I’m sure everyone knows that the collection of rare Chinese artifacts currently housed in The National Palace Museum (Gúolì Gùg?ng Bówùyùan) number in the thousands.  I’m not going to spoil the surprise for you.  It’s up you to figure out the how’s and why’s of its arrival in Taiwan from mainland China.  It’s quite an interesting story.

These priceless collections continue to grow each year  through donations and purchases.   Displays are changed every three months, so the good news is that die-hard art connoisseurs can visit the museum on a regalar basis.  The bad news is that at the rate the museum is displaying, it would take twelve years to view all the artifacts that are buried in underground vaults in the mountainside.

There are seven special exhibitions in the museum right now.  In particular, I enjoyed the Grand View Special Exhibition of Northern Sung Painting and Calligraphy and the Special Exhibition of Ju Ware from the Northern Sung.

I also really enjoyed the Seals from the Museum Collection, which included an English video on the art of seal-carving.  This was the last exhibit we walked through before the museum closed and I really didn’t get a chance to inspect everything closely.  I was glad to learn that this special exhibition is running until July 2007.

In addition to the special exhibitions, there are also sixteen permanent exhibits.  Out of these, I was especially intrigued by an exhibit called “The Neolithic Age: The Beginning of Civilization (6200-1600 B.C.E).”  The oldest set of jade on display is between seven and eight thousand years old!  It included jade pendants, goddess figures and tubular beads.

The Dazzling Gems Collection from the Ch’ing Dynasty also had some spectacular pieces of artwork.  There were also jadeite screens, mountains carved in lapis lazuli and trees carved in smoky quartz and topaz. I loved the collection of precious gem-encrusted pieces of jewelery once worn by the Empress Dowager.  Many of these treasures come from the imperial homes of the Ch’ing Dynasty.   I saw fingernail guards, precious hairpins and elaborate earrings in this collection. This was especially meaningful to me as I have just finished reading a novel about the Empress Dowager in Anchee Min’s, ”Empress Orchid.”

I’m not an expert in Chinese art history, but I do have a healthy admiration and love of all forms of Asian art.  My favorite dynasties for pottery ware and artwork begin with the Sung (960-1368) and Yuan Dynasties(1271-1368).   Most of the pottery from these dynasties are renowned for their simplicity and naturalism.  Porcelain pieces generally have very few features added.  A few were delicately painted with very simple brush strokes, but most were very monochromatic in design.

I also love the cheerful bright colors of Ming (1368-1644) and Ch’ing Dynasty (1644-1911) pottery.  Pottery from these dynasties are the exact opposite of Yuan and Sung Dynasty pottery.  Pottery and porcelain ware is repeated in endless waves, patterns and motifs which made them highly collectable pieces of art.  Ming Dynasty porcelain is best known for its clear white porcelain with its cheerful blue underglaze.  I looked at these pieces for awhile and admired the underglaze of blue, which is in different shades and intensities.

Some of the porcelain displays took my breath away.  There was one vase from the Ming dynasty that was encrusted with butterflies and seemed so fragile and ethereal that it could almost take flight on the hundreds of wings painted on it.  Some of the simplest designs had been fired with wild and vibrant colored glazes in a variety of hues. I can appreciate what makes these pieces, in fact, all of these pieces, so incredibly special and unique.