National Palace Museum exhibit illustrates human side of rulers

This article was written by Rita Fang and published by the Taiwan Journal on September 2, 2005. It features a recent exhibition organized by the National Palace Museum, which is titled "The First Family under the Heavens: Imperial Art and Artifacts of the Ching Dynasty". The exhibition runs from October 10 to November 17.

Quoted from this article: "[The] exhibition is designed to bring the Manchu emperors down from their lofty pedestals in the Forbidden City back into the human realm. It comprises three sections, featuring the royals' family life, leisure activities, and official affairs, with an accent on humanistic and even trivial concerns."

The exhibition is jointly held by the National Palace Museum and the government of Chiayi County in Taiwan's south. The county's Taibao City was selected in 2003 as the site for the museum's southern branch.

Throughout the years, the National Palace Museum has been trying to help residents of Taiwan's less developed areas gain easier access to art. It has held various significant exhibitions in central, southern and eastern Taiwan. For example, between 1997 and 2002, a touring exhibition of 100 artifacts made 13 visits to towns in Taitung, Pingtung, Kaohsiung, Tainan, Taichung, Hsinchu and Penghu counties, attracting nearly 2 million visitors.