In the 6th year of the Kangxi reign (1667), under the benevolent directive of the Grand Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang (1613-1688) and the newly enthroned Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661-1722), who had just assumed personal rule, the Qing court initiated an ambitious Buddhist cultural undertaking: the production of a deluxe gold-inked manuscript of the Kangyur (bka’ ’gyur) in Tibetan script. This monumental project, widely known as the “Tibetan Dragon Canon” (Longzangjing), required enormous financial resources and mobilized numerous master artisans and eminent monks. Completed over the course of two years, it was conceived as a devotional act to pray for the enduring stability of the imperial realm and the flourishing of imperial virtue, while also serving to consolidate the political and religious alliance between the Manchu and Mongol elites. This special exhibition seeks to move beyond the conventional display format that isolates individual folios and scripture protecting boards. For the first time at the Northern Branch of the National Palace Museum, the Tibetan Dragon Canon is presented in its entirety together with its complete set of mounting components.

A rare fifteenth-century imperial gilt-bronze portrait of a master of the Karmapa lineage achieved €2.683 million on June 10 at Christie's, leading the June Asian Art sales in Paris. The sculpture, commissioned during the Ming dynasty and formerly in the collection of Nancy Astor, reflects the close relationship between the Ming court and the Karmapa lineage. Its strong result is a reminder that collectors continue to compete most vigorously for Himalayan works distinguished by rarity, historical importance, and exceptional provenance.

Displaying seventy of the finest examples of Asian art in the United States drawn from Asia Society’s permanent collection, the exhibition showcases the extraordinary range of bronzes, ceramics, and metalwork thoughtfully assembled between the 1950s and the 1970s by John D. Rockefeller 3rd (1906-1978) and his wife Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller (1909-1992). John D. Rockefeller 3rd founded Asia Society in 1956 with the mission to promote greater knowledge of Asia in the United States; the bequest of the collection to Asia Society in 1979 underscores the Rockefellers’ conviction that an aesthetic encounter with great works of art promotes deep cross-cultural understanding.