Thu, Jun 19, 2014 page3

• Museum treasures head to Japan

  HARD-WON: Only after Tokyo and Kyushu agreed to lend Taipei 68 national treasures for a reciprocal show in 2016 did the museum agree to the exhibition, the director said

  • By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
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  Two national treasures and another 200 historical items from the National Palace Museum in Taipei arrived safely in Japan yesterday, marking the first overseas trip for the collection in 65 years.

  The treasures have remained carefully preserved in the National Palace Museum since the Chinese National Government relocated to Taiwan in 1949.

  A majority of the works are to be displayed at the Tokyo National Museum from Tuesday next week to Sept. 15 followed by the Kyushu National Museum between Oct. 7 and Nov. 30.

  

  Chefs yesterday introduce a special “national treasure banquet” at the Silks Palace at the National Palace Museum in Taipei. The restaurant is working with Japan’s Capitol Hotel to serve the banquet during an exhibition of the museum’s treasures in Tokyo.

  Photo: CNA

  However, the Jadeite Cabbage with Insects (翠玉白菜) is only to be shown in Tokyo National Museum from Tuesday next week to July 7 before being returned to Taipei.

  Another national treasure, the Meat-Shaped Stone (肉形石), is to be exhibited in the Kyushu National Museum between Oct. 7 and Oct. 20 before being shipped back.

  The Jadeite Cabbage has previously been shown outside Taipei on one occasion at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts for three months in 2003 before being returned to the museum.

  

  The National Palace Museum’s Jadeite Cabbage with Insects is displayed at a press conference in Taipei yesterday to promote an upcoming exhibition in Japan.

  Photo: Pan Shao-tang, Taipei Times

  The valuable items are to be delivered in different batches, and packaged and delivered using international standard procedures for museum artifacts, with the flight temperature kept at 20?C.

  Apart from the Jadeite Cabbage and Meat-Shaped Stone, museum director Feng Ming-chu (馮明珠) said the collection includes works of Chinese calligraphy by Chinese poets and calligraphers created from the seventh to 14th century, including Wang Xizhi (王羲之), Su Dongpo (蘇東坡) and Huang Tingjian (黃庭堅).

  Another collection highlight is 16 Chinese embroidery pieces, she said.

  The director said that Taiwan and Japan started negotiating the items to be included in the museum’s first overseas exhibition last year.

  Feng added that the Jadeit Cabbage and Meat-Shape Stone were the top two items on Japan’s wish list.

  “We have never even lent these items to the US, France, Germany or Austria, let alone Japan,” Feng said, speaking about the negotiations.

  Feng added that several members of the Japanese parliament, as well as political heavyweights, personally visited Taiwan, hoping to succeed in exhibiting the two valuable items in Japan.

  She said that the museum only agreed to Japan’s request after the Tokyo and the Kyushu national museums promised to lend Taipei a total of 68 national treasures and important Japanese cultural assets for a reciprocal exhibition in 2016.

  Feng also confirmed that First Lady Christine Chow (周美青) is to lead the museum exhibition staff and that she is to attend the opening ceremony in Japan on Monday.

  The Jadeite Cabbage was carved from a piece of verdant jadeite. The Meat-Shaped Stone, made of banded jasper, has the appearance of a stewed pork with clearly defined layers of fat and lean meat.

  The last of the museum’s “three treasures” is the Duke Mao Tripod (毛公鼎).
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