Dr. Jianing Chen, Assistant Professor from Chinese Culture and Global Communication (CCGC) program and Ms. Julie Lai, Assistant Instructor from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (FHSS) of UIC, led 50 students from the General Elective course “Religion and the Arts: Eastern Traditions” to visit the Zhuhai Puji Art Museum on November 5th, 2023.

Group photo

The visiting team arrived at the museum, located at the foothills of Fenghuang Mountain, at 2pm. Initiated by Zhuhai Putuo Temple, the museum performs a variety of social functions, including collection and exhibition of artifacts, research, public education, cultural exchange, etc. The Chief Curator of the museum, Mr. Li DONG, as well as the director of the Communication Department, Ms. Shan WEI, accompanied the UIC team on the visit.

Students visiting Puji Art Museum

The team visited two exhibitions, “Sinicization of Dharma, ocean of Prajna” and “Sinicization of Buddhism in Guangdong”. By carefully observing the Buddhist artifacts, such as statues, rubbings of stone inscriptions of scriptures and Buddhist religious paraphernalia, the visitors experienced the solemnity and wisdom of Buddhist practices. With the guidance and narration of the museum specialists, they not only learned about the integration and development process of Buddhism and traditional Chinese art since its first introduction to China two thousand years ago, but also developed an appreciation of the profundity and charm of Buddhist history and art. Furthermore, they learned about the unique status of Guangdong province in the history of the friendly exchanges between China and foreign cultures, as well as Guangdong’s outstanding contributions to the construction of the “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area” and “the Belt and Road” in recent years.

Chief Curator Mr. Li Dong(left) and Dr. Jianing Chen(right)

The students were immersed in the atmosphere of Buddhist art and culture during the visit to the Zhuhai Puji Art Museum. Many of them expressed the interest in further inheritance and communication of the excellent traditional Chinese culture.

Reporter： Jingli Lai

                                                                                                                                                       Photos:      Jingli Lai

Puji Art Museum

Editor: Dr.Yegor Grebnev

Reviewer: Dr. Jianing Chen