Dialogue across distance

The exhibition's title, Harmony and Beauty, underscores its central message: preserving cultural heritage while fostering a shared sense of community among China's ethnic groups, according to the exhibition's organizers.

It also draws attention to the inscription, Tianyu Liufang, at the entrance to the Mufu Mansion. In Naxi, it phonetically encourages people to "go and study", while in Chinese, it evokes the image of nourishing rain sustaining all living things.

For the curatorial team, these layered meanings reflect the exhibition's broader ambition.

"We hope that through these artifacts and stories, visitors can better understand how different cultures have interacted and developed together over time," Zhang Ai says.

As visitors move through the galleries, the story unfolds through fragments of documents, objects, images, and spaces that form a cohesive picture.

For Lin, continuity is the point.

"We are trying to connect the past with the present — to show how the history of the Mu chieftains continues to resonate in Lijiang today," he says.