Weng Wan-go at the opening ceremony of his family collection's home-coming show in Beijing. [Jiang Dong]

Many scholars of Chinese art consider a pilgrimage to rural New Hampshire as a rite of passage.

That is where one of the world's greatest private collections of classical Chinese art resides, along with its 90-year-old owner, Weng Wan-go.

He has welcomed a steady stream of collectors and historians to his rural home in the United States over the years to see parts of his collection.

Now, for the first time, over 50 selected pieces from the Weng family treasure trove are on a homecoming exhibition on the Chinese mainland.

Through Six Generations: The Weng Collection of Chinese Paintings and Calligraphic Works is open until early February at Beijing World Art Museum.

The collection is unknown to the general public. It was assembled primarily in the late 19th century by Weng's great-great-grandfather Weng Tonghe (1830-1904), who, as a Qing Dynasty official, tutored emperors Tongzhi and Guangxu.

The public did not have a chance to see the collection until March 2007, when a small portion was unveiled at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, drawing thousands of viewers.

The current exhibition includes sumptuous works of art from the collection, according to Beijing World Art Museum dean Wang Limei:

"(It) reveals explicitly what a refined combination of formal sensitivity and literary idealism animated wenrenhua (literati or scholar-official) painting and calligraphy."

The exhibition marks the beginning of a series of events, expected to run for years, that will expose mainland art enthusiasts to classical Chinese artworks from private collections outside China, Wang adds.

"There's a story behind each of the exhibits," says Weng, who last week shared with visitors anecdotes about how his great-great grandfather Weng Tonghe was overjoyed in January 1887 at spotting Wang Hui's Ten Thousand Li Downstream the Yangtze River at Liulichang Antique Street in southern Beijing.

Weng Tonghe's calligraphy work

Weng Tonghe eventually gave up on the idea of buying a new house in order to trump other buyers competing for the masterpiece.

After the purchase, he composed a poem narrating how he got the painting and inscribed it on the box that holds the artwork.

"I did not know about these interesting and moving tales until I studied my great-great grandfather's diary," explains Weng Wan-go.

From 1858-1904, Weng Tonghe kept a diary.

"To our delight, the diary has survived the test of time and has been passed down to my generation," says Weng Wan-go, an award-winning filmmaker, poet, art historian, and artist.

Collecting is just one aspect of the family's involvement with art.

For generations, family members have been accomplished practitioners of ink painting and calligraphy, and these traditions have reinforced their understanding and appreciation of artworks in the collection, Weng Wan-go says.

"There is such a thing as a heritage passed from generation to generation - not only to pass on painting and calligraphy, but also to study it, to enjoy it, and even become a practitioner of it," Weng says.

The exhibition "is a momentous event for the Weng family and for classical art circles on the Chinese mainland", says China Guardian Auctions general manager Wang Yannan, a key organizer of the exhibition.

Previously, only a handful of veteran art connoisseurs from the mainland, including Xu Bangda, Xie Zhiliu, Wang Jiqian, Yang Renkai and Yang Boda, had a chance to see all the Weng family treasures, in 1985, when they gathered at the Laixi Study, Weng Wan-go's New Hampshire home.