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.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
RSS