Harvest of Endurance: A History of the Chinese in Australia 1788–1988 is a 50-metre-long pictorial scroll representing two centuries of Chinese contact with, and migration to, Australia.
Artist Mo Xiangyi, assisted by wife and fellow artist Wang Jingwen, composed scenes based on historical research carried out by Mo Yimei, the artist’s sister, and painted them in the traditional gong bi style. Calligraphic panels appear at the start and finish of the scroll.
The Australia China Friendship Society sponsored the project in celebration of the Australian Bicentenary in 1988. The National Museum of Australia bought the scroll in 1992.
How to read the scroll
As with traditional Chinese scrolls, the Harvest of Endurance is read from right to left. The initial inscription appears at the right-hand end of the scroll, and the final inscription at the left-hand end.More on reading the scroll
In our collection