The emperor's dream of unity

After 60 years of turbulent relations, China and Taiwan have begun forging cultural ties with the groundbreaking exhibition "Harmony and Integrity: the Yongzheng Emperor and His Times". Part of the show on the fourth Manchu Qing-period emperor is a collection of 37 artefacts on loan from Beijing - seen in Taipei for the first time in six decades.

It's all thanks to the initiative of Dr Kung-shin Chou, director of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, who has spearheaded the exchange of artefacts and other cooperative efforts with Beijing's Palace Museum.

The Taiwan museum boasts the world's largest collection of Chinese historical artefacts - 700,000 pieces. Beijing's museum has fewer, but no less important art objects from the imperial court, especially that of the Manchu dynasty.

"I admire the Yongzheng Emperor a lot," Chou says. "When I became director of the museum last year [after 16 years as chief curator], my main interest was in mounting an exhibition about him, since we'd done shows on the Kangxi and Qianglong emperors.

"And then something unexpected happened."

This was the first encounter between her staff and Li Ji, deputy director of the Palace Museum, at a cultural exposition last year.

Her staff floated the idea of borrowing some of the Beijing museum's treasures. Its director, Zheng Miao, welcomed the suggestion, and Chou led a delegation of curators to Beijing last February, with a reciprocal visit two weeks later.

Among the nine points they agreed upon, China would lend 37 objects for a Yongzheng exhibition.

"We've achieved quite a lot," Chou says. "More people on the mainland will know about our museum, and people here will know the Palace Museum better. And culture is a good way of promoting understanding across the strait."

Taipei has donated more than 100 publications to Beijing and invited curators and scholars to a symposium. Beijing responded with the 37 Yongzheng artefacts.

These include a formal portrait of Yongzheng and other life paintings of him, and an official seal he used that bears the inscription, "Being a ruler is difficult."

Another highlight is the 1722 last will and testament of his father, the Kangxi Emperor, which helps refute some historians' suspicions that the Yongzheng Emperor usurped the throne.

The will does not say the mantel of power would pass to "my fourth son" - it was rumoured that the wording had been altered from "to the 14th son".

In fact, the will specifically names "Prince Yong" - Yongzheng - while other documents show that Kangxi groomed his fourth son, Yinzhen, for the throne too, that boy being widely admired for his "sagaciousness".

The Taipei museum also has on display 246 art objects that offer a realistic depiction of the emperor, who has long stirred controversy among modern-day historians.

These include books, maps, portraits, paintings, calligraphy, ink stones, porcelain, lacquer ware, agate carvings and enamelware.

"Through this exhibition we get a more profound knowledge of the emperor, because the two collections are different," Chou notes. "We're lucky to get these portraits of the emperor, and the paintings of the six court beauties and other paintings that show him at his leisure."

Chou believes Yongzheng was a dedicated and gifted ruler.

"He was very wise and capable, and effective in managing the country," she says. "He created a system for the Qing Dynasty that prevented corruption. I think he's the only emperor who ensured officials were paid handsomely so that they didn't need to accept bribes."

Chou plans to mount another exhibition on Kangxi in two years, as well as an expansion of the museum, with broader collections of imperial and modern art. She's set a budget of T$100 million (Bt103.2 million) for next year to buy art from private collectors.

Thai visitors, Chou notes, will be able to discover much about Asia through the Yongzheng exhibition.

"Thais are like our neighbours," she says. "If they come to see this exhibition they'll learn and understand Chinese art and culture better, because it's very comprehensive - not just about art but Chinese history too."

The writer travelled to Taiwan courtesy of the Taipei Economic & Cultural Office.

   FINE CHINA

 "Harmony and Integrity: The Yongzheng Emperor and His Times" continues until January 10 at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.