Exhibition: "With Best Regards: An Exhibition of Chinese Family Letters"
If you are interested in Chinese culture and history, this is an exhibition you won’t want to miss!
Exhibition Venue: Gallery, Confucius Building, UCD
Exhibition Time: 10–25 November 2025
Admission: Free
About the Exhibition:
Initiated by the Family Letter Museum of Renmin University of China, this exhibition presents the profound cultural and historical value of family correspondence.
Family Letters(Jia shu), also known as home letters (Jia Xin), served as a primary means of information and emotional exchange before the era of electronic communication. The term can be understood in both a narrow and broad sense: narrowly, it refers to correspondence between family members; broadly, it includes letters exchanged between family and close friends. This exhibition adopts the broader definition. From over 80,000 letters housed in the Family Letter Museum of Renmin University of China, 61 letters grouped into 32 sets have been carefully selected. The earliest dates back to the Qing Dynasty, while the most recent is from the 1990s. Spanning more than a century, these letters provide a rich reflection of family correspondence across different historical periods in modern Chinese history.
While each letter records personal and familial matters, it also reflects the historical context of its time. Among the 31 authors featured are well-known political figures such as Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Kang Youwei, and Chen Duxiu; cultural scholars like Liang Qichao, Ren Hongjun, Zhao Ruihong, and Hu Hua; renowned artists including Gong Jue, Fu Baoshi, Su Juxian, and Su Zhichun; as well as soldiers from various eras such as Zhao Yiman, Xie Jinyuan, Liu Zhongxin, and Li Zhengming. Also included are letters from ordinary citizens such as Wu Fuan, Heng Weiping, Yan Jifang, and Zhuang Yan.
Despite their diverse social roles, they were all members of families — fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters. Through these letters, they poured out a rich tapestry of emotions toward their loved ones — love, gratitude, longing, remorse, and more — giving voice to what they saw, heard, and felt. By committing their thoughts and experiences to paper, they left behind invaluable firsthand records — deeply personal, yet rich in historical significance.
Family Letter Museum, Renmin University of China
Confucius Institute, University College Dublin, Ireland
some of the exhibits: 
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Opening ceremony: Guest Sign-in "letter"
