A book sharing event on "Chinese Face: Reflections and Memories of the Chinese Nation in Cultural Relics" is held in Beijing, July 20, 2025. (Photo provided to People’s Daily Online)
A book sharing event on "Chinese Face: Reflections and Memories of the Chinese Nation in Cultural Relics" was held by Oriental Publishing Center, a subsidiary of the China Publishing Group in Beijing on July 20, 2025.
The book selects 50 representative "faces" preserved in cultural relics, presenting a unique narrative of the Chinese nation’s evolution and enduring memory over thousands of years. Spanning from the "Peking Man" of 200,000 years ago, to Confucius, whose teachings from the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) influenced countless generations, and even to border-defense hero Chen Xiangrong, whose words "pure love only for the country" resonate deeply, the collection delivers a profound account of history and heritage.
The book "Chinese Face: Reflections and Memories of the Chinese Nation in Cultural Relics".
A promotional video was showcased at the event. Through stunning imagery of cultural relics and vivid narration, it took attendees on an enthralling journey through tens of thousands of years of civilization.
Weng Huainan, author of "Chinese Face: Reflections and Memories of the Chinese Nation in Cultural Relics" and director of the Library and Information Department of the National Museum of China, shares his insights about the book in Beijing, July 20, 2025. (Photo provided to People’s Daily Online)
Weng Huainan, author of "Chinese Face" and director of the Library and Information Department of the National Museum of China, shared insights about the book at the sharing event. He noted that the book took years of meticulous preparation: he visited numerous museums and research institutions, captured over 100,000 photographs of the facial images on cultural relics, and crafted interpretive texts for each cultural relic that are both academic and readable through interdisciplinary research.
Mao Yuansheng, general manager of China Publishing & Media Co Ltd, pointed out that the book unfolds the enduring spiritual landscape of Chinese civilization through the "Chinese faces" preserved on cultural relics. He described it as "a masterwork paying homage to the roots of civilization, an iconic piece embodying cultural confidence, and an innovative creation that embodies collective wisdom."
Liu Shuguang, chairman of the Chinese Museums Association, talked about changes in museum studies in recent years from a professional perspective. He noted, "A striking development is that many museum researchers have started to take museum collections as a gateway to popularize and disseminate China’s fine traditional culture to the public – and ’Chinese faces’ stands as a notable example of this trend."
According to Fan Fei, assistant general manager of the Oriental Publishing Center and the director of its Beijing branch, a series of book-related initiatives are in the pipeline, including a themed exhibition and a national museum tour of lectures. Additionally, plans are underway to release multilingual editions, aiming to promote both "Chinese faces" and Chinese culture on the global stage.
原文地址：http://en.people.cn/n3/2025/0721/c98649-20343175.html