The National Palace Museum’s most popular artwork — the Jadeite Cabbage with Insects — is to go on display at the trial opening of the museum’s southern branch in Chiayi on Dec. 28.
The Jadeite Cabbage with Insects is to be exhibited at the southern branch from Dec. 28 this year until Oct. 2 next year, museum Director Feng Ming-chu (馮明珠) said on Wednesday during a tour of the almost completed museum in Chiayi.
The jadeite carving, which is 18.7cm long and 9.1cm wide, is a Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) piece that was originally housed in Yonghe Palace in Beijing’s Forbidden City.
Photo: CNA
It is believed to have been a dowry gift for the Guangxu Emperor’s Consort Jin to symbolize purity and as a fertility blessing, because a locust and katydid on the cabbage represent children.
Another popular artwork, the Meat-shaped Stone, is also to be displayed at the southern branch, from Oct. 4 next year, Fung said.
The 5.73cm tall Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) piece is made from banded jasper in the shape of braised pork belly.
The jadeite cabbage and meatshaped stone, which are currently housed at the museum’s main branch in Taipei, went on display in Japan last year, in the first overseas exhibition of the pieces.
Meanwhile, to celebrate the trial opening of the southern branch, admission for all visitors from Dec. 29 to March 31 next year will be free and this will be extended for visitors from Chiayi, Yunlin and Tainan until June 30 next year, Fung said.
Construction of the southern branch museum is about 95 percent complete, Fung said.
It is to be a “museum of Asian art and culture,” she said, adding that she hopes it might “shine on the international stage.”
Located in southern Chiayi County, the 70 hectare museum aims to collect, research, preserve and exhibit artifacts and relics from across Asia.
The exterior of the museum bears images of dragons, elephants and horses that are representative of ancient Chinese, Indian and Persian civilizations.
Taiwan does not exclude the possibility of having formal diplomatic relations with countries that also have formal ties with China, regardless of Beijing’s stance, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Sunday. There was speculation in 2012 that Honduras was attempting to have simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taiwan and China, an idea that then-minister of foreign affairs David Lin (林永樂) rejected. Honduras severed formal ties with Taiwan on Sunday morning after establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing. President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has taken a more practical approach to relations with like-minded countries since assuming government in 2016. Previous administrations took the
Seven senior faculty members, including the principal, of a high school in Taichung were temporarily suspended from their jobs on Friday, pending an investigation by the Taichung Education Bureau into alleged bullying and abuse that led to the suicide of a student last month. The city’s education officials were too slow to suspend those involved, the student’s father told a news conference on Wednesday, at which Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) and members of the Humanistic Education Foundation were also present. The boy had been a good student and a high achiever during elementary and junior-high, and had
ORIGIN UNKNOWN: The Leofoo Village Theme Park and Taipei Zoo have accounted for their baboons, as authorities continue a 12-day capture attempt Authorities in Taoyuan are searching for a non-native baboon, possibly of the chacma species, that has been spotted several times in the city’s Pingjhen District (平鎮) over the past 12 days, and was most recently seen in coastal Sinwu District (新屋). The baboon was first spotted near a local factory on March 10 in central Taoyuan, Jhensing Borough Warden Huang Chih-chieh (黃志杰) said. Huang said he requested the Leofoo Village Theme Park’s help after a second sighting on Saturday. In other sightings, the baboon raided fruit and vegetable gardens on private property, and has evaded one capture attempt via a tranquilizer dart. Media reported
Taiwan would have established formal relations with Argentina long ago if not for China’s interference, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui told US-based Spanish-language online news outlet Infobae in an interview published on Tuesday. Beijing has left behind a string of unfulfilled promises in Latin America, including pledges to build the Grand Nicaragua Canal and airports, docks, ports and industrial zones in El Salvador, he said. Meanwhile, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and other countries enjoy pragmatic and improving relations with Taiwan based on cooperation on the economy, culture, technology and science, he said. While Taiwan is “happy to live and let live,”
RSS