Wang's wife may have a point, since in this collector's dictionary, "as long as I can afford" means borrowing money to bring antiques home.
Giving away a life of luxury for his calling, the aging collector's urgent wish is to find his massive collection a new home in Taiwan, hoping that the government and billionaire entrepreneurs can lend a helping hand to let this cultural heritage stay where it belongs.
"The Japanese have offered high figures for my collection time and again, but I have turned down the offers. These antiques are a manifestation of Chinese culture and once they are lost, it's impossible to recover them," said Wang.
Last year, the collector came across the path of the like-minded Lee Feng-san (李鳳山), founder of Meimen Qigong and Culture Center (梅門一氣流行養生學苑), who has dedicated himself in reviving the ancient Chinese philosophy of self-cultivation through qigong. An unprecedented exhibition has emerged from this new friendship: an exhibition of swords taken from Wang's collection, which will be shown at the center's gallery in Hsinchu later this month.
Entitled The Swords of the Emperor (王者之風), the exhibition features imperial swords from the Qing and Ming Dynasties, as well as swords and daggers dating back as far as the Warring States period (475BC to 221BC).
The Swords of the Emperor is slated to take place at the Meimen Gallery, B1, 192 Tungkuang Rd, Hsinchu City (新竹市東光路192號B1) from June 16 to Sept. 2. For more information, call (03) 574-5874 or visit www.meimen.org.
RSS