National Palace Museum

 

The National Palace Museum (NPM) Southern Branch, a museum established to shoulder the responsibility of ensuring a balance in cultural assets between Northern and Southern Taiwan, will officially open on Dec. 28, 2015. Upon its opening, the NPM will introduce the Imprints of Buddhas - Buddhist Art in the National Palace Museum Collection permanent exhibition, one of the five opening permanent exhibitions of the NPM Southern Branch, to display Buddhist art that showcases the Buddhist religion in Asia. As one of the important elements of Asian culture, Buddhism spreads across the regions of Central Asia, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, and China. From China, the religion is further transmitted to Northeast Asian countries including Korea and Japan. The popularity of Buddhism in the aforementioned regions has led to the birth of various Buddha statues such as Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, heavenly kings, and dharmapalas. The NPM also houses a rich collection of Buddhist artifacts comprising dignified and elegant Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist scriptures and statues passed down from the Qing court as well as 407 gold Buddha statues donated by Mr. Peng Kai-dong (1912–2006) in 2004, 2006, and 2008.

 

Philosophical beliefs preached in Buddhism create a sense of power and the wisdom and compassion advocated in Buddhism are manifested in the form of Buddha statues to enlighten all living beings. Altruism is the essence of Buddhism and the said principle has been taught assiduously. This catalogue, divided into five chapters comprising “The Joy of Birth,” the “The Wisdom of the Buddha,” “The Compassion of the Bodhisattva,” “Transmission and Transformation of the Buddhist Scriptures,” and “The Mystery of Esoteric Buddhism,” is presented in a chronological order to illustrate the beauty of Buddhist artifacts and the depth of Buddhist scriptures. The catalogue was written by a selection of individuals such as research assistant Wang Chung-cheng and associate research fellow Liu Guo-wei to introduce the styles of ancient Asian Buddha statues as well as the transmission of Buddhist scriptures. In thanks to Peng Kai-dong’s generous donations, NPM director Fung Ming-chu further wrote the “Gold Buddha Statues Gathered at the National Palace Museum: A Record of Peng Kai-dong’s Kind Gesture” to detail the history of the gold Buddha statues in the NPM.