My favourite museum - The National Palace Museum of Taiwan

If you're looking for a reason to visit Taiwan (other than Taroko Gorge), or wish to take a
quick peek into the world's oldest continuous civilisation, look no further than the
National Palace Museum (NPM) of Taiwan, situated at the heart of Taipei. With a vast
collection comprising over 650,000 articles - mostly treasures and artifacts from the
imperial palaces and Forbidden City in Beijing, it is an established cultural and
educational institution rivalled by no other. It is said that not even China itself has any
comparable museum. The NPM is perhaps the strongest reminder of China and Taiwan's
shared modern history, and a powerful symbol of China's insistence that Taiwan is a
province of China, and should be recognised as such by the global community.

Fig 1: Facade of NPM

After the last emperor of China, P'u-i, was evicted from the Forbidden city in 1924, the
Republican government fortunately had the far-sight to safe-keep China's national
heritage - the items and artifacts which can be traced back to the courts of the various
dynasties, the essence of Chinese culture - and to make them available for the world to
see. However, with the start of the war with Japan in 1931, which was followed by World
War II and then the civil war between the Nationalists and Communists, the imperial
collection had to be separated on several occasions and then finally reunited at Nanking
in 1947. At the end of 1948, it was decided to move some of the best of the collection
across the Taiwan Straits to Taiwan for safekeeping. These items then formed the basis
for the NPM collection.

Fig 2: Journey of the NPM collection

The exhibits comprise items made of jade, bronze, calligraphy, painting, wood, stone,
ivory and bone. Together, they provide insight into the material and spiritual culture of
their time - whether as a seal of authority or status symbol, as a means of spiritual or
artistic expression, to serve as a record of events or to be used purely for their function.
The museum is organised thematically over three floors - "Spirits of Heaven and Earth"
(3F), "The Rise of Civilisation" (2F) and ""Shedding Light on history" (1F).

My dear grandmother, when she was still around, would always wear a jade bangle on
her wrist and counted jade pendants and earrings among her favourite jewelry. I used to
attribute her liking for jade to being old-fashioned, but visiting the NPM made me realise
that the Chinese have had an ancient fascination for this precious stone dating back all the
way to the Neolithic Age. Jade then was thought to possess spiritual powers, and was
used to make ornaments and ritual objects. The jade objects of this time tell of the "dark
bird", which the people believed to symbolise the mystery of life. Jade continued to be
revered even up to the time of the imperial dynasties, as seen by exquisite artworks such
as the Jadeite cabbage from the Ch'ing dynasty, a signature piece of the NPM. Its
craftsmen used the natural properties of the jade to recreate a remarkably lifelike bok
choy. It was likely to be dowry gift for the Ch'ing Emperor's Consort Chin, the locust on
the leaf symbolising fertility and blessings for the bride to produce many children for the
emperor.
Fig 3: Jadeite cabbage, Ch’ing dynasty, c.1662-1795

Among all the Chinese art forms, perhaps the most exulted and celebrated would be that
of pottery. After all, the word "china" is derived from the Sanskrit word for porcelain,
with this region being known to the Western world for their beautiful ceramics as early as
AD 150. During the T'ang dynasty (c.221-960), the phrase "greens of the south and
whites of the north" came to describe the kind of wares coming from the region during
this time. Low temperature "tricolour" wares were used in sumptuous funeral practises
and the white porcelains were widely used among the populace. Porcelain during the
Sung dynasty (c.960-1350) had simple and elegant designs inspired by nature, with
animal and plant motifs, and impurities and cracks in the glaze were left alone. The early
Ming period (c.1350-1521) saw the technique of under-glaze colours being developed,
resulting in the classic "Ming vase" look we know today, with its motifs in a
characteristic blue. The late Ming period (c.1522-1644) had the splendid wu-ts'ai (five
colour) porcelains whereby after the blue under-glaze was fired with a transparent layer,
other over-glaze colours would be added to produce a complex and colourful work.
Porcelain art reached its pinnacle during the early Ch'ing period (c.1662-1795) when
techniques were perfected and there was an incredible richness of forms and colours. An
example is the revolving vase, which consists of separate layers that rotated one within
the other to create an effect of moving scenery. The late Ch'ing period (c.1796-1911) saw
a grand synthesis of traditional craftsmanship to produce complex and splendid designs,
featuring winding branches with leaves and blossoms, billowing clouds and rolling
waves, dragons in flight and phoenixes dancing about - all in extraordinary detail.
Fig 4: Celestial global vase with underglaze blue decoration of dragon among lotus
blossoms, Yung-lo reign, Ming dynasty, c.1350-1521
Fig 5: Vase with rotating interior and decoration of fish in cobalt blue glaze, Ch’ien-lung
reign, Ch’ing dynasty, c.1662-1795

The Ch'ing period saw many technical feats in artwork, including carvings in wood,
bamboo and ivory. One memorable exhibit would be the "olive stone boat" which
features a boat with figurines carved out of a 3.4cm olive pit, which is viewed through a
magnifying lens. Another marvel is the "set of concentric ivory balls with cloud-and-
dragon design in openwork relief" which has 17 concentric layers each rotating
independently of the others. Among my personal favourites are the curio boxes from the
Ch'ing dynasty court, which are miniature chests to store little curio items like perfume
bottles, brushes, calligraphy, ornaments and jewellery. I can imagine that figuring out
how to open the box and playing around with the compartments to search for "treasure" is
a joy in itself. There was a video installation that showed how some of the designs for the
curio boxes could be translated into modern day interior design ideas to optimize the use
of space in a room, such as folding beds and pull out drawers, such that a room became
like a blown-up version of a curio box!

Fig 6: Olive stone boat, Ch’en Tsu-chang, Ch’ing dynasty

Fig 7 – Set of concentric ivory balls with cloud and dragon design in openwork relief,
Ch’ing dynasty

Fig 8. Curio box with filled-in gold and lacquered dragon and phoenix décor containing
44 curios, Ch’ien lung reign, Ch’ing dynasty

Other major categories in the NPM that help shed light into Chinese history include
bronze works, religious sculptures, calligraphy and painting. For a more complete
overview than what this article can provide, you can visit the NPM website online or
even make a trip there yourself! I have visited the NPM twice over the last two years, and
I am sure that with my next visit, more revelations and insights would abound.

Loh Jian Hui is pursuing a course in Interactive Art at La Salle College of the Arts,
Singapore. He loves to travel and feels connected to his roots in Taiwan.

(Pictures and excerpts taken from the official NPM guidebook purchased in the museum)