During the Roman Empire time, Han emperors unified vast swaths of what's now known as China under an empire that ruled virtually unchallenged for 400 years.

The Han Dynasty gave the Chinese language its name - Chinese is called "hanyu" in Chinese - as it did to the written script - "hanzi" - and the largest ethnicity - "hanzu".

It also fostered mainstream cultural values, ideologies and institutions that remained central to dynastic China. These include Confucianism and the keju system, which used imperial examinations to select civil servants according to merit rather than hereditary.

The exhibition's opening coincides with the London Games, the 60th anniversary of the queen's coronation and the 40th anniversary of Sino-UK diplomatic relations' establishment.

The show is co-organized by the China Cultural Heritage Exchange Center and the museum.

"I believe the exhibition will play a crucial role in promoting Chinese culture among British viewers," curator James Lin says.

Wu Lingyun, director of the Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King of Western Han Dynasty, says: "Western viewers may also discover connections among ancient cultures from different parts of the world."

Excavations of the Nanyue King's tomb in the 1980s yielded more than 1,000 sets of ancient treasures, many of which bear foreign influences in their designs, patterns, motifs, craftsmanship and techniques, Wu says.

"Archaeological findings from the King of the State of Chu also reveal certain foreign influences over ancient craftsmanship," Xuzhou Museum director Li Yinde says.

"That means active intercultural exchanges and world trade began as early as the Han Dynasty."

(Source: www.china.org.cn)