A portrait of the Kangxi Emperor of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). [Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

Portraits, as one of the oldest forms of art in the world, continue to entice audiences today, as they provide clues to the depth of cultural and social transformations over centuries.

Liu Wanming, the exhibition curator and deputy director of the National Museum of China, says the museum boasts a collection of more than 1,000 Ming and Qing portraits, and works currently on display at the Harmony of Figures and Spirits exhibition are on public show for the first time.

He says the exhibition focuses on the spiritual approach of Ming and Qing artists. "They were scholarly. They carried forward a tradition of art, consisting of refined techniques, a temperament of simplicity and elegance alongside a sense of humanity, beginning since the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and continuing through the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)."