The ongoing special exhibition on the centenary of the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, will contribute to protecting and revitalizing China's cultural heritage, according to the deputy director of the museum.

The exhibition features 200 precious pieces and sets of cultural relics from a collection of over 1.95 million, offering a multidimensional interpretation of the Chinese civilization and the evolution of the Palace Museum.

Titled "A Century of Stewardship: From the Forbidden City to the Palace Museum," the exhibition unfolds across three thematic sections: A Lineage of Scholarship, A Century of Heritage, and A World of Splendor.

"The centennial exhibition focuses on protecting the Forbidden City's ancient architecture and treasures. By balancing preservation with innovation, we aim to breathe new life into this cultural heritage, making it vibrant in the modern era and contributing to building China into a leading country in culture,"said Zhu Hongwen, deputy director of the Palace Museum.

One of the exhibition's highlights is the painting "Five Oxen," the earliest extant paper painting in China.

Created by Han Huang during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the painting features five oxen with different and vivid appearances.

The painting was recovered by the museum in 1958. At that time, it was damaged with hundreds of holes present.

This national treasure has then undergone multiple restorations since to restore its former glory.

"This object had over 300 holes of varying sizes. Restoration expert Sun Chengzhi, drawing on over 60 years of experience, has given this ancient artifact new life through techniques like unmounting, full-color repair and reinstallation," said Xu Tong, a research curator at the Palace Museum.

The exhibition will run until Dec 30.

On Oct 10, 1925, the Palace Museum was established based on the Forbidden City, once the imperial palaces of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911), and opened to the public for the first time, along with its priceless imperial art collections.