The restoration of a 500-year-old handwritten Koran, which had been heavily damaged by the elements, is likely to be completed by the end of this month, the National Taiwan Library said last week.
The book’s cover and binding are the final elements to be repaired, said Hsu Mei-wen (徐美文), a book restorer at the national library’s Book Hospital.
Hsu specializes in the restoration of ancient texts and calligraphy.
Photo courtesy of Hsu Mei-wen
The artifact was presented two years ago as a gift to Dharma Master Cheng Yen (證嚴法師), founder of the Taiwan-based Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation, by Faisal Hu (胡光中), a Tzu Chi volunteer and Muslim based in Turkey.
The 75 chapters of text were handwritten by four different people, using different inks, and was completed some time in the 15th or 16th century, Hsu said.
Cheng Yen was leafing though her special gift when she saw what looked like ants on some of the pages, and contacted the national library to inspect the book, Hsu said.
The “ants” were actually cigarette beetles, which are commonly found in old books, she said.
An inert gas was applied to eradicate the insects.
The library further endeavored to restore the Koran, which was a long and painstaking process, with a day required to repair two pages, Hsu said.
Sourcing appropriate materials also took much time and effort, she said, adding, for example, that the library had to find linen fibers to match the material of the Koran’s pages.
Given the lack of suppliers, finding the linen took eight months, she said.
The material was eventually discovered in the national library’s warehouse. It was later dyed with a mineral pigment to create a similar look as that in the handwritten edition of the Koran.
Hsu removed old dust, seeds and human hair from the tome, all of which she collected plans to display alongside the restored Koran in July, she said.
Hsu said that while she is neither Buddhist nor Muslim, she chose out of respect not to eat pork during the time she was restoring the Koran.
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
RSS