​Precious cultural relics from Pakistan to exhibit in Beijing

Tahir Saeed is from Pakistan's Department of Historical and Cultural Heritage speaks during an interview with a CRI reporter on May 9, 2019. [Photo: Chinaplus]

A collection of precious cultural relics representing thousands of years of history will go on display in Beijing from the Islamabad Museum.

The exhibition arrives as a major conference on Asian civilizations is set to open in the Chinese capital.

Tahir Saeed is from Pakistan's Department of Historical and Cultural Heritage. He's part of the team that will bring nearly 20 treasures from Pakistan to China for the three-month-long exhibition. He'll also be attending the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, which will be held in Beijing.

Doctor Saeed said the works that will go on display include pottery and sculpture carefully selected to cover a long period of history.

"We are going to bring to China 19 very important artifacts from Islamabad Museum which represents history of Pakistan from the Neolithic period to Islamic period, including the art of Gandhara. The exhibition represents the most striking and amusing feature of Neolithic period of Pakistan which is about 7000 BC., which later on influence the emergence of Indus Valley Civilization."

Doctor Saeed said that cultural exchanges between China and Pakistan date back to the Kushan Empire, one of the major powers in Asia around 2,000 years ago. He said that it was with the support of the Kushan Empire that Buddhist culture was introduced to China from Gandhara, an ancient region in part of eastern Afghanistan.

Hundreds of Chinese Buddhists headed to the birthplace of the Buddhism over the following millennium, among them the pre-eminent Tang Dynasty Buddhist monk Xuan Zang, who recorded his journey to Pakistan in his book "Journey from the Great Tang to the Western Regions".

Doctor Saeed said the upcoming exhibition offers valuable insights into the cultural communications between the two countries.

"They contain vital information about the social and political conditions in Asia. You can see social and economic conditions were also depicted in these writings. And the kingdom situated in the route between China and India. And it offers remarkable insights into cross-culture perceptions. The records in the book are of great significance in recording history and society of the regions neighboring Tang Dynasty. "

And he believes that the highly-anticipated conference in Beijing will help to enhance cooperation among Asian countries in the field of culture and art.

"I consider this is a very important opportunity provided by Chinese government to our Asian countries to meet together and to develop and promote the existing cultural cooperation with each other. The Belt and Road Initiative is in fact continuation of Asian culture interaction between different civilizations. The conference will certainly bring Asian countries closer and will improve cooperation among Asian countries."

The Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations will open on May 15.

Alongside the main conference, a range of activities will be on offer to help members of the general public to better understand the diverse culture of the region.