An exhibition for Teacher's Day

To herald Teacher's Day on Sept. 28, refreshers on the life of the founder of private education in China have become inevitable. Confucius Forever, (永遠的孔子) the current exhibition at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (國立國父紀念館) is more ambitious than most in its inclusion of the whole civilization of Confucius' hometown of Chu-fu, Shandong province.

Confucius Forever is "trying to show the civilization and the cultural environment that was able to produce the world's greatest teacher," said Wu Wen-hsiung, (吳文雄) vice general manager of China Times Entertainment, co-organizer of the event. It's an expanded version of the widely acclaimed Confucius Memorial exhibition which took place in the same venue seven years ago.

Centering on the life story of Confucius, the show, made possible by the exhibits on loan from Shandong Provincial Museum, consists of 105 items placed in four galleries, including photos of Confucius' house, attires of his descendents, paintings telling his story, manuscripts of his works, excavated artifacts that testify to the truth of his history, and many miscellaneous and rare items.

One of the highlights of the exhibition can be found in the second gallery, where the artifacts of the ancient Ta-wen-kou (大汶口) civilization (4100-2600 BC) are on show. A gray clay vessel is inscribed with what is thought to be the precursor of oracle-bone scriptures, the earliest written language. Shang dynasty people brewed and stored wine in this big vessel and sank it in the ground where it stayed chilled. The characters on it are easily intelligible. As the dynasty is famous for wine-drinking, many rare wine vessels are on show. Among them is the bird-shaped white clay vessel that shows an ingenuity in pot-making. In the Warring States era (403-221 BC), pot-making had progressed to such level where ceramic vessels can be made as thin as 0.1mm.

The model of Confucius' cemetery, which now accommodates 660 family members and is the world's largest family cemetery, is on show. Another record-breaking exhibit is a plate made of a kind of high-quality jade used in sacrifices or entombing aristocrats. The exquisitely carved one on show is the biggest in China.

For something more relevant to Confucius' life, viewers may take a look at the string of copper bells, which Confucius said, made him forget what meat tastes like for three months. The well preserved set is still playable.

Another vessel, a copper hsi (犧, a breed of bull), is made after the animal upon which Confucius rode, calling to mind today's custom of pulling the hair of a bull to increase one's intelligence.

More recent exhibits come from Confucious' descendants. All his 77 subsequent generations have been appointed as Yan Sen Gong (衍聖公), a position equal to prime minister. Their court clothing on display are hand-made using techniques that closely emulate those of contemporary sewing machines.

Despite the organizer's efforts to round up these treasures, a few drawbacks are apparent. The section of reproduced paintings that detail the anedotes of Confucious' life is scattered with less than quality prints, making the full beauty of the originals lost on viewers.

The exhibition offers no English information and Chinese information is also limited. It's a pity that the organizer was willing to spend three years building the exquisite model of the entire Confucious house but didn't want to take the time to explain the background of the exhibits. As a result, a knowledgeble guide is needed for the curious.