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Special Exhibition

Enduring Legacy: A Centennial Celebration of the National Palace Museum

The National Palace Museum is home to treasured collections of artifacts. To a greater extent, it is a depository of collective memories spanning millenniums. In 2025, the Museum is celebrating a significant milestone: the centennial of a transformative journey from an imperial collection to a museum for all since its inception in 1925, the 75th anniversary since the artifacts were moved into the storehouses in Beigou, Taiwan, and the 60th anniversary of the inauguration of the National Palace Museum in Taiwan, the permanent home for the precious artifacts. The year 2025 also marks the 10th anniversary of the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum. To commemorate these meaningful occasions, the Museum is presenting Enduring Legacy: A Centennial Celebration of the National Palace Museum. With the momentum nourished for a century, the exhibition is a retrospective of the path the Museum has treaded in Taiwan in the past six decades. It is also an outlook into the infinite possibilities the future holds.

Over the past 60 years, the National Palace Museum, now houses nearly 700,000 artifacts, has become one of the most influential museums around the globe. This exhibition brings to light the pivotal moments along the journey and the transitioning perception and portrayal of the collection, featuring over 100 pieces of paintings, calligraphy, antiquarian books, antiquities, archives and digital works, among which are multiple restricted display works from the painting and calligraphy collection and artifacts designated as national treasures and significant antiquities. While boasting artistic and historical values, they are also a window into the engaging exchange between the Museum and the public; into the shifting representation and interpretation of artifacts; into how the Museum has responded to and reflected such transitions through diverse perspectives, aesthetic values and cultural visions amid a changing society and the context of history.

Featuring six decades of growth and development at the Museum’s Northern Branch, the exhibition unfolds through Brilliance behind the Door, Dialogue with the World, Tapestry of the Knowledge and Expedition into the Future, highlighting the establishment and expansion of its collection system; international exchanges and exhibitions; progress in the research and interpretation of its collection; the development of the digital archive. Among the exhibits are multiple restricted display works from the Museum’s painting and calligraphy collection, as well as works designated by the Ministry of Culture as national treasures and significant antiquities. Also displayed are Gilt Bronze Sakyamuni Buddha and Bodhisattva Mandala. Donated by Mr. Peng Kai-dong, both have been designated as important cultural properties by the Japanese government and entrusted to Kyushu National Museum. In addition, Travelers among Mountains and Streams by Fan Kuan, Early Spring by Guo Xi and Wind in Pines among a Myriad Valleys by Li Tang, famed internationally as the trio of monumental landscape paintings from the Northern Song dynasty, are making their debut at the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum, with a focus that explores how these masterpieces have been perceived and interpreted as time progresses. History is not bound by the past, for it shares a close bond with the present. As the National Palace Museum evolves in Taiwan, as it attests to the entwining past and present, it is also ushering in the next centennial.

Exhibition Information

Event Date 2025-10-14~2026-03-01
Location 3F S302

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late Shang dynasty to early Western Zhou period, c. 13th-10th century BCE

Ding cauldron of Ying Zu Ding

The National Palace Museum began a century-long journey the moment its doors opened, unveiling to the world the evolution and legacy, as well as the continuing growth of an imperial collection. In 1925, following the Republican government's inventory and cataloging of the Forbidden City's inner court, these royal treasures were made accessible to the public for the first time. When members of the Committee for the Disposition of Qing Imperial Possessions entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation - the residence for the emperor - the first object to catch their eye was this monumental bronze ding tripod. During the cataloging process, the committee used the Thousand Character Classic system to label artifacts by palace, assigning this particular ding the serial number Lu-1.
The ding cauldron served as a ritual cooking vessel for preparing meat broth during sacrificial ceremonies. This cauldron features a deep, rounded body with upright handles on the rim and three sturdy columnar legs. Below the rim, six groups of relief animal motifs with single heads and double bodies are arranged symmetrically around a central ridge against a background of cloud and thunder patterns. The animal masks have distinctive eyes with circular centers flanked by side sections, slightly open mouths, and prominent fangs. The legs display similar relief animal masks, adapted to the tapering form with proportionally larger horns and protruding ears. The vessel’s majestic appearance reflects its maker’s extraordinary status. A three-character inscription on the inner wall indicates this vessel was created for ancestral sacrifices to the ancestor Ding.

Song Dynasty

Remaining Calligraphy by Three Song Generations of the Su Family from Meishan, Album Leaf

Remaining Calligraphy by Three Song Generations of the Su Family from Meishan is a collection of manuscripts by Su Xun (1009-1066), his sons, Su Shi and Su Zhe (1039-1112), and grandson, Su Guo (1072-1123).
In 2014, the exhibition, Treasured Masterpieces from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was held in the National Tokyo Museum and Kyushu National Museum in Japan. Among the exhibits was Letter to the Supervisory Assistant Director (Tiju Jiancheng) by Su Xun, which received praise from the then curator as possessing sublime and ethereal delight.

Tang Dynasty

Draft of a Requiem for My Nephew, Yan Zhenqing

The An Lushan rebellion broke out during the Tianbao reign of the Tang dynasty in the mid-8th century, during which, Yan Zhenqing (709-785), who was 50 at the time, lost his cousin, Yan Gaoqing, and nephew, Yan Jiming. Engulfed with grief and anguish, he wrote the requiem with words voicing his bare emotions and mournful sorrow. This original manuscript was on loan to the National Tokyo Museum for the 2019 exhibition, Unrivaled Calligraphy: Yan Zhenqing and His Legacy (2019/1/16-2/24). During the six-week period, it drew nearly 200,000 viewers.

Northern Song Dynasty (late 11th - early 12th century)

Mallet-shaped vase with green glaze, Ru ware

The Museum’s collection includes two Ru ware mallet-shaped vases. One features a metal rim mount, while the other—the one before you—displays a distinct ring of exposed clay along the mouth. Comparison with examples excavated from the Ru kiln site allows us to reconstruct their original form, characterized by a flared, dish-shaped mouth and a long neck. This vessel type was inspired by West Asian glassware, most notably an Islamic glass bottle unearthed from the tomb of the Princess of the State of Chen in Inner Mongolia (dated 1018). Such evidence vividly illustrates the cultural exchanges between East and West in the 11th century and their influence on the evolution of ceramic designs.

Northern Song Dynasty (late 11th - early 12th century)

Dish with celadon glaze and bingcai mark, Ru ware

What makes this small Ru ware dish remarkable is the presence of two carved characters, “bing” (丙) and “cai” (蔡), on its base. What might these inscriptions signify? Judging from the clear differences in carving technique and calligraphic style, they were likely inscribed at different times or under different circumstances. Moreover, a line from an imperial poem by Emperor Qianlong reads, “The ancient bing rank corresponds to today’s highest honors,” suggesting that the character “bing” was already carved prior to his reign. As for the character “cai,” it is said to possibly relate to the family of “Cai Jing.” What do you think?

Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279)

Vase with tubular lug handles in celadon glaze, Guan ware

Traces of multiple glaze applications can be observed along the rim and foot of this vase. An imperial poem inscribed on the base, composed by Emperor Qianlong in 1773, records his close observation of the design featuring tubular lugs and perforated foot wall. Admiring the ingenuity that allowed the vase to be carried with a cord threaded through these openings, the emperor was reminded of the Tang poet Li He, celebrated for his spontaneous bursts of inspiration. According to legend, Li traveled with a servant who carried a brocade pouch, into which he would drop notes whenever inspiration struck. Similar vessels have been unearthed from the Guan kiln site at Jiaotanxia on the outskirts of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, suggesting that this piece may have been produced there during the Southern Song dynasty. Comparable examples are also found in Xuanhe Bogu Tulu (Illustrated Catalogue of Antique Objects from the Xuanhe Hall), reflecting how Guan ware of the Southern Song dynasty continued the Northern Song tradition of modeling ceramic designs after ancient bronzes.

Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279)

Hollyhock-shaped bowl in celadon glaze, Longquan ware

Have you noticed? The distinctive feature of this hollyhock-shaped bowl lies in its undulating, wave-like rim. This design derives from the imitation of gold and silver wares. As comparable examples have been found among works produced at both the Longquan kilns in Lishui and the Laohudong kilns in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, this vessel type is presumed to have been popular during the 13th century.

Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279)

Flower-shaped brush washer with light bluish-green glaze, Guan ware

Multiple layers of glaze were applied in the production of Guan ware during the Southern Song dynasty. The clearly visible ice-crackle pattern on this piece vividly reveals the texture created by the overlapping glazes, resembling the fissures of fractured ice.

Northern Song Dynasty (late 11th - early 12th century)

Dish with celadon glaze, Ru ware

Emperor Qianlong held Ru ware of the Song dynasty in the highest esteem and personally composed seven poems in praise of it, four of which were inscribed on Ru ware vessels of different designs. To him, this small dish seemed to confirm the account recorded by Zhou Hui of the Song dynasty in Qingbo Zazhi (Miscellaneous Records of the Clear Waves), which states that “agate powder was added to the glaze.” A total of five extant Ru wares are known to bear this same poem. In addition to the one in the Museum’s collection, the others are housed in the British Museum (two pieces), the Hong Kong Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279)

Mallet-shaped vase in celadon glaze, Longquan ware

This celadon vase was once appraised and collected by Emperor Qianlong.
In the imperial poem inscribed on its base, the lines “If one speaks of the paper mallet design handed down from the imperial kilns, it should be passed down together with Chengxintang paper” attest to the use of the name zhichui ping (paper mallet vase). The term reflects the multiple interpretations inspired by its form. Some saw it as resembling the wooden mallet used in laundering or papermaking, while Emperor Qianlong regarded it as a representative type of official ware, to be treasured alongside Chengxintang paper as an object of equal refinement.

Northern Song Dynasty (late 11th - early 12th century)

Narcissus basin with celadon glaze, Ru ware

All four narcissus basins in the Museum’s collection are on display in celebration of the Museum’s anniversary. Three of them bear imperial poems inscribed on their bases by Emperor Qianlong, while this one, distinguished by its slightly bluish-green glaze, does not. Since 1933, scholars have followed a view dating back to the latter half of the nineteenth century, identifying such oval Ru ware vessels as “narcissus basins.” However, in the eyes of the eighteenth-century Emperor Qianlong, it was regarded instead as a “cat’s food basin,” a refined vessel for feeding pets.