An exhibition organized by the Liaoning Provincial Museum has been selected as one of the featured projects under the 2026 “Reading China through Museums” Themed Exhibition Program, recently announced by China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration.

The exhibition, Smile: the Spirit of China Reflected in Cultural Relics, is currently on display in Gallery 1 of the Liaoning Provincial Museum. Bringing together more than 300 cultural relics from 38 museums and cultural institutions across China, including the National Museum of China, Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Henan Museum, Inner Mongolia Museum, Maijishan Grottoes Art Research Institute in Gansu, and Chengdu Museum, the exhibition showcases pottery, jade, bronzes, stone sculptures, paintings and other treasures spanning over 8,000 years. Through the unique narrative lens of the many “smiles” preserved in these artifacts, the exhibition traces the enduring story of Chinese civilization.

Departing from the conventional practice of organizing exhibitions by historical period or artifact type, the exhibition is structured around a timeless emotional journey. Divided into five thematic sections: the Origins of Life, Everyday Life, Spiritual Reflection, Cultural Exchange, and Legacy Through the Ages, it highlights the defining qualities of the Chinese spirit, including kindness, openness, inclusiveness and optimism. The exhibition also features an impressive lineup of nationally significant cultural treasures. Two openwork Shang Dynasty bronze yue (ceremonial battle-axes) with human-face motifs, from the collections of the National Museum of China and Shandong Museum, will be displayed in rotation. Other highlights presented for limited periods include a painted pottery human head with tattoo-like facial patterns from Bengbu Museum, an Eastern Han Dynasty green-glazed pottery dog, and two masterpieces from the Liaoning Provincial Museum collection: Zhao Mengfu’s Heart Sutra in Running Script Album and Arhat in Red Robes Handscroll. Additional exhibits include exquisite jade artifacts from the Hongshan and Liangzhu cultures, Buddhist sculptures from Maijishan, Qingzhou and Jingchuan, as well as bronzes from the Grassland Silk Road. Large-scale exhibitions bringing together such an extensive collection of precious cultural relics from different historical periods and regions remain a rarity in China’s museum sector.