Xianwei Book Club 20th Session Sharing

A Brief History of the World at the British Museum

Introduction

On the afternoon of October 10, 2023, the book sharing activity for the 20th session of the book club was held as scheduled. In this event, Director Li Yan of our institution shared with everyone the "World Brief History of the British Museum" jointly created by the British Museum and the National Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), personally written by Neil McGregor, the director of the British Museum. Lead the lawyers into the British Museum together, and learn about the traces of human history through each cultural relic.

Appreciation of Reading

The book "A Brief History of the World at the British Museum" selects 100 representative items from the 8 million cultural relics in the British Museum's collection. Through these relics, it tells the history of human evolution and development, and examines the process of human development and the future direction of human civilization from the perspectives of evolution and civilization history. In this sharing, Director Li Yan introduced the mummies, statues of Ramesses II, Rosetta Stone Tablets in the Ancient Egyptian Museum, statues of Parthenon Temple displayed in the Greek Museum, double headed snakes from Mexico, sculptures of Indian Buddhism and Hinduism, Japanese Ukiyo-e paintings, as well as the masterpieces of women's history in China, bronze Guillas of Kanghou in the Western Zhou Dynasty, blue and white vase pairs in the Yuan Dynasty, murals in Dunhuang, colorful Arhat, and other treasures of each exhibition hall in detail based on what he saw and heard in the British Museum. To enable everyone to have a closer understanding of the human development history carried by cultural relics, while also triggering thoughts on the ownership and return of cultural relics.

In this book sharing session, "A Brief History of the World at the British Museum" introduced exquisite cultural relics one by one, combined with the historical and cultural background of the time, and provided a comprehensive and multi angle explanation of the relics. It made everyone realize that the reason why humans are human is that their pursuit of a better life has never stopped. These are all telling us a "common human story".

Exhibition of cultural relics

　Fresco paintings of Qingliang Temple

　　Copper chariots and horses from Shaanxi, China

　　Bronze Gui of Kanghou in the Western Zhou Dynasty

Statue of Ramses II

Exhibition of cultural relics