The Dragon and the Lily: a solid relationship through the ages

The dragon, an expression of the Chinese spirit, and the lily flower, symbol of the French royal family, met for the first time in 1688, when the French king Louis XIV sent some of his mathematicians to Beijing, who were received by the Kangxi Emperor and were instrumental in initiating official political and cultural exchanges between the two nations. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France in the modern era, the Palace Museum hosts an exhibition that retraces the salient moments of the cultural and artistic exchange between the two countries between the 17th and 18th centuries, offering the visitor a selection of extraordinary artistic and high craftsmanship artefacts which became part of the most important Chinese and French collections.