One of the most famous paintings in Chinese history was given a grand welcome at the National Palace Museum in Taipei yesterday when the two pieces were “reunited” for the first time in nearly four centuries.
“We are blessed to see the full picture,” museum director Chou Kung-shin (周功鑫) said, speaking at the opening ceremony of the exhibition of Huang Gong-wang’s (黃公望) Dwelling in the Fu Chun Mountains.
Those present saw something that not even the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong Emperor (乾隆帝), who collected the second half of the scroll by the Yuan Dynasty master in 1746, was lucky enough to see, Chou said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The paper handscroll is one of Huang’s few surviving works. It is known as his greatest work and it is one of the 10 most famous paintings in Chinese history.
Huang completed Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains in 1350 at the age of 82. It was almost destroyed in 1650 when collector Wu Hongyu (吳洪裕) attempted to burn the painting, but it was fortunately saved by a family member.
The scroll nevertheless suffered some damage and was cut into two sections the following year, with the much bigger 636.9cm section entering the Qing imperial collection in 1746. Since then, the two sections have never been displayed together.
The 51.4cm first half of the scroll, The Remaining Mountain, which has been part of the collection of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, came to Taiwan along with 11 other works on loan from other Chinese museums for the exhibition, which runs from today until Sept. 5.
The bigger section has been in the hands of the museum since it was brought to Taiwan by former Republic of China president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) forces in the late 1940s, when they retreated to Taiwan after losing the Chinese Civil War.
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