| National Palace Museum (1965)
other
sites in Taipei |
Taipei, Taiwan |
Click on the above
images for larger views
The National Palace
Museum (Gugong Bowu Yuan [in Pinyin transliteration], or Kukung Powukuan [in Wade-Giles])
is the world's greatest repository of Chinese art objects. The collection has
some 700,000 items, although only a small portion (perhaps 15,000 pieces) is on
display at any given time. Some of the more significant items are on permanent
display, while much of the museum's exhibition space is given over to rotating
exhibits from the total collection or, more recently, from outside sources.
The treasure trove had its formal beginning in the Song Dynasty during the
reign of Dai Cong. He sent emissaries all over China to collect, confiscate
or steal the finest examples of Chinese arts. There followed periods of destruction
by Chin Tartars, and then a renewed zeal for collection by succeeding rulers.
When the Mongols seized power, the revived collection was taken to the new Mongol
capital of Daidu (present-day Beijing) and then, in 1368, when the Ming Dynasty
succeeded to power, it was moved southward to Nanjing. When the Ming Yong Lo
emperor moved his capital back to Beijing in the 1420s the collection was given
a seemingly permanent home in his palace in the Forbidden City. Through the
ensuing centuries this private imperial trove continued to grow; Qing rulers
(1644-1911) were especially avid collectors.
Imperial China ceased to exist with termination of the power of the last Qing
emperor Pu Yi in 1911--though he did not formally abdicate until February 24,
1912—and the proclamation of the Republic of China. The last emperor, however,
was allowed to continue living with the accumulated treasures of the centuries
in 'his' Forbidden City until November 1924 when he was unceremoniously expelled.
The next year the former Forbidden City (formerly those who entered uninvited
did so under pain of death) was formally opened to the public as the National
Palace Museum. The historic arts assiduously collected over the centuries thus
became accessible to the ordinary person. Shortly thereafter in 1931, however,
the Japanese occupied Manchuria, and, as tensions mounted, the decision was
made to transfer the Museums's precious contents to the more secure southern
city of Nanjing. Soon thousands of the crates were transferred to Shanghai and
then back to Nanjing. During the war with Japan, which began in 1937, the valued
contents went to Changsha, Guiyang, Chengdu, Emei and finally to Chongqing,
Chiang Kai-shek's wartime capital. After the end of hostilities with Japan in
1945, the collection—largely intact—went back to Nanjing in 1947.
In 1949, however, the deteriorating war with the Communist led to the collection's
'temporary' evacuation to Taiwan. Sources vary on the number of crates that
made this final journey, but it included many thousands of the best objects;
a number of crates were left behind.
The National Palace Museum—formally the Chung Shan Museum building--finally
opened its doors at Waishuanghsi in the northern Taipei suburb of Shilin in
1965 to reveal its remarkable contents to the world--ancient porcelains, bronzes,
paintings, jades, books and documents—in an attractive setting. Huge underground
vaults carved into the mountain contain the mass of the collection. Although
the overwhelming majority of the collection belonged to China's emperors, it
has continued to grow through the years from the donations of private collectors.
Photography is forbidden inside the museum, but it is hoped that this brief
narrative overview and the images of the exterior—with its roof lines marble
railings and other details reminiscent of the Forbidden City in Beijing—and
will encourage many to visit this remarkable repository of Chinese art and artifacts.
(text by Robert D. Fiala)
Bibliography:
All images copyright 2002 by Professor Robert D. Fiala of Concordia University, Nebraska, USA