Taipei Palace museum delegation to make 1st Beijing visit

TAIPEI, Feb. 9 (Chinese media) -- A delegation from Taipei's

"National Palace Museum" will make the institution's first visit to Beijing's

Palace Museum.

Chou Kung-hsin (front), director of

Taipei's "National Palace Museum," addresses the press conference in

Taipei, Feb. 9, 2009. A delegation of Taipei's "National Palace Museum"

will visit for the first time the Palace Museum in Beijing on Feb. 14,

Chou said here on Monday. Taipei's "National Palace Museum" is known for

its rich collection taken from former Imperial Palace, or the Forbidden

City, in Beijing in 1949 at the end of China's civil war. (Chinese media/Wang

Yan)
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Chou Kung-shin, the Taipei museum director, said here

Monday that she would lead the delegation to Beijing next weekend. She said that

during the trip, she would discuss with the Beijing museum whether her facility

could borrow 17 items for a special exhibition about Emperor Yongzheng

(1678-1735) of the Qing Dynasty. That exhibit is scheduled to be held in Taipei

in October.

The two sides would also discuss cooperation in

academic research, exhibits, publishing and personnel exchanges, Chou said.

She said each museum had its advantages, and the two

institutions would conduct exchanges based on mutual trust, benefit and help to

offer the best service possible for museum-goers across the Taiwan Straits.

Chou Kung-hsin (C), director of Taipei's

"National Palace Museum" speaks to the media in Taipei, Feb. 9,

2009.(Chinese media/Wang Yan)
Photo Gallery

Taipei's "National Palace Museum" is known for its

rich collection of objects taken from Beijing's former Imperial Palace, or the

Forbidden City, in 1949 at the end of a civil war.

The then-Kuomintang government shipped 2,972 boxes of

about 600,000 valuable items from Beijing to Taipei.

The two museums have never worked together, but in

1992 they collaborated with a Hong Kong-based publisher on the book "The Best of

National Treasures" about their collections.

Last month, a mainland official welcomed their

exchanges.

"We are glad to see the two museums work together and

improve exchanges," Yang Yi, the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman,

told a Beijing press conference on Jan. 21.

Beijing's Palace Museum had agreed to lend the 17

items to Taipei for the special show, Fung Ming-chu, deputy director of Taipei's

"National Palace Museum", said in January.

They will be displayed with 148 other items in Taipei

in October.

"This is the first time the collections will be

reunified since they were under the same roof 60 years ago," Fung said.