A single scroll captures the essence of Gusu (the ancient name for Suzhou), while mountains and seas mirror the spirit of Liaoning. On July 10, the opening ceremony of The Prosperity of Gusu special exhibition and the Liaoning–Jiangsu Historical and Cultural Promotion Event was held at the Suzhou Museum West. Jointly curated by the Liaoning Provincial Museum and the Suzhou Museum, this exhibition takes the occasion of the Liaoning Provincial Museum’s treasured Prosperous Suzhou returning to Suzhou for the first time in 20 years. Structured around five narrative themes—Paragon of the Cursive Sage, Elegance of the Wu School, Dragon Veins Within the Painting, Fineries of Forgery, and Burgeoning Life in a Resplendent Age—the exhibition presents in full dimension the cultural lineage of Jiangnan and the millennia-spanning prosperity of Suzhou.

The exhibition brings together 62 pieces (sets) of masterworks by Suzhou-born calligraphers and painters from across the dynasties, with exhibits ranging from the Tang and Song dynasties up through the Ming and Qing dynasties. Among them, Prosperous Suzhou was painted by Xu Yang, a Suzhou-born court painter of the Qing Dynasty. Measuring over 12 meters in length, the handscroll employs a realistic approach to delineate a panoramic view of the hundred-li water country—“one village, one town, one city, one street”—vividly reproducing the flourishing spectacle of 18th-century Suzhou, where “merchants gathered in throngs and goods of every description converged”. In addition, the Liaoning Provincial Museum’s crown jewel — the Tang Dynasty “Cursive Sage” Zhang Xu’s Four Poems in Cursive Script — will be exhibited alongside classic Ming Dynasty paintings by the “Four Masters of the Wu School”: Night Excursion at the Thousand-Man Rock, Huxi Thatched Cottage,  Wuyangzi in Self-Cultivation, and Red Cliff. The exhibition opens to the public on July 11 and runs through till October 11.

At the event, the historical cultures and cultural tourism resources of both Liaoning and Jiangsu were also promoted, and the Liaoning Wentilv Group and the Suzhou Historic City Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement.