Asia

[Visited: January 2020]

We take a bus from a nearby MRT, and after driving around the gardens, it drops us off right at the entrance of the National Palace. After stowing our bags and buying our ticket, we are in; a lady working for the museum advises us to start at the top floor and work our way down. A great advise: just seeing the top floor takes the better part of two hours already. We move from one amazingly decorated bronze object to the next. They are often vessels, elegantly shaped, with figures of men and animals carved on the sides. Most of these works are thousands of years old. The panels give good explanations in English, so we can enjoy this exhibition even more. Even though the entrance had seemed quite busy, we can often look at the objects without problems. Sometimes, tours walk by, but they quickly disappear.
After the bronze section, we move to another important one: jade. Not only do we see precious items behind the glass, we also see chunks of jade as found in nature, and learn more about the process of mining jade, carving it into the objects we see. Even though I have often seen jade before, especially in China, it is only now that I realise how important this precious stone really is. It is only found in a few places around the world. It is so hard that it is not easy to mine, and obviously also not easy to work on. Knowing this, I admire the finely carved objects much more. In fact, it is the craftmanship of the artist that adds values to a piece of the stone. Jewellery, vases, toys, statues, even a famous piece of jade carved like a vegetable, in exactly the right colours white and green. Truly amazing!
After these two sections, there is still much more. Paintings and calligraphy, where we see scrolls of paper with writing and colourful painted figures, There are paintings, there are other samples of calligraphy. Then, suddenly, there is a section with modern equipment, where you can fly through paintings projected on a wall. Then, I walk past a white horse, on which colours and stripes are projected. Next, I step into a room with mirrors: anyone inside is reflected tens of times in a row. An unexpected play of reality in a museum mostly dedicated to ancient objects. In fact, I now move to a section with a collection of special objects, an overview of what the museum has to offer. More jade objects, more jewellery, more bronze, wooden items. When we are finally outside, we walk through the pleasant garden before going back to the real world outside.

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National Palace Museum (Taiwan)

National Palace Museum > Taiwan > Asia

[Visited: January 2020]

Around the World in 80 Clicks