When the winning musician of the Hong Kong Film Awards meets Jiqingtang Zitan painting table

Four-plane Aligned Zitan Painting Table with Dragon & Phoenix Design by JiQingTang

In 2008, Mr. Leung Wai Hung, Chairman of JiQingTang, saw a four-plane aligned Zitan Painting table dated from the Ming Dynasty at the Zhejiang Provincial Museum. This masterpiece has always been favored by connoisseurs for its unique form, and rated as one of the thirty Museum Treasures by the Zhejiang Provincial Museum.

This painting table was successively collected by Mr. Zhu, a descendant of Lord Chengguo in the Ming Dynasty, renowned Guqin collector Foniyinbu of the late Qing Dynasty, and Jia Tengyun, the master of antique dealer Rong Xiang. In the early 20th century, Zhu Youping (Yihe), a renowned collector from Xiaoshan, acquired the table. His eldest son Zhu Yuqing (alternatively named Jiaji), a connoisseur of calligraphic works and paintings, brought it to Hangzhou while he worked for Zhejiang Province Management Committee of Cultural Relics. After the demise of Mr. Zhu Yuqing in 1969, his family donated the table to the Zhejiang Provincial Museum according to his final wishes.

Deeply inspired by the distinctive design of the painting table in the first sight, Mr. Leung decided to reproduce this Ming painting table. “It’s incredible,” said Leung with a sigh of emotion. “It’s so uniquely designed that it exudes a strong beat not found in any other works handed down from ancient times!”

Mr. Charles Leung and HK musician Day Tai

To give the painting table a musical charm, Leung paid visits to well-known composers. In 2016, he met Dai Wei, a three-time nominee and three-time winner of Best Original Film Score at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

At the sight of the four-plane aligned Zitan painting table in relief reproduced by JiQingtang, Dai was inspired to compose the song “Roaring Dragon and Dancing Phoenix”. The melodic rhythm brought the dragon and phoenix on the painting table to life, restoring its former charm from several hundred years ago.

Dai asked out of curiosity, “If this table had a gender, would it be a boy or a girl?”

Leung smiled, “It would be a refined scholar born into a wealthy family, not interested in politics, but passionate about the pursuit of truth and art.”

He must be a funny man with a sense of humor!

Four-plane Aligned Zitan Painting Table with Dragon & Phoenix Design by JiQingTang