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Tapestry of the Knowledge

The National Palace Museum is home to nearly 700,000 pieces of artifacts. The interpretation of these artifacts is symbolic of a cultural narrative nourished in Taiwan. To understand these artifacts, it is essential to establish clear profiles with an organized archive through cataloging, taxonomy and dating. With the Museum's efforts in archiving, publishing and video documentation, the world has grown familiarized with this unique collection. Meanwhile, the Museum engages in dialogues with the public through exhibitions, and as time progresses, so does the interpretation approach. Once part of the national narrative, the collection was given a symbolic role and material focus. As perspectives towards research and history shift and diversify, the collection has been enriched with broadened meanings. The past 75 years in Taiwan had been a period that cemented, transformed and reinterpreted the value of the Museum's collection, a period during which the National Palace Museum flourished and became internationally recognized as a prominent cultural institution. These artifacts, though voiceless, are narrating their stories through the tapestry of the knowledge developed over the decades by the Museum staff.

Northern Branch
Southern Branch

Pasturing Horses
Attributed to Han Gan, Tang Dynasty (618-907)
- Gu Hua 001289N00000003
In 1954, the National Palace Museum published Collection of Chinese Artifacts - Volume I, the first catalogue the Museum published in Taiwan. The paintings were arranged in the chronological order, and the first was Pasturing Horses by Han Gan.

Famed for portraying horses, Han Gan (fl. 8^th century) was a Tang court painter during the Tianbao reign (742-756) of Emperor Xuanzong (685-762). Pasturing Horses depicts a groom official riding a white horse while leading a black steed. The painting is inscribed by Emperor Huizong (1082-1135) of the Song dynasty with "Authentic work by Han Gan, imperially brushed in the ding hai year." It also bears his "imperial treasure" seals, one square and one gourd-shaped. Chiang Chao-shen (1925-1996), a research fellow during the Museum's early years, considered the painting a copy from the Huizong reign. While the Tang style and form are reflected in the powerful and brawny portrayal of the groom official and horses, the rendering of the lines, however, is more closely associated with the Song style. As an authentic Han Gan is rare, the existence of Pasturing Horses holds special meanings.
Blue Magpie and Thorny Shrubs
Huang Jucai, Song Dynasty (960-1279)
- Gu Hua 000039
The painting is inscribed, "Blue Magpie and Thorny Shrubs by Huang Jucai," by Emperor Huizong (1082-1135) of the Northern Song dynasty. Huang Jucai (ca. 933-after 993) was the son of Huang Quan (fl. middle 10^th century), the Five Dynasties master of bird-and-flower painting. After the Later Shu of the Ten Kingdoms period surrendered to Song, Huang Jucai was recruited by Emperor Taizong (933-997), and the style established by the Huangs became the standard in the imperial painting academy during the early Song dynasty.

In 1977, Chiang Chiao-sheng disclosed his findings regarding Blue Magpie and Thorny Shrubs, stating that the brushwork and the compositional focus on the central axis pointed to the Northern Song dynasty. The piece was inducted into the imperial collection during the Huizong reign. Documented in Xuanhe Huapu (Xuanhe Painting Catalogue) as Blue Magpie and Thorny Shrubs by Huang Jucai, the painting was originally mounted in the Xuanhe mounting style. This research approach, which explores art history through extant artworks, later became the mainstream of Song painting studies.

In October 1984, the National Palace Museum introduced Select Masterpieces in Painting and Calligraphy in the Museum Collection. With the exhibition, the Museum designated 20 painting and calligraphy works as the first group of restricted display works with restricted access. Among them was Blue Magpie and Thorny Shrubs, and the painting received the designation of national treasure in 2012.
Rongxi Studio
Ni Zan, Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)
- Gu Hua 000299
After the inauguration of the Waixuangxi site in 1965, the National Palace Museum curated research exhibitions as a new format of presenting its painting and calligraphy collection. The 1975 exhibition, Four Great Masters of the Yuan Dynasty: Huang Gongwang, Wu Zhen, Ni Zan, and Wang Meng, chronicled the life and art of the four Yuan masters, which left profound and indelible marks on how literati paintings from the Yuan dynasty were perceived and appreciated. This painting, created by Ni Zan (1301-1374) at the age of 72, is a representative work of his later years. The colophon indicated that the inscription was added years after the painting was completed. Ni Zan gifted the painting to his friend, Pi Xuan, who kept the painting for three years and gave it to a physician friend Ren Zong. Ren Zong, who resided in Rongxi Studio, then asked Ni Zan to inscribe the poem. Ni Zan is known for mostly depicting the scene of a river with its two banks. Nearly 1/3 of the painting is occupied by the slopes in the foreground, making the empty pavilion more pronounced. Ni Zan's idiosyncratic technique, the folded band texturing, shows influence of Jin Hao (fl. first half of the 10^th century) and Guan Tong (ca. 11^th century).
The Red Cliff
Wu Yuanzhi, Jin dynasty (1115-1234)
- Gu Hua 000993
On the front of this larger scroll is the painting, The Red Cliff, by Wu Yuanzhi (fl. 1149-1189), which fully embodies the Northern Song landscape with the monumental depiction of majestic mountains. Succeeding the painting is Following the Rhyme of Su Shi's Ode on the Red Cliff, the calligraphy work by Zhao Bingwen (1159-1232) in a style influenced by Su Shi and Huang Tingjian. Mr. Zhuang Yan (1899-1980) pointed out that based on Xiang Yuanbian's (1525-1590) inscription, the painting used to be titled, The Red Cliff by Ju Rui, Song dynasty. However, judging by the content of Zhao Bingwen's inscription from Yuan Yishan Ji (Collective Work by Yishan of Yuan), scholar Zhu Jiaji (1902-1969) identified that The Red Cliff should be the work of Wu Yuanzhi.
- Palace Memorial for Reporting the Death of Galdan Boshugtu Khan and the Surrender of Danjila
  Presented by Fuyuan General-in-chief and Chief of Imperial Guard Fiyanggū on the 9^th Day of the 4^th Month of the 36^th Year of the Kangxi Reign
  - Gu Gong 156459
- Da Qing Shengzu Ren Huangdi Shilu
  Veritable Records of the Great Qing Emperor Ren, Shengzu
  The 4^th Month of the 36^th Year of the Kangxi Reign
  - Gu Guan 002086
Supported by the archival collection of the National Palace Museum, the school of New Qing History emerged from the Qing studies in the United States in 1996 with an emphasis on scholars' ability to read the Manchu archives and the focus on inner Asia. Displayed for comparison here are a Manchu palace memorial from the 36^th year of the Kangxi reign (1697) and Da Qing Shengzu Ren Huangdi Shilu (Veritable Records of the Great Qing Emperor Ren, Shengzu) compiled during the Yongzheng reign. Both offer accounts of Emperor Kangxi's battle against Galdan Boshugtu Khan of Dzungar Khanate (1644-1697), the Mongolian Oriat. While the memorial reported illnesses as the cause of Galdan's death, the Da Qing Shengzu Ren Huangdi Shilu attributed it to suicide by poison, alluding to Galdan's ending his own life out of guilt upon being informed of the approaching imperial army. Emperor Yongzheng's alteration, while boosting his father's reputation, is apparently powered by political motives.
Jade Cup in the Shape of a Half Gourd
Mughal Empire, 17^th-18^th century
- Gu Yu 002860
Since the 1980s, research fellows at the National Palace Museum have been reexamining the Hindustan jade from the Qing court collection. Beginning by combing through Emperor Qianlong's poems in praise of Hindustan jade, they reviewed its definition and eventually connected the Islamic jade artifacts from the National Palace Museum with those within the global context, bringing insights into the multi-faceted development of the Islamic jade culture as manifested through these exhibits, which are the embodiment of exceptional craftsmanship of the Mughal Empire and the Ottoman Empire (1299-1923).
Bowl Decorated with Plum-blossom and Bamboo on a Red Ground in Falangcai Painted Enamels
Yongzheng Reign (1723-1735), Qing Dynasty
- Gu Ci 017688
Tasteful Fusion of East and West

The National Palace Museum's collection of porcelain with painted enamel is unrivaled in quantity and quality throughout the world. In recent years, academic studies have been zooming in on the provenance, workmanship and artisans while comparing and contrasting fencai, yangcai and guangcai. Scientific testing has also been utilized to identify the source of production, leading to diversified research focus. To echo this trend, the Museum curated multiple special exhibitions highlighting the transition in style from the Kangxi to Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty, showing viewers the exquisite taste that had been born out of technical and cultural fusion of the East and the West.
Qur'an Manuscript
The second half of the 16^th century
- Gou Shan 002968
The Qur'an manuscript is from the 16^th-century Safavid Iran. Sponsored by the Damascene official Hüseyin Pasha, this important manuscript was crafted in the Ottoman court with well-organized chapters written in the Naskh script and with pronunciation denoted in black and red ink to facilitate recitation. Decorated in the Safavid Shiraz style with vivid colors, its first two pages are adorned with six-petal floral patterns, which are covered with gold leaf and embellished with intricate flowering vines against a blue background. The manuscript made its debut during the exhibition, Exploring Asia: Episode One of the NPM Southern Branch, at the National Palace Museum in 2008 as a prelude to the opening of the Southern Branch, marking the Museum's broadening scope from the Sinic focus to the exploration of the entire Asia. It is also a testament to the important exchange between the Islamic art and civilizations in Asia.
Palace Memorial of Gratitude for Publishing the Complete Collection of Tang Poems with Full Names and Titles
Presented by Cao Yin on the 10^th Day of the 3^rd Month of the 50^th Year of the Kangxi Reign
- Gu Gong 002784
Qing Imperial Rescripts in Vermilion Ink and Cultural Creativity

"Thou art understood." The three words are the most common reply noted by Qing emperors on the memorials. As each emperor ascended the throne, these words took on a different meaning. They symbolize Emperor Kangxi's interactive gesture with his court officials; Emperor Yongzheng's solidifying his political system; Emperor Qianlong's imperial command and instruction. They are also the embodiment of political snapshots and an imperial voice. Today, the vermillion-toned reply has taken on the form of masking tape, giving the public a taste of this imperial authority and a slice of history in a modern setting. They also signify the National Palace Museum's efforts in breathing new life into the artifacts.