces readers to the technologically and artistically sophisticated cultures that thrived before China’s first empire. Lavishly illustrated with over 240 images, Phoenix Kingdoms showcases works from the exhibition across six categories—jades, bronze ritual vessels, musical instruments and weapons, lacquerware for luxury and ceremony, funerary bronze and wood objects, and textiles and unique objects featuring distinctive designs—many of which are considered national treasures.
 
Published in association with the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.

Editor and lead curator Fan Jeremy Zhang is the Asian Art Museum Barbara and Gerson Bakar Curator of Chinese art. Trained as an archaeologist, he is the curator of numerous exhibitions and the editor/author of several catalogues including Royal Taste: The Art of Princely Courts in Fifteenth-Century China.
 
Jay Xu, The Barbara Bass Bakar director and CEO, Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture
John Major, independent researcher in New York City
Colin Mackenzie, curator of Chinese art, Art Institute of Chicago
Haicheng Wang, associate professor of art history, Mary and Cheney Cowles Endowed Professor, University of Washington
Guolong Lai, associate professor of Chinese art and archaeology, University of Florida
I-fen Huang, assistant art curator, National Palace Museum, Taiwan