One of the two parts of a treasured Chinese brush painting is on its way from Zhejiang Province, China, to Taiwan, where it will be reunited with the rest of the painting for an exhibition at the National Palace Museum.
The painting, titled Dwelling in the Fu Chun Mountains (富春山居圖), was created by Yuan Dynasty artist Huang Gong-wang (黃公望). Just over 300 years later, in 1651, the painting was almost destroyed. The then-owner loved it so much it he attempted to burn it so he would it have in the afterworld when he died. A nephew was able to rescue the painting, but it had already come apart.
The first half, retitled The Broken Mountains, stayed in private hands until after World War II, when it ended up at the Zhejiang Provincial Museum.
The longer section had several owners before becoming part of the imperial collection under the Qianlong emperor and after the 1911 revolution it became part of the collection at the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City.
The longer section ended up in Taiwan, with many of the Palace Museum treasures, when the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949.
The painting drew attention in both China and Taiwan when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) said last year he hoped the painting could be “reunited,” implying his desire for the unification of Taiwan and China.
The painting will be on display from June 1 through Sept. 5.
After the Taipei exhibition, there will not be a reciprocal exchange with Zhejiang.
The National Palace Museum fears any national treasures it might send for exhibition in China could be seized by the authorities and it has said it will not lend anything unless it receives a guarantee from the Chinese government that it will be returned.
China claims ownership of all of the Palace Museum pieces that were brought to Taiwan by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) at the end of the war.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS