By Cheryl Robbins / Taiwan news, Staff Writer


Ask any resident or tourist the best places to visit in Taiwan, and the National Palace Museum (NPM) is sure to be at or near the top of the list.

The bulk of the museum's collection is a wealth of art objects inherited from the Sung, Yuan and Ming dynasties, as well as works amassed during the Ch'ing Dynasty, that were stored in the inner court at the northern end of the Forbidden City at the time the Republic of China was founded. The Palace Museum can be considered to have an 80-year history, as it was officially inaugurated on October 10, 1925 in China.

In 1931, due to turmoil in northern China, the Nationalist Government decided to evacuate the collection. A total of 13,491 crates of the museum's works were sent to Shanghai. An additional 6,066 crates of objects were also dispatched from the Exhibition Office of Ancient Artifacts, the Yi-he-yuan Summer Palace, and the Han-lin-yuan Imperial Academy. The objects were moved once again in December of the following year to a purpose-built storage area at a Taoist monastery in Nanjing.

The decor of the Library Building's gift shop blends in well with the adjacent exhibition areas./ Cheryl Robbins, Taiwan News

In 1937, Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China. Over 16,000 crates of works of art were shipped by water and land to Sichuan Province.

From China to Taiwan

When Japan was defeated in August 1945, the Palace Museum reassembled the collection and sent it back to Nanjing. In the fall of 1948, fighting worsened between the Nationalist and Communist sides. A resolution was made to send the most precious objects in the collection to Taiwan.

The Palace Museum shipped a total of 2,972 crates of works of art to Taiwan. Another 852 crates of objects were shipped here by the Preparatory Office of the National Central Museum. The holdings of the Palace Museum included 46,100 antiquities, 5,526 paintings and calligraphic works, and 545,797 rare books and archival documents. The collection of the National Central Museum boasted 11,047 antiquities, 477 paintings and calligraphic works, and 38 rare books. The combined collection consisted of 608,985 pieces.

Cheryl Robbins, Taiwan News

The collection was transferred to Wufong Township in Taichung County for storage and cataloging until 1965, when the National Palace Museum was completed and opened at its current Taipei location. Since then the museum has undergone several expansions, including one taking place until June of this year to increase its exhibition, educational and service areas.

Today, the collection features not only the original holdings, but also acquisitions made after the museum's inauguration in Taiwan. These new acquisitions have come from handovers from other institutions, donations and purchases. As of October 2001, after the completion of a two-year inventory project, the collection is made up of 653,597 objects.

During the current renovation, the East Wing of the museum's Main Building is closed. However, the West Wing of the Main Building and Library/Special Exhibitions Building are open. To start your tour, head to the Library Building entrance to watch a series of five animated shorts, introducing items on display in the adjacent "Astonishing Heaven?"?Ceramics, Jades, Ivory, Carvings and Curio Boxes Exhibition. Also on display in the Library Building is "The Casting of Religion"-An Exhibition of Mr. Peng Kao-dong's Donation featuring cast Buddhist statues.

In the Main Building are the popular jade and bronze exhibitions. For an in-depth introduction to the exhibitions, sign up for a two-hour guided tour in English at the information desk. These tours begin at 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.

Or, for more flexibility, take an audio tour. There are separate tours available for Main Building and Library Building exhibitions, lasting one hour and 2 1/2 hours, respectively. The rental fee is NT$150 for adults and NT$100 for students and groups of 10 or more.

As of June last year, photography is prohibited in the exhibition areas and with much of the main building hidden by restoration work, getting a good souvenir photo may seem next to impossible. To solve that problem the museum is offering a diversity of 2-D and 3-D computer-generated photo options. The 3-D photos feature the National Palace Museum as background, and come with a special frame to produce the 3-D effect. For the 2-D option, choose one of the museum's collected paintings as background, such as the Sung Dynasty painting "Travelers among Mountains and Streams" by Fan K'uan, the Sung Dynasty painting "Magpies and Hare" by Ts'ui Po, or the Ch'ing Dynasty painting "Eight Prized Steeds" by Giuseppe Castiglione. These can be turned into framed photos, postcards, stickers or coffee cup images.

Speaking of souvenirs, there is something available for every budget, from less than NT$100 to more than NT$100,000, in the museum gift shops located in the Main Building and in the Library Building.

Small, easy-to-carry items are the most popular, including name-card holders, make-up mirrors, handkerchiefs and T-shirts. However, reproductions of calligraphic scrolls and other items in the collection, vases, jade pendants, teapots and teacups are also available, as well as museum publications and DVDs. Shipping service is available, except for ceramic items, and mail orders are accepted.