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Mabel Lui

You may know that there is a long history of collecting Chinese art in Hong Kong, but can you name the three most important collections of Chinese paintings and calligraphy in the city?
The answer can be found at the Hong Kong Museum of Art’s (HKMoA) latest exhibition: “The Pride of Hong Kong: Three Preeminent Collections of Ancient Paintings and Calligraphies”.
Low Chuck-tiew’s “Xubaizhai”, Ho Iu-kwong’s “Chih Lo Lou” and Lee Jung-sen’s “Bei Shan Tang” collectively make up the city’s “three big” ancient Chinese painting and calligraphy collections, says curator Nadia Lau Sheung-ying.
Showing until October 7, the exhibition features 93 sets of masterpieces from the Tang dynasty (618-907) to the Qing (1644-1912).

Low, a banker, donated his “Xubaizhai” collection to the museum just before he died in 1993. Ho’s family did the same with “Chih Lo Lou” in 2018, 12 years after the death of the businessman.
The two collections are usually shown separately in their own permanent galleries, but for this exhibition, examples from both have been picked out and shown alongside Lee’s “Bei Shan Tang” collection, which is on loan from the Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), co-organiser of the exhibition.
All three men built up their collections in the mid-20th century, when political turmoil caused by the Chinese Communist Revolution led to an exodus of people and artefacts to Hong Kong, then a British colony.
Low’s collection mirrors the development of Chinese painting and calligraphy traditions, with works representative of the major Ming and Qing schools.
Among the highlights of the “Xubaizhai” collection are The Realm of Ghosts (1797) by Luo Pin, who was one of the “Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou” and was known for adopting unorthodox painting styles.

The hand scroll in question depicts ghosts and a skeleton, both rarities in Chinese painting. It reflects a conversation between East and West, as the skeleton was inspired by a 1610 illustration published by Hendrik Hondius I.
Also part of the collection is Zhang Feng’s Scholar by an Old Tree (1649), which reflects the artist’s helplessness and loneliness during the turbulent fall of the Ming dynasty.
As for Ho’s collection, the name Chih Lo, meaning bliss, is a nod to the pleasure gained not just from admiring ancient Chinese works, but also from doing good in the world.
“[Ho] was driven by character,” Lau says. “If the person’s character was good, he would collect their pieces, but if the person’s character was not good, he wouldn’t collect their work no matter how amazing it was.”
Pines and Rock (1634), for example, is by Huang Daozhou, a scholar who was imprisoned by the Manchus after he formed a resistance army against them. Refusing to surrender, Huang was executed in Nanjing, China, in 1646. Here, the pine tree, associated with an enduring spirit in Confucius’ Analects, reflects the artist’s own courage, integrity and loyalty.

Other works from the “Chih Lo Lou” collection on display include Jinshi’s Poems and Essays in Running-cursive Script (undated) and Zhu Da’s Landscapes (1697).
The Bei Shan Tang collection takes its name from a meeting place at the top of Lee Garden Hill, which was on land owned by Hong Kong businessman Lee Hysan. His fourth son, Lee Jung-sen, had a penchant for Chinese art, and over the years he increased the collection to include works from the Tang, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties.
“The collection is very wide-ranging,” says Phil Chan Kwun-nam, associate curator (painting and calligraphy) of the CUHK Art Museum.
There are many representative works in the collection from leading masters, Chan says, as well as pieces from lesser-known artists and works that people may not know of.
“[Lee Jung-sen] really liked collecting these pieces because he wanted to help fill the gaps in art history, so the whole picture would be more complete,” Chan says.

Pavilion against Distant Mountains (1345), for example, is the only surviving work from the Yuan dynasty painter Tao Xuan. Garden After Snow (c. 12th century), by an anonymous painter, is a round fan that is representative of the artistic perception of nature commonly seen during the Southern Song dynasty. This exhibition marks the first time that the fan is being shown in Hong Kong, after making its debut in Guangzhou.
Ci-poem for Xu Lin in Running Script by Wen Zhengming – one of the “Four Masters of the Ming dynasty” – is also on display in this section.
Finally, “The Pride of Hong Kong” concludes with two installations created by Hong Kong artist Yau Wing-fung as a dialogue with the ancient works in the exhibition.
Taking inspiration from Qing painter Huang Xiangjian’s stylised landscapes, To and Fro is a cyclical installation that encourages viewers to reconsider time and space, while Mirage Harmony, located outside the main exhibition space, is a three-dimensional version of a landscape scroll that takes geography and population density into account.

“The Pride of Hong Kong: Three Preeminent Collections of Ancient Paintings and Calligraphies”, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Mon-Wed and Fri, 10am-6pm, and Sat-Sun, 10am-9pm. Until October 7.


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“The Pride of Hong Kong: Three Preeminent Collections of Ancient Paintings and Calligraphies” exhibition presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, jointly organised by the Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) and the Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), held at HKMoA, Tsim Sha Tsui. The exhibition features Hong Kong’s three preeminent collections: Xubaizhai, established by the late local renowned collector Low Chuck-tiew, the Chih Lo Lou by Ho Iu-kwong, and the Bei Shan Tang by Lee Jung-sen, showcasing a selection of over 90 sets of masterpieces spanning from the Tang dynasty to the Qing. 10JUN25 SCMP / Nora Tam

“The Pride of Hong Kong: Three Preeminent Collections of Ancient Paintings and Calligraphies” exhibition can be seen at the Hong Kong Museum of Art. The exhibition features 93 sets of masterpieces from the Tang dynasty (618-907) to the Qing (1644-1912). Photo: Nora Tam

The Realm of Ghosts (1797), by Luo Pin, on show at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, is part of the Xubaizhai collection. Photo: Hong Kong Museum of Art

Garden after Snow (12th century), by an anonymous artist from the Southern Song dynasty, is part of the Bei Shan Tang collection on display at the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Photo: Hong Kong Museum of Art

Poems and Essays in Running-cursive Script (undated), by Jinshi, part of the Chih Lo Lou collection. Photo: Hong Kong Museum of Art

Ci-poem for Xu Lin in Running Script (undated), by Wen Zhengming, part of the Bei Shan Tang collection. Photo: Hong Kong Museum of Art

Hong Kong artist Yau Wing-fung has created a cyclical installation called To and Fro in response to the collections of Chinese painting and calligraphy currently being displayed at the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Photo: Hong Kong Museum of Art

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Digital and Landscape-Tree (2024), by Lin Guocheng, is one of the works at “Tradition Transformed” at Alisan Fine Arts. Photo: Alisan Fine Arts

Tunneling 1 (2025), by Ling Pui-sze, one of several young Chinese ink artists Wu says he likes. Photo: Ling Pui-sze

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The Infinite Album (2025), by Zhang Xiaoli. Photo: Alisan Fine Arts

Microcosm 19 (2024), by Kelly Wang. Photo: Alisan Fine Arts

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Untitled (1964-65), by Fernando Zobel, at Villepin. Photo: Villepin

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Works by Zao Wou-Ki at Villepin. Photo: Villepin

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Stools and other wooden products are seen at Lam’s workshop in Kwun Tong. Photo: Edmond So

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Lam works at his Kwun Tong studio. Photo: Edmond So

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Chandu is inspired by Singapore’s colonial era, when opium dens flourished in the city state. Photo: The Robertson House by The Crest Collection

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A cocktail titled Sesame from the Korea-inspired menu at Junior the Pocket Bar. Photo: Junior the Pocket Bar

Jade Harbour is part of The Bund menu currently offered at Junior the Pocket Bar, inspired by the Shanghai district. Credit: Junior the Pocket Bar

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Lifestyle

Arts

Chinese art appreciation

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Chinese landscape paintings are displayed at “The Pride of Hong Kong: Three Preeminent Collections of Ancient Paintings and Calligraphies”, an exhibition now on at the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Photo: Nora Tam

A visitor looks at a landscape painting at “The Pride of Hong Kong: Three Preeminent Collections of Ancient Paintings and Calligraphies”, an exhibition currently showing at the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Photo: Nora Tam

Walking on a Mountain Path in Spring, by Ma Yuan, at Taiwan’s National Palace Museum. Photo: National Palace Museum

The Remote and Clear Landscape of Wuxing, a scroll painting by Zhao Mengfu. Photo: Shanghai Museum

Literary Gathering at a Mountain Pavilion, by Wang Fu.

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An artwork by Yip Yan-chuen depicting Hennessy Road in Hong Kong. A series of landscape sketches at the “Canton Modern” exhibition chronicle Yip’s life as a wartime refugee. Photo: M+

A visitor takes a photo of artworks on display as part of the exhibition at M+. Photo: Dickson Lee

Mother and Son in the Rain (1932), by Fang Rending. Photo: M+

Flying in the Rain (1932), by Gao Jianfu. Photo: M+

Alan Yeung and Tina Pang are the curators of the exhibition. Photo: M+

And Thus Is This Land is a participatory performance by Dai Guangyu at the exhibition that invites professional artists and art students to collaborate on a recreation of This Land So Rich in Beauty (1959), by Fu Baoshi and Guan Shanyu. Photo: Dickson Lee

Artists take part in the And Thus Is This Land participatory performance at the exhibition. Photo: Dickson Lee

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Lui Shou-kwan sketching outdoors. Photo: M+

Zen by Lui Shou-kwan (1974). Photo: CUHK and AAHK

Chan Painting by Lui Shou-kwan (1969). Photo: CUHK and AAHK

Zhuangzi (1974) by Lui Shou-kwan. This is one of his best-known paintings. Photo: courtesy of the Hong Kong Museum of Art

Highlights from the three collections of ancient Chinese painting and calligraphy make up new Hong Kong Museum of Art exhibition


Highlights from the three collections of ancient Chinese painting and calligraphy make up new Hong Kong Museum of Art exhibition.


What to do in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s ‘big 3’ Chinese art collections all featuring in 1 new exhibition

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Highlights from the three collections of ancient Chinese painting and calligraphy make up new Hong Kong Museum of Art exhibition

Highlights from the three collections of ancient Chinese painting and calligraphy make up new Hong Kong Museum of Art exhibition