Following the reopening of the first collection area East Asia with a focus on Japan at the end of 2023, the concluding second part of the new presentation Inspiring China will take place in June 2024. More than 200 works from the extensive collection of Chinese objects at MK&G, totaling around 2,600 items mediate principles of Chinese art such as modular design and the unity of script and image. The display includes ritual bronzes, imperial porcelain, carved lacquer, painting, calligraphy and woodblock prints.

Inspiring China on the 2nd floor comprises seven exhibition modules in four galleries. At the central entrance, the theme of Made in China – Porcelain highlights export porcelain as one of the most significant global commodities in the early modern period. At the rear entrance, the monumental hanging scroll Summer mountains – wide and far (1722) by Huang Ding (1660–1730) is juxtaposed with the video work Rising mist (2014) by Yang Yongliang (born 1980). While the landscape can be regarded as a symbol of stable and harmonious governance during the Kangxi era (1662–1722), the rising mist in Yang Yongliang's video collage of Shanghai is more likely to be understood as smog and an indication of environmental pollution.

The ritual bronzes of the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600–1046 BCE) and Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BCE) serve as a prime example of Modular design, which not only allowed for highly specialised division of labor and exceptional quality but also enabled particularly efficient production in pre-industrial times. Chinese writing is another example of modularity: eight basic strokes are organised into 214 modules, which make up 50,000 characters. The organisation as a logographic script enables communication across dialects and millennia.

Ceramics from the Tang Dynasty (618–907) that have survived to today usually originate from tombs and served to Honour the ancestors. They were intended to provide the deceased with a suitable afterlife and are witnesses to the heyday of Chinese culture and its transcultural entanglement with distant countries. Court ladies revive the beauty ideal of full-cheeked faces with delicate mouths, vessel shapes follow Persian models, and camels illustrate the flourishing trade along the Silk Road.

The principle of monochrome corresponds to the ideal of restrained elegance of literati culture. This applies to ink painting and calligraphy as well as to the art of craftsmanship. White Ding ware and greenish-blue celadon from the Song Dynasty (960–1279) as well as porcelain and glass from the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) in rich colors convey an aesthetics that has been perceived as strikingly modern in Europe since the early 20th century. The colours have a deep meaning. According to the five-element doctrine (Wuxing) of Daoism, each element is assigned a basic colour: Black to water, white to metal, yellow to earth, red to fire and qing (green blue, which are not differentiated) to wood.

Calligraphy and painting are traditionally considered a unity (shu hua yi) in China because they both use brushes, ink and paper or silk equally. The hand positioning and the practice of individual brushstrokes that create both Text and image are also similar or build upon each other. Since a brushstroke in ink cannot be corrected, the tireless practice of individual strokes, stroke sequences and compositional fragments is indispensable. This is exemplified by manuals for painting and calligraphy that have been printed since the 16th century.

The room Material in focus places emphasis on the craftsmanship of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), which is primarily known for the flourishing of blue-and-white porcelain. In addition, other materials are presented that have developed their own genres of craftsmanship: Jade is both precious and difficult to work with – the material was reserved for the elite from the Neolithic cultures until the Qing dynasty. Similarly elaborate is the production of lacquerware, which is usually red or black in colour. A colourful contrast to this is provided by cloisonné – enamel work in which copper strips prevent the colours from flowing into each other.

The best Chinese craftswomen and craftsmen traditionally worked for the imperial court. The MK&G collection includes not only the outstanding Imperial porcelain from the Qing Dynasty, clearly identifiable as products of the Imperial workshops in the eastern Chinese city of Jingdezhen, but also a carpet for the imperial palace and large-scale cloisonné, which served as ritual devices in temples, among other things.

With over 14,000 objects, the East Asia collection at the MK&G is one of the most important collections of East Asian art in Europe. A selection of 600 highlight pieces on two floors conveys the principles and foundations of East Asian art and craft to visitors. The reorganisation of the collection is based on the strengths of the collection and, through integrated works from other collection areas at the MK&G, transmits the transcultural entanglement of East Asian and European design. The presentation is modular, dynamic and designed for sustainability. This allows for the regular, resource-saving change of conservatively sensitive objects, providing visitors with ever-new insights into the collection. In addition, the provenances of individual objects are labelled and explained in the context of National Socialism and colonial history. Interactive stations – such as writing Chinese characters and designing postcards with stamps – invite visitors to join in.

The re-conception of the East Asia collection is supported by the Justus Brinckmann Gesellschaft and the Hans Brökel Foundation for Science and Culture.