Private viewing

Weng Wan-go at the opening ceremony of his family collection's home-coming show in Beijing. Jiang Dong

Many scholars of Chinese art consider a pilgrimage to rural New Hampshire as a rite of passage.

That is where one of the world's greatest private collections of classical Chinese art resides, along with its 90-year-old owner, Weng Wan-go.

He has welcomed a steady stream of collectors and historians to his rural home in the United States over the years to see parts of his collection.

Now, for the first time, over 50 selected pieces from the Weng family treasure trove are on a homecoming exhibition on the Chinese mainland.

Through Six Generations: The Weng Collection of Chinese Paintings and Calligraphic Works is open until early February at Beijing World Art Museum.

The collection is unknown to the general public. It was assembled primarily in the late 19th century by Weng's great-great-grandfather Weng Tonghe (1830-1904), who, as a Qing Dynasty official, tutored emperors Tongzhi and Guangxu.

The public did not have a chance to see the collection until March 2007, when a small portion was unveiled at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, drawing thousands of viewers.

The current exhibition includes sumptuous works of art from the collection, according to Beijing World Art Museum dean Wang Limei:

"(It) reveals explicitly what a refined combination of formal sensitivity and literary idealism animated wenrenhua (literati or scholar-official) painting and calligraphy."

The exhibition marks the beginning of a series of events, expected to run for years, that will expose mainland art enthusiasts to classical Chinese artworks from private collections outside China, Wang adds.

"There's a story behind each of the exhibits," says Weng, who last week shared with visitors anecdotes about how his great-great grandfather Weng Tonghe was overjoyed in January 1887 at spotting Wang Hui's Ten Thousand Li Downstream the Yangtze River at Liulichang Antique Street in southern Beijing.

Weng Tonghe eventually gave up on the idea of buying a new house in order to trump other buyers competing for the masterpiece.

After the purchase, he composed a poem narrating how he got the painting and inscribed it on the box that holds the artwork.

"I did not know about these interesting and moving tales until I studied my great-great grandfather's diary," explains Weng Wan-go.

From 1858-1904, Weng Tonghe kept a diary.

"To our delight, the diary has survived the test of time and has been passed down to my generation," says Weng Wan-go, an award-winning filmmaker, poet, art historian, and artist.

Collecting is just one aspect of the family's involvement with art.

For generations, family members have been accomplished practitioners of ink painting and calligraphy, and these traditions have reinforced their understanding and appreciation of artworks in the collection, Weng Wan-go says.

"There is such a thing as a heritage passed from generation to generation - not only to pass on painting and calligraphy, but also to study it, to enjoy it, and even become a practitioner of it," Weng says.

The exhibition "is a momentous event for the Weng family and for classical art circles on the Chinese mainland", says China Guardian Auctions general manager Wang Yannan, a key organizer of the exhibition.

Previously, only a handful of veteran art connoisseurs from the mainland, including Xu Bangda, Xie Zhiliu, Wang Jiqian, Yang Renkai and Yang Boda, had a chance to see all the Weng family treasures, in 1985, when they gathered at the Laixi Study, Weng Wan-go's New Hampshire home.

According to Weng, the collection focuses on ancient and rare books, ink paintings and calligraphic works by top-notch artists.

The collecting of art began with Weng Tonghe's father Weng Xincun; but the collection took its shape mostly because of Weng Tonghe, who, during his tenure from 1861-1898 in the Qing court, invested most of his spare time, energy and savings in art.

The family heritage has been kept safely for six generations, until the stewardship finally lay in the hands of Weng Wan-go. "I was endowed with the legitimate ownership of the collection at 3," Weng says.

Born on July 28, 1918, in Shanghai, Weng Wan-go pursued further studies in the US in 1938, where he lived for 10 years.

During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45), the Weng family tried its best to spare the collection from wars and thefts.

The collection remained intact in China until 1948, when Weng, then 30, hastily shipped it to the US, fearing that the continued social unrest would place the works in jeopardy.

However, Weng's bond with his home country was never lost.

Over the past decade, he has paid many visits to the mainland.

"I have lived for my family collection and the collection has dominated my entire life," a tearful Weng Wan-go said at a recent opening ceremony.

"And I have waited for so long to share my passion for Chinese cultural heritage with people on the mainland."

Back in 2000, Weng sold the family's rare book collection to Shanghai Library for $4.5 million. The book collection, in 80 categories and 542 titles from the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, is widely considered a national treasure as it contains numerous ancient and rare books that cannot be found on the mainland.

Weng refuses to call himself a collector. Instead, he calls himself "an ardent lover of Chinese art and culture, and a guard of my family treasures".

Weng admits he has rarely added items to the collection accumulated by his ancestors.

"Nor do I want to possess these works for my own good. Artworks should be enjoyed and appreciated by people who know their value," Weng says.

Over the years he has been involved in introducing Chinese culture to global readers, compiling a string of books on Chinese art and history.

Weng has also produced educational films on Chinese history and culture, and innovatively used various ancient paintings in the family collection.

At 90, Weng remains strong. He walks without a walking stick. And he speaks clearly and in great depth. "I am thinking of writing an autobiography ... And I am preparing a complete catalog of the whole Weng Collection," says Weng.