The digital exhibition covers works of art from the Song Dynasty that have been passed down over hundreds of years. Its means of conveying their beauty has changed with the times, however, and in recognition of modern digital trends, the NPM has taken steps to digitize its collection for the purpose of promoting research and commercialization of the artifacts.
"Many people may not know the genuine idea and symbolic meaning of the artifacts just by looking at them in the museum," said promoter Lin Xiu-mei, who works at the mansion. "However, digitizing all this information enables people to develop a better understanding."
The NPM hopes to create a digital record of each item in its entire collection by 2008. The resulting high-quality images and accompanying information database will provide easy access to Taiwanese people and make the collection available for academic research and commercialization. The project will also help the NPM market itself worldwide. The detailed digital images are created using computing facilities on display at the exhibition, along with workshops held at venues all over the country, including zoos, college campuses and libraries, according to Lai Ting-sheng of the NPM Information Management Center.
The exhibition includes a number of "e-learning" courses that cover artifacts such as bronzes, ceramics, jades and paintings from the Song Dynasty. It is located at the Lin Family Mansion's Ding-Jing Hall, the largest quadrangular Chinese house in the complex. This hall was originally designed as a banquet hall to entertain guests, and today's visitors can start their cultural adventure by stepping into a digital learning environment and exploring the in-depth bronze items of the NPM collection. The course looks at the engraved inscriptions, decorations and fascinating settings of the bronze accessories.
Through a wooden archway, the hall leads to a room called the Shiang-Yu-Yi. Its original purpose was to give the owners of the house--members of the wealthy comprador class--a place to embrace blossoms in nature. The exhibition planners chose this room to house a 3-D animated film about five of the museum's most famous pieces. They are called the Jadeite Cabbage, Ivory Ball, Revolving Vase with Fish Decoration, Carved Olive Stone Boat and Mao-kung Ting, which is a bronze vessel. The film incorporates advanced three-dimensional panoramic projection technology to bring these static works of art to life.
"This tiny ivory ball consists of 21 layers of carving, a surprising find which can best be presented through the lens of a laparoscope," said Lin, referring to the intricately carved artifact. Indeed, it is difficult to appreciate the extent of the artist's skill from a distance, and the computer animation, though merely a recreation, approximates the effect of using a surgical camera to examine every nook and cranny of the elaborate work of art, virtually bringing the viewer inside the item itself.
The NPM has long been using this animation technology to stimulate interest in the real items themselves, as often they seem less than impressive sitting immobile under glass. A large jade bok choy is, hands down, the most famous and popular item in the museum's collection. The vegetable likeness, complete with a locust resting at the top, is carved from a sizeable hunk of green and white jade. It is said to symbolize the hope for prosperous birth of many descendants of the Chinese royal family. Lin explained that the green and white represent the purity and chastity of the emperor's consort.
Next to the Shiang-Yu-Yi is Lai-Ching Hall, a two-story building with guest rooms into which the curator installed several videogames to keep the younger children busy. Said one elementary school student, "I like 'the prince's joust for a spouse' most. I tried three times to win the game, and it's not too hard." When asked if she would like to bring her friends here, the child responded, "my friends have already been here before." In order to cater to the needs of schoolchildren of different ages and aptitude, organizers designed different sets of question sheets to test visiting students on their comprehension of the exhibit.
The room of the mansion known as the Fang-Jian Study has been decorated with a cloud motif and poetry inscriptions. Organizers insist that, of all the halls in the mansion, the study is the best place to display artifacts of a literary nature, as this is the room in which members of the Lin family used to read. The main inspiration for this activity came from a Song-era painting by an artist named Liu Song-nian depicting a literary gathering. Art is everywhere so long as one utilizes and internalizes it in daily life, said Lai. In addition, a video introduces the piece called Cold Food Observance by Su Shi and the Slender Gold style of calligraphy employed by Emperor Huizong.
"Old is New" is the NPM's new motto. A creative team took the initiative to produce a short film presenting the concept of becoming a "cultural bank" overflowing with intellectual education. A calligraphy by Huang Ting-jian was chosen as the subject of the video, and digital musician Lin Ciang provides musical accompaniment to the traditional calligraphy. The film is screened in Guan-Jia Hall, which was built to overlook the crop fields. This is the last room in the mansion to be outfitted for the exhibition.
The exhibition at the mansion is designed to promote the NPM artifacts through a multimedia approach. On weekends, there are outdoor activities like film screenings and "monotype DIY." Visitors are even allowed to take rubbings of stone carvings of sacred edicts from the emperor, said to symbolize good fortune, and bring them home as souvenirs.
The priority for future development is making the museum's collection accessible to the masses, and cooperation between the National Palace Museum and the Lin Family Mansion and Garden makes this goal feasible. The digital nature of the exhibition helps bring the lofty museum to the local community while integrating the beauty of ancient artifacts with local architecture.