A Legacy Beyond Boundaries. Chinese Art Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

This beautifully illustrated volume, published in cooperation with the National Palace Museum in Taipei, the unsurpassed museum of Chinese art, epitomizes China's cultural and artistic legacy through approximately 150 of the most celebrated works from one of the greatest collections in the world.
As a product of the oldest continuous civilization on earth, Chinese art is noticeable in particular for its complexity and diversity. While anyone familiar with it is stunned by its beauty and various nuance of meaning and expression, it could appear mysterious and unapproachable to the layperson. Chinoiserie have further distorted the image of Chinese art in the West. Only in the past few decades has the achievement of Chinese art gradually been unveiled and systematically studied. A Legacy beyond Boundaries takes these limitations into account and is presented very differently, placing great emphasis on the quality of the photographs, the readability of the text, and the usability of the layout. It features 150 of the finest pieces from the Museum's collection that spans over 7 millennia. Of particular interest are the many priceless works on silk and paper. All the pieces are reproduced in full-color plates of supreme quality, with additional enlarged details of some of the works in order to fully convey their beauty and subtlety.
The volume gives a brief overview of the Museum and of art collecting in Imperial China. It then the major media of Chinese art, namely paintings, calligraphy, bronze, jade, ceramics, while the last section 'miscellanies' includes objects in other media (such as cloisonné, enamel, writing material, etc.). Each section opens with an essay outlining the historical and stylistic development of the medium under discussion, and then centers on the illustrated works. Every individual work is commented with a concise yet incisive analysis that shed lights on the artistic value, aesthetic quality, historical significance, or technical achievement. The book as a whole will give the general readers a panoramic view of the wealth of Chinese art, and at the same time serve as a handy reference for experts.