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Sharing such collections with more people will help Chinese society to build up its cultural confidence, he adds.

"What Zhang Boju represented is also the great characteristics of Chinese scholars," Shan, the museum director, says. "Keeping the antiques is the way to prolong the life of our literary history."

Shan says 22 calligraphy works and paintings in the Palace Museum today were once collected by Zhang, which enriched the public institution's collection.

The ongoing Exhibition Commemorating the 120th Anniversary of Zhang Boju's Birth also marks the end of 13 years when the Hall of Martial Valor (Wuying Dian) in the western wing of the Forbidden City was used to display calligraphy pieces and paintings. The new venue will be the Hall of Literary Glory (Wenhua Dian) in the museum's eastern wing.