National Palace Museum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The National Palace Museum (traditional Chinese: 國立故宮博物院; simplified Chinese: 国立故宫博物院; pinyin: Gúolì Gùgōng Bówùyùan) is an art gallery and museum in Taipei City, Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan containing artifacts of ancient China. It should not be confused with the Palace Museum (note the absence of the word "National"), located inside the Forbidden City in Beijing, capital of the People's Republic of China. Both institutions share the same original roots, which was split in two as a result of the Chinese Civil War. The National Palace Museum in Taipei holds one of the largest collections of Chinese artifacts and artworks in the world, additionally most the items are collected by China's ancient emperors.^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 National Palace Museum Construction 3 Categories in the Collection 4 Famous items 5 Gallery of images 6 Footnotes 7 See also 8 External links

[edit] History

The National Palace Museum was first established as the Palace Museum in Beijing on October 10, 1925, shortly after the expulsion of Puyi,^[2] the last emperor of China, from the Forbidden City by warlord Feng Yü-hsiang. The articles in the museum consisted of the valuables of the former Imperial family and were moved from place to place in the 1930s and 1940s to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army.

During the final years of the Chinese Civil War, the museum essential works collections were selected for removal, under the orders of general Chiang Kai-shek, from Beijing's Forbidden City to Taiwan.^[3] This removal has always been controversial with many in Mainland China viewing this as looting while some in Taiwan arguing that had the collection not been moved to Taiwan in the 1940s, much would have been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. With the victory of the Communists, the National Palace Museum was split into two (the part on the mainland, like all other such institutions, lost its "National" designation). The part on the mainland is centered on the Forbidden City.

The National Palace Museum on Taiwan has also been controversial in Taiwan with many supporters of Taiwan independence regarding it as an unwanted symbol of China-centeredness.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the National Palace Museum was used by the Kuomintang to support its claim that the Republic of China was the sole legitimate government of all of China, in that it was the sole preserver of traditional Chinese culture amid the social change and Cultural Revolution in mainland China, and tended to emphasize Chinese nationalism. In recent years, the museum has focused more on local and minority cultures and has included some materials on loan from the People's Republic of China.

[edit] National Palace Museum Construction

The National Palace Museum building in Taipei was constructed on March 1964 and was completed in August of 1965. Due to the insufficient space to put on display over 655,707^[4] artifacts, the museum underwent renovations in 1967, 1970, and 1996. The museum reopened on Christmas Day 2006, after a long ten years renovation. It was accelerated in 2002, during this renovation period about two-thirds of the museum section was closed. The displays are rotated once every three months, which means 60,000 pieces can be viewed in a year and it would take nearly 12 years to see them all.^[5]

[edit] Categories in the Collection

The National Palace Museum main artifacts categories are:

• Bronze
• Painting
• Jades
• Ceramics
• Calligraphy
• Rare Books
• Documents
• Curios

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

[edit] Famous items

The museum houses several treasured items that are the pride of their collection and famous worldwide. They include:

• The "Jadeite Cabbage" is a piece of jadeite carved into the shape of a cabbage head, and with a close look at the naked eye, a large and a small grasshopper will appear camouflaged in the leaves. The ruffled semi-translucent leaves attached is due to the masterful combination of various natural colour of the jade to recreate the colour variations of a real cabbage.^[6]
• The "Meat-shaped Stone",^[7] a piece of jasper, a form of agate, the strata of which are cleverly used to create a likeness of a piece of pork cooked in soy sauce.^[8] The dyed and textured surface makes the layers of skin, lean meat, and fat materialized incredibly lifelike.
• The "Palace version" of the Qingming Scroll. Even though this is only a copy (the original is in the Palace Museum, Beijing), it is nevertheless regarded as an artistic masterpiece.
• The "Carved Olive-stone Boat",^[9] is a tiny boat carved from an olive stone. The incredibly fully equipped skilled piece is carved with a covered deck and moveable windows. The interior has chairs, dishes on a table and eight figures representing the characters of Su Shih's "Latter Ode on the Red Cliff." The bottom is carved in minute character the entire 300 plus text with the date and the artist's name.
• The "One Hundred Horses", is a painting done in 1728 by Giuseppe Castiglione by implementing a mixture of western artistic skills and utilizing eastern materials to realize a sense of realism to this native theme.^[10]

[edit] Gallery of images

Taipei's National Palace Museum with apartments blocking the view.

Main Hall of the National Palace Museum in 2003, prior to renovations. The Chiang Kai-shek statue has since been removed.

Main Hall of the National Palace Museum in 2007.

Main entrance gate to the National Palace Museum.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] See also

• Chinese art
• Forbidden City
• Taipei City
• Republic of China

[edit] External links

• 2 minute Video: The National Palace Museum In Taipei
• Chinese Paintings
• In Pictures: NPM reopens (BBC)
• Giuseppe Castiglione & Lee Tze Fan at The National Palace Museum
• National Palace Museum official website(English)
• National Palace Museum Online (subscription)
• NY Times (subscription)
• NY Times: Rare Glimpses of China’s Long-Hidden Treasures
• Taipei's National Palace Museum
• The National Palace Museum
• The Splendors of Imperial China: Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei

v • d • e Executive Yuan Ministries Economic Affairs · Education · Finance · Foreign Affairs · Interior · Justice · National Defense · Transportation and Communications Commissions Communication · Consumer Protection · Election · Financial Supervisory · Fair Trade · Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs · Overseas Compatriot Affairs · Public Construction Commission · Research, Development and Evaluation · Youth Councils Agriculture · Atomic Energy · Aviation Safety · Cultural Affairs · Hakka Affairs · Indigenous Peoples · Economic Planning and Development · Labor Affairs · Mainland Affairs · Science · Sports Affairs · Veterans' Affairs Agencies Budget, Accounting and Statistics · Coast Guard · Environmental Protection · Government Information · Health · Personnel Other bodies Central Bank · National Palace Museum

Coordinates: 25°06′07″N, 121°32′55″E