January 5th, 2025
First, we visited the National Palace Museum, exploring exhibits of jade and other precious materials that are used to make things like jewelry and antiques. Here, we learned the importance of jade in Chinese culture. The National Palace has a lot of jade pieces and the very best of it. This is because the KMT took much of the finest collection of artifacts (from the Forbidden Palace in Beijing) when it fled mainland China. Therefore, the museum is filled with an extensive, beautiful collection of artifacts, especially the famous jadeite cabbage with insects, which is beautifully carved, to jewelry. Ancient Chinese believed that jade had mysterious powers. Thus, the special role that it played in the number of artifacts we saw at the museum, especially for ritual purposes. For example, ancient Chinese believed that after death the body needs to be protected, and jade has the ability to do that. Also, as jade is associated with piety and wealth, it would be a common gift and stone worn by married women. So, I learned more about the symbolic importance of jade, which was used for a lot of different purposes, from rituals to marriage. I also enjoyed looking at the variety of antiques on display, which consisted of beautiful vases and bowls, especially hearing about the value of some of them, such as the Ru ware, bluish-blue glaze vases, which were auctioned off for several millions (30ish million). Although it wasn’t too surprising to hear how much these are valued considering their historical significance, the craftsmanship to make them, and the fact that there are only so few of these antiques, it was surprising to hear how much some of these antiques are valued at. Overall, I enjoyed this as I always enjoy looking around museums, learning more about the history of their exhibits, and the beautiful jewelry and antiques housed within them. So I enjoyed this part of the trip, seeing the wide variety of old and valuable artifacts from the Ming, Song and Qing dynasties of China, especially as these were originally from the Forbidden City in Beijing, an important historical site. I’ve learned more about the history of the National Palace, and the cultural significance of the artifacts and jade within it.
Afterward, we visited Mount Yangmingshan National Park. We learned that this park is known for its cherry blossoms and hot springs. Although it’s not the season for these things, it was wonderful to stroll around the beautiful and peaceful landscape of the park and experience the nature of the country. Aside from the historical sites, I enjoyed getting up close to the nature of the island, and seeing the natural beauty that this country has. The park’s peaceful space allowed me to experience and have more appreciation for the calmer side of Taiwan, which was a nice little getaway from the busy streets of Taipei, which I did very much enjoy as well, but it was nice to be in a more peaceful environment as well. Although I’m sure it’s even more beautiful during the spring and summer times, it was a beautiful park even during the winter, and it was nice to explore the beautiful natural scenery of the grounds.
