Portrait of Calligrapher Weng Dehong (翁德洪像) (detail), 1639; Zeng Jing (Chinese, c. 1564–1647), landscape by Cao Xizhi (Chinese, active 1600s), inscribed by Jin Ye (Chinese, active 1600s); Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper; painting: 118.7 x 41.3 cm; University of California, Berkeley Art Museum of Pacific Film Archive; Museum purchase, 1967.22

In conjunction with the recently opened exhibition, China’s Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta, the Cleveland Museum of Art presents a weekend of insightful events focusing on the artistic and cultural role of the Jiangnan region in China and beyond.

Symposium: Jiangnan—Objects in Focus
Saturday, November 4, 2023
10:00 am–6:00 pm

Jiangnan—Objects in Focus is an international one-day symposium featuring 15 scholars from the United States, Asia, and Europe, who will each give a talk spotlighting one exhibit in their respective area of expertise. The goal of the symposium is to discuss highlights of the exhibition and foster a better understanding of the Jiangnan region and its artistic and cultural role in China and beyond.

To view the full schedule and register for free tickets, click here.

Lecture: “Heaven Is High and the Emperor Is Far Away”: Jiangnan in Ming-Dynasty China
Sunday, November 5, 2023
2:00 pm

Although the Jiangnan region of China, meaning “south of the Yangtze,” was the site of the first Ming dynasty capital, the court relocated to the north of China half a century after the dynasty’s founding. From this time, emperors and their immediate families were largely absent from the culture of this prosperous and vibrant heartland. But many ties still linked the culture of Jiangnan’s “Southern Paradise” and that of the Ming court. This lecture focuses on what artworks, as well as literature, can tell us about the often-fraught relationship between Jiangnan, its people, and their distant rulers in the north.

To learn more and register for free tickets, click here.