Ancient illustrations aid the imagination

Readers of classical Chinese plays and novels must have often imagined their scenes and characters. The demureness of Tsuei Ying-ying (崔鶯鶯) in The Tale of the Western Chamber and the braveness of General Yang Liu-lang (楊六郎) in the Legend of the Loyal and Brave Yang Family have come alive countless times in many readers' minds.

To present how ancient Chinese artists imagined these scenes and characters, the National Palace Museum is now holding "Exquisite Engravings: Special Exhibition of Characters from Fiction and Drama in Antiquity," (細繪精雕：古代戲曲小說版畫人物特展) showing 80 engraved illustrations made in the Ming and Ching dynasties in both large prints and the original book versions.

Although the museum's collection includes many illustrated books which were part of the Forbidden City's collection, the books on show this time are mostly from the Beijing Library collection.

"This is because of our thematic emphasis on drama and fiction, which were not considered elevated or educational enough to be part of the royal collection in the past," said Lu Hsuei-yan (盧雪燕), curator of the exhibition. "To present the beauty of the ancient art of engraving, we considered the exquisiteness of a picture the top priority when we selected the exhibits," Lu added.

Many of the works can therefore be appreciated independently of the books from which they come.

The high quality of Ming-dynasty illustrations is a result of the maturity of the printing technology as well as the popularity of fiction at the time.

Originally used to make Buddhist images in the Sui and Tang dynasties, printing technology steadily progressed through the reign of Wan-li (萬曆, 1573-1620) in the Ming dynasty. His reign brought about widespread prosperity, prompting the public to find new forms of entertainment. Large numbers of plays and novels were produced, and large-scale printing houses were set up to satisfy the unprecedented demand for books. Printing houses tried to outrun others by offering exorbitant sums to get renowned artists to illustrate their books. Chen Hung-shou (陳洪綬), whose illustrations of Chu Poems (楚辭) are among the exhibits, was the most sought-after illustrator of the time. The harsh competition resulted in the golden age of Chinese printing.

Stored at a fixed temperature and humidity at the museum, these centuries-old pages show a beauty that's almost intact.

In the exhibition, viewers will find many works from printing hubs in Anhui and Zhejiang provinces arranged into four sections -- "Love Stories," "Spirits and Immortals," "Histories" and "Other Stories."

In the first section, four scenes from Tale of Return of the Spirit at the Peony Pavilion, (牡丹亭還魂記) the most famous work by Ming dynasty master playwright Tang Hsien-tsu (湯顯祖), are illustrated in a delicate and careful composition.

The play tells of the romance between a young scholar and a female ghost. Du Li-niang (杜麗娘) is from an aristocratic family which keeps her in the confines of her big house. One day, when she goes for a stroll in the garden accompanied by her maid, she suddenly realizes how lonely she has been. She falls asleep in the garden shed and has a dream. She dreams of a rendezvous with a young scholar. When she awakens, the image of the man in her dream preoccupies her all day long.

She languishes and dies of lovesickness. Her body is buried at the Wintersweet Garden.