The Liaoning Provincial Museum has recently digitized a series of famous ancient Chinese paintings from its collection, and publicized them through multiple media platforms, allowing more viewers to appreciate their beauty.

The national first-class cultural relic Auspicious Cranes is a colored silk painting by Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), measuring 51 cm in height and 138.2 cm in width. With a calligraphy work on the left, the right part of the painting depicts clouds drifting over the Duanmen Gate of the Imperial City in Bianliang, capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, above which flocks of cranes hovered in various postures. Among them, two white cranes elegantly and leisurely stood on both ends of the ridge. Notably, the architecture in the painting adheres to the precise standards of boundary painting. Outlined with thin lines, the clouds were slightly smudged. The sky was tinted with an even and clear cyan. All these create an auspicious scene amid the solemn and awe-inspiring atmosphere of the imperial family. The painting was signed and sealed by Zhao Ji, with inscriptions and poems in his slender gold script.