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National Palace Museum

arts Maturity 7-9 Next article →

The National Palace Museum is a very special place in Taipei, Taiwan.

National Palace Museum Front View
National Palace Museum Front View

It holds nearly 700,000 pieces of art and history. These items tell a story that spans 8,000 years. The collection shows life from the Neolithic era to the modern day. It includes many treasures from the Ming and Qing dynasties. These items once lived in the Forbidden City. People visit to see the skill of ancient artists. It is a place where history feels alive.

Many treasures had to travel a long way to stay safe. In the 1930s, people moved items to protect them from an army.

National Palace Treasure Crates 1930s
National Palace Treasure Crates 1930s

They put many objects into thousands of crates. These crates moved through cities like Shanghai and Nanjing. Later, during the Chinese Civil War, more art was sent to Taiwan. A leader named Chiang Kai-shek helped move these pieces. Hang Li-wu supervised the transport of many items to the harbor. Even though not all items made it, the best ones arrived in Taiwan.

Once in Taiwan, the art was kept in many different places. It was stored in a railway warehouse in Yangmei first. Later, it moved to a cane sugar mill near Taichung. A group called the Joint Managerial Office was formed to look after it. They eventually moved the collection to a mountain village called Beigou. In 1957, they opened a small hall to show some items. Finally, a large museum was built in Waishuanxi. This new museum opened to the public in August 1965.

National Palace Museum Taipei1
National Palace Museum Taipei1

The museum has many different kinds of amazing things. There are over 6,000 bronze pieces and 25,000 ceramics. You can find beautiful jade carvings and many paintings. One famous piece is the Jadeite Cabbage. It is a green stone carved to look like a real vegetable. It even has small grasshoppers hiding in the leaves! The museum also has a southern branch in Taibao. This branch opened in 2015 after many years of work. It is built to stay safe from floods and earthquakes.

Visitors can enjoy more than just looking at art. The museum has beautiful gardens on its grounds. The Zhishan Garden is built in a classical style.

202001 國立故宮博物院 至善園1
202001 國立故宮博物院 至善園1

It has ponds, waterworks, and wooden pavilions. There is also a second garden called Zhide Garden.

Chih-te Garden-19.2024-10-11
Chih-te Garden-19.2024-10-11

You can even visit the home of a famous painter named Chang Dai-chien. The museum makes sure to keep the art in special rooms. This helps the old pieces stay safe for a long time.

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🖼️ Images & Media (6)
File:National Palace Treasure Crates 1930s.jpg
National Palace Treasure Crates 1930s.jpg
File:National Palace Museum Taipei1.jpg
National Palace Museum Taipei1.jpg
File:202001 國立故宮博物院 至善園1.jpg
202001 國立故宮博物院 至善園1.jpg
File:Chih-te Garden-19.2024-10-11.jpg
Chih-te Garden-19.2024-10-11.jpg
File:國立故宮博物院 - panoramio.jpg
國立故宮博物院 - panoramio.jpg
File:National_Palace_Museum_Front_View.jpg
National_Palace_Museum_Front_View.jpg
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