Ｅｘｈｉｂｉｔｉｏｎ ｏｆ Ｍａｓａｙｕｋｉ Ｍｉｙａｔａ’ｓ Ｗｏｒｋｓ ｏｆ Ａｒｔ

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty， the CPAFFC held the exhibition of Masayuki Miyata's works of art in the Painting Exhibition Hall of the Palace Museum from October 23 to 27， 2003. Miyata's 124 best works were selected for the exhibition， among which works on the subjects about China and those about Japan were half and half. They drew their materials mainly from Chinese classic literary works such as Records of the Historian， Water Margin， Legend of Heroes in the Tang Dynasty， Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Japanese classic The Story of Genji， etc. Also on display were works of the Japanese scenery such as Japan's Four Seasons， Snow， Moon and Flowers， etc. and The Red Fujiyama， a work acknowledged by the United Nations.

Mr. Masayuki Miyata (1926-1997) was a world-famous Japanese artist. In his life as an artist of more than 40 years， based on the traditional Chinese paper-cut， he invented a unique style of art work， a combination of the techniques of paper cutting and engraving. By using knives instead of brushes he produced a great number of works with different styles and rich contents and created the unique art form. In his lifetime， with great energy and enthusiasm he created about 47，000 art works and held exhibitions of his works over 250 times in various places of the world. Quite a number of his works were collected by art galleries in many countries. In 1995 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations， among more than 1，000 contemporary artists in the world， he was chosen as an artist formally acknowledged by the United Nations. His representative work The Red Fujiyama which， he said， expressed the aspiration for world peace and happiness of humankind was introduced to 184 countries and regions in the world.

Mr. Masayuki Miyata loved Chinese culture and worshiped Chinese classic culture. He read a great amount of Chinese classic and modern literary works， and created many art works based on the subjects found in these books. He was the only artist in Japan who had created figure pictures of all the 108 heroes in Water Margin and 290 heroes described in Legend of Heroes in the Tang Dynasty and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In his lifetime he was actively engaged in the cultural exchanges between Japan and China. To mark the 25th anniversary of the normalization of the diplomatic relations between China and Japan， he successfully held an exhibition of his works of art in Shanghai in 1996. His works of unique style evoked repercussions in China， the birthplace of the paper-cut art. He was engaged as a visiting professor by the Institute of Fine Arts under Qinghua University， the Institute of Fine Arts under Shanghai University and Shanghai Teachers' University. His works were given a new name Daoshi painting ( a special kind of painting made by using the techniques of paper-cut and engraving). It was unfortunate that on January 5， 1997 on his way home he passed away of a sudden illness.

Once during a visit in the Palace Museum， he said to his wife that if his works one day could be exhibited in the Palace Museum， the most prestigious palace for the classic art of China， the origin of his art， he would feel completely content with his life. Today on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty， with the concerted efforts of both Chinese and Japanese sides， his wish was at last fulfilled. The exhibition of Masayuki Miyata's works of art was held in the Palace Museum. This was the first time that the Palace Museum held a Japanese artist's one-man exhibition， and an important event in the history of Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges.

On the morning of October 23， the opening ceremony of the Exhibition was held in the Painting Exhibition Hall of the Palace Museum. Bai Lichen， vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference， Chen Haosu， CPAFFC president， Koreshige Anami， Japanese ambassador to China， and Shurei Miyata， widow of the artist， attended the ceremony and cut the ribbon. In his speech at the ceremony， Chen Haosu wished the exhibition a full success， and hoped that it would make new contributions to enhancing friendship between the Chinese and Japanese people and promoting the cultural exchanges between the two countries. More than 100 people from the Chinese and Japanese fine arts and other circles attended the opening ceremony.

After the ceremony， accompanied by Shurei Miyata， Bai Lichen and Chen Haosu visited the exhibition. Miyata's works with a distinctive artistic style aroused great interest among the visitors. In his representative work The Red Fujiyama， under the morning sunshine the magnificent mountain covered by white snow reflects a bright red colour. Standing against the clear blue sky， the Fujiyama， the symbol of Japan， looks more sacred and enchanting. In the foreground green pines and cypresses symbolize ever-lasting peace， expressing the artist's aspiration for world peace and happiness of humankind. With his dexterity in using knives， he incised sharp lines that could not be made with a brush or in engraving. His works with his unique incised lines sometimes are graceful and elegant， and sometimes bold and complex. The smooth and graceful lines against bright colours produce thrilling effects， enabling the viewers to enjoy classic art from a modern perspective. The visitors were attracted by many of his works such as A lady with Long Black Hair in the Middle Ages， Goldfish， Japan's Four Seasons， Heroes in Water Margin， Lion Dance， etc. Lingering before his masterpieces， they praised his excellent， colourful and expressive art and showed high respect for the great master for his contribution to the development of the traditional Chinese folk paper-cut art into a new type of painting， and to the oriental art.