Since its founding, the Tsinghua University Art Museum has upheld the guiding principle of “integrating East and West and bridging antiquity and the present.” Following exhibitions such as Everlasting Like the Heavens: The Cultures and Arts of Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang, Splendor of Huaxia: The Essence of Shanxi’s Ancient Civilization, and The Evolution of Rites in the East: The Essence of Shandong’s Ancient Civilization, we present Zhōng: The Cradle of China — Glory of the Central Plains Civilization in December 2025, taking zhōng (“the center”) as its conceptual core and highlighting the pivotal position of the Central Plains within the Huaxia civilizational framework.Jointly organized by Tsinghua University and the Henan Provincial Cultural Heritage Administration, the exhibition features approximately 400 selected objects, systematically showcasing the outstanding achievements of the Central Plains—from prehistory through the Song and Ming dynasties—in political systems, ritual and musical culture, philosophy and thought, and artistic creativity.
