An exhibition in Prague featuring ancient books from the National Central Library opened on Thursday, with the aim to deepen cultural exchanges between Taiwan and the Czech Republic, the library said.
The exhibition, titled “The Imprint of Civilization: Ancient books from the collections of the National Central Library,” is being held at the National Library of the Czech Republic until Aug. 31.
It features replicas of oracle bone scripts and bronze inscriptions from ancient China that highlight the evolution of writing and printing, the libraries said.
Photo: CNA
Also showcased is the Yongle Encyclopedia, a Chinese work commissioned by the Ming Dynasty’s Yongle Emperor (永樂) in 1403 and completed in 1408.
A section of the exhibition shows how the Czech Republic’s former name “Bohemia” was recorded and highlighted in archives.
For example, it illustrates how Bohemia was called “a country full of gold” on the Great Universal Geographic Map, which was drawn by a 17th-century Belgian missionary in Qing Dynasty China, the National Central Library said.
Bohemian astrological records and calendars, as well as watercolor paintings and sketches created by late Taiwanese painter Liang Dan-feng (梁丹丰) while traveling in Prague, are also on display, National Central Library director-general Tseng Shu-hsien (曾淑賢) said.
It is rare for the two libraries to jointly organize an exhibition, but the Prague exhibition reflects the warming relationship between Taiwan and the Czech Republic, Tseng said.
The Taiwan collections represent “the rich and diverse scope of cultural and artistic heritage of Southeast Asia,” the Czech library said on its Web site.
“Through this exhibition, we hope to promote mutual understanding and appreciation between the people of the Czech Republic and Taiwan,” it said.
This is the fifth time a similar exhibition has been held by National Central Library in Europe.
The previous ones took place in Latvia in 2015, in Hungary in 2016, in Estonia in 2021 and in the Czech Republic last year.
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