On my last day in Taiwan, my mom and I went to the National Palace Museum in Taipei. This is the museum very well known for housing the creme de la creme of antiquities ferried out of Beijing, then Shanghai, and finally to Taiwan, during the war with the Japanese and the battles between the Nationalist and Communist armies.
On the day we went, a rather cold, windy and drizzly day (the weather had changed impossibly quickly overnight), the museum was just packed with tourists, mainly of the mainland Chinese variety. Sadly I could not take any pictures of the interior or the exhibits, although the entire museum is very dimly lit so I doubt the pictures would have come out well anyway.
It must be stated, though, that their collection is exquisite.
I kept marveling at how pristine and intact were all of the porcelain, jade, gemstones, bronzes and various other goods on display.
It is obvious that China, even before it was a unified China like the country we refer to today, possesses a long and storied history. But it isn't until I am standing in front of bronze daggers from the 7th century B.C.E. or hand painted porcelain urns from the 5th century C.E. that I am stunned at just how old these objects are. Did a living, breathing human being truly hold this object in his hand, or drink from such a vessel, so long ago? It seems both wondrous and startling.
Studies show that the human brain is incapable of comprehending large distances or long times (light years, or the vastness of the universe) because these quantities are just too much, too vast, too great, too large, in the confines of our fleeting, limited experiences. I feel this inability acutely when I try to contextualize these historical objects.
On the day we went, a rather cold, windy and drizzly day (the weather had changed impossibly quickly overnight), the museum was just packed with tourists, mainly of the mainland Chinese variety. Sadly I could not take any pictures of the interior or the exhibits, although the entire museum is very dimly lit so I doubt the pictures would have come out well anyway.
It must be stated, though, that their collection is exquisite.
I kept marveling at how pristine and intact were all of the porcelain, jade, gemstones, bronzes and various other goods on display.
It is obvious that China, even before it was a unified China like the country we refer to today, possesses a long and storied history. But it isn't until I am standing in front of bronze daggers from the 7th century B.C.E. or hand painted porcelain urns from the 5th century C.E. that I am stunned at just how old these objects are. Did a living, breathing human being truly hold this object in his hand, or drink from such a vessel, so long ago? It seems both wondrous and startling.
Studies show that the human brain is incapable of comprehending large distances or long times (light years, or the vastness of the universe) because these quantities are just too much, too vast, too great, too large, in the confines of our fleeting, limited experiences. I feel this inability acutely when I try to contextualize these historical objects.
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