The centennial of the National Palace Museum (NPM) makes a starting point of perfection and an opportunity for future envision. Today (the 20th), the National Palace Museum held “The 100th Anniversary of National Palace Museum and Special Exhibitions Opening.” “Two Hundred Treasures: Song Dynasty Rare Books in the National Palace Museum Collection,” “An Assembly for the Ages: The Legend of the Northern Song Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden,” and “Enduring Legacy: A Centennial Celebration of the National Palace Museum” on view at the Southern and the Northern Branches launched in October for centenary celebration unveil the chapter of the “New NPM for the Next Century.”

The 100th Anniversary of National Palace Museum and Special Exhibitions Opening began with the melodies brought by the chamber orchestra from Soochow University and Taipei Municipal Shilin Elementary School Choir, conveying the deepest wishes for the NPM of a Century. The Opening was graced by the presence of various luminaires tonight. NPM Director Hsiao Tsung-Huang, along with Deputy Directors Huang Yung-Tai and Yu Pei-Chin, and Secretary General Wang Yao-Feng, received Asami Ryusuke, Deputy Director, Tokyo National Museum; Moriya Masashi, Director, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka; Naito Sakae, Director, Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts; Chung Yong Jae, Director, National Palace Museum of Korea; Wang Jun-Jieh, Member of the NPM Committee of Curatorial Affairs; Chung Chih-Chia, Deputy Director, Cultural Development, Musée du Quai Branly; Wang Ching-Ling, Curator of Chinese Art, Rijksmuseum; Yvon Figueras, Director of International Development and Production, Musée des Arts Décoratifs;  Kobayashi Hitoshi, Chief Curator, the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka; Hsu Shu-Hsiang, Vice President, Examination Yuan; Legislators Wang Cheng-Hsu and Hung Mong-Kai, Legislative Yuan; Lee Ching-Hwi, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Culture; Ger Baushuan, Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Chen Min-Jen, Chairperson, Nuclear Safety Commission; Chen Chin-Kuang, Vice Minister, Veterans Affairs Council; Lin Cheng-yi, Former Director, Chang Lin-sheng, Former Deputy Director, and Lin Po-ting, Former Deputy Director, National Palace Museum; Jan Chyan-Long, President, Soochow University; Wu Ming-yu, Principal, Taipei Municipal Shilin Elementary School; Mr. Marco Lombardi, Representative of the Italian Economic, Trade and Cultural Promotion Office, and Mrs. Lombardi; Mr. Josué Serres, Head of Academic Cooperation and Cultural Center, French Office in Taipei, and Mrs. Serres; foreign envoys and representatives in Taiwan; representatives from museums, cultural and academic institutions, NPM Committee of Curatorial Affairs Members, artifact donors, our volunteer partners, Friends of the National Palace Museum, and retired colleagues, jointly witnessing the historic moment of the NPM marching towards the next hundred years.

NPM Director Hsiao Tsung-Huang noted in his remark that in 2025, the National Palace Museum celebrates its centennial—a milestone that invites both reflection on the past and vision for the future. “100+” is a tribute to the glory of a century as well as a symbol for the NPM’s unceasing advancement onward in progress. Over the course of a century, the museum has evolved through four major stages: its founding and relocation, the Beigou years, institutional development, and transformation from a local to an international institution. For 75 of those years, the museum has taken root in Taiwan, engaging in profound dialogue with this beautiful island and writing a cultural chapter uniquely shared by Taiwan and the National Palace Museum. To mark this centennial, the Northern Branch has completed and opened its new Administration Building and Second Exhibition Hall. Construction will soon begin on an accessible passageway connecting the Museum to the Taipei Metro Circular Line North Section’s Y28 Station, while work continues to advance the renovation plan for the Main Building. At the Southern Branch, the “National Treasures Hall” has completed its topping-out ceremony and is scheduled to open by the end of next year, offering visitors a new experience of “visible restoration and conservation spaces.” Together, the Northern and Southern Branches will shape the vision of a “New National Palace Museum for the Next Century.”

NPM Director Hsiao added that as for exhibitions, the inaugural show at the newly opened Second Exhibition Hall at the Northern Branch, “French Masterpieces from the Robert Lehman Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art,” concluded last weekend to tremendous public acclaim. The Southern Branch has successively launched major exhibitions including “The Beauty of the Floating World in Edo” and "Harboring the Past: Maritime Southeast Asia as Crossroads of Trade, Art and Cultural Migration.” In celebration of the Museum’s 100th anniversary in October, three special exhibitions are being presented: “Two Hundred Treasures: Song Dynasty Rare Books in the National Palace Museum Collection,” “An Assembly for the Ages: The Legend of the Northern Song Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden,” and “Enduring Legacy: A Centennial Celebration of the National Palace Museum.” At the same time, the National Palace Museum continues to expand its global presence. In September, the NPM held its first-ever special exhibition at the National Museum of the Czech Republic—“100 Treasures, 100 Stories”—and in November, it will travel to France to present “Dragons” at the Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac. Guided by the vision of being a museum for all people and for the world, we bring Taiwan to the world and welcome the world to the National Palace Museum.

“Not only are the Museum’s precious artifacts its most valuable assets—the professionalism and dedication passed down from generation to generation among ‘the NPM staff’ constitute its most treasured heritage,” emphasized NPM Director Hsiao Tsung-Huang, “the founding and relocation of the National Palace Museum over the past century were marked by extraordinary hardship. The early Museum staff who safeguarded the collection during its journey to Taiwan made immeasurable contributions. Today, the Northern Branch has flourished for over sixty years, while the Southern Branch has achieved remarkable progress over the past decade. Thanks to the collective efforts of four generations of Museum staff, the National Palace Museum continues to uphold the spirit of professional services, openness and diversity, inclusiveness, and sustainable development, striving to build a museum that belongs to all people.” Whether veteran or newly joined colleagues; whether working at the forefront in curation and research, or behind the scenes in engineering, security, maintenance, conservation, and volunteer service, each has remained steadfast in their duty, carrying the mission of cultural preservation and safeguarding the priceless treasures of human civilization. As the National Palace Museum embarks on its next century, may it continue to shine with renewed brilliance. To every individual who has protected and served this institution, we offer our deepest respect and gratitude.

In his remark, Deputy Director Asami Ryusuke from the Tokyo National Museum (TNM) noted that the TNM has had a solid tie of friendship with the NPM for years. In 2014, the NPM presented “Treasured Masterpieces from the National Palace Museum, Taipei” at the TNM, which won the hearts of viewers in Japan. Later, in 2016, the TNM presented “Japanese Art at Its Finest: Masterpieces from The Tokyo and Kyushu National Museums” at the NPM Southern Branch in return. Both parties have been exchanging and sharing research results to date. Two significant pieces from the TNM collection, Five Horses and Dream Journey Along the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, are especially exhibited in the NPM centennial exhibition “An Assembly for the Ages: The Legend of the Northern Song Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden.” Five Horses, hailed as an authentic work by Li Gonglin, a literati painter in the Song Dynasty, had been long lost since the early 20^th century. It resurfaced in 2017 after being donated to the Tokyo National Museum and was publicly unveiled at the special exhibition “Unrivaled Calligraphy: Yan Zhenqing and His Legacy,” making it a momentous event in the history of East Asian art studies. Meanwhile, the NPM then generously loaned its precious collection, including Draft of a Requiem for My Nephew, Yan Zhenqing, Tang Dynasty, evincing the mutual trust and friendship between TNM and NPM. This is the second time Five Horses on loan and the first time on display beyond Japan, which presents a profound significance. Dream Journey Along the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, Master Li, Song Dynasty, designated as National Treasure of Japan, exuding from the brushwork a palpable sense of moist air of the Xiao-Xiang region’s climate. This piece, originally part of the Qing Court’s collection, was acquired by the Japanese collector Kikuchi Seido. During the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923, Kikuchi braved the danger to rescue this scroll along with Su Shi’s The Cold Food Observance. The latter is now in the NPM collection. The two pieces truly share a solid bond. Citizens of Taiwan are welcome to visit in person to appreciate the stellar pieces from both museums’ collection, bearing witness to the steadfast friendship between Japan and Taiwan for cultural exchange.

According to the NPM, the Centennial Exhibition series, packed with spectacular highlights, features three landmark special exhibitions presented in succession. “Two Hundred Treasures: Song Dynasty Rare Books in the National Palace Museum Collection” at the Northern Branch is a special exhibition of Song Dynasty rare books that is the largest in scale and the highest in caliber in the NPM history of a century. A total of 98 Song Dynasty rare books are showcased in two periods, presenting the collection provenance, academic value, artistic significance, and conservation philosophy for the Song Dynasty rare books in the NPM collection. “An Assembly for the Ages: The Legend of the Northern Song Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden” brings together the literary and artistic luminaries over a millennium at the National Palace Museum. National treasures of rarity, including Former Ode on the Red Cliff by Su Shi, Poem on the Hall of Wind and Pines by Huang Tingjian, On Sichuan Silk by Mi Fu, among others, are on view. Furthermore, coupled with the 3 masterpieces, i.e., Li Gonglin’s Five Horses and Master Li’s Dream Journey Along the Xiao and Xiang Rivers loaned from the Tokyo National Museum and Li Gonglin’s Mountain Villa from the Cernuschi Museum, France, the exhibition offers an exclusive glimpse at the splendid occasion of the Northern Song Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden a millennium ago.

In addition, “Enduring Legacy: A Centennial Celebration of the National Palace Museum” on view at the NPM Southern and the Northern Branches, with time as the axis, sheds light on the pivotal points in the NPM history, with a special focus on how artifacts have been perceived, interpreted, and reborn across different ages over the 60 years of journey of the NPM Northern Branch. Two Important Cultural Properties of Japan, Gilt Bronze Sakyamuni Buddha and Bodhisattva Mandala, donated by Mr. Peng Kai-dong to the NPM and currently entrusted to Kyushu National Museum, are on display as well. NPM Southern Branch, in the meantime, centers on three monumental landscape paintings from the Northern Song Dynasty, i.e., Travelers among Mountains and Streams by Fan Kuan, Early Spring by Guo Xi, and Whispering Pines in Myriad Valleys by Li Tang. With their collective debut at the NPM Southern Branch for restricted display of 42 days from November 11 to December 28, the trio is to pen a new chapter in history for the centennial celebration of the National Palace Museum.

 




Media Liaison of the National Palace Museum
Emily Wang   +886 2 2881 2021 #68991  Email: emily@npm.gov.tw
Wan-Yu Yang  +886 2 2881 2021 #68900  Email: yuyang@npm.gov.tw