Fitvip Supersonic November 3, 2022 Share November 3, 2022 Source: Taiwan News Taiwan Palace Museum releases photos of broken artifacts Museum director admits storage methods must be improved The three National Palace Museum artifacts before and after being broken. (National Palace Museum photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After confirming that three items in its archive had been damaged, the National Palace Museum has released more details about the incidents, including photos of the broken porcelain pieces. Legislator Chen I-shin (陳以信) on Friday morning (Oct. 28) accused the museum’s Director Wu Mi-cha (吳密察) of attempting to cover up the first time the Palace Museum has broken a national treasure. While the museum and Wu denied they had tried to hide the news, they admitted that three pieces of porcelain in its archive were broken. In a press conference, Wu said on Feb. 3, 2021 and April 7, 2022, while staff members were organizing artifacts, they discovered upon opening packages that a Ming dynasty (1368-1644) “yellow teacup with two green dragons” and a Qing dynasty (1636–1911) "yellow teacup with dragon pattern” were damaged. Additionally, on May 19, 2022, due to staff mishandling, a Qing dynasty “blue-and-white floral plate” fell and broke. 4 Wu said after the three incidents, his staff had immediately notified him, and he launched investigations in response. He claimed that relevant information was classified to protect evidence rather than to hide it, because “after the incident occurred, if we didn’t preserve evidence and allowed people to view and hold artifacts at will, what would be the consequence?” When pressed for details, Wu said he was unable to release photos due to the ongoing investigation. Regarding the mishandling of the “blue-and-white floral plate,” he said a senior staff member had placed the item on a 100-centimeter-high work station. The plate fell onto a carpeted floor and broke into several pieces “like a bowl would.” As for the two teacups that were broken, Wu said the museum was not able to find anyone responsible after checking up to 10 years’ worth of surveillance footage. This led him to believe that they broke due to unsatisfactory storage methods. “There are always empty spaces in a box containing porcelain pieces, which makes breaking them easy when the box is moved. When (the boxes) came from China, they were stuffed with hay. In Taiwan, some hay was replaced with shredded wood, then with cotton,” Chen said. “Still, items may move and knock into things when moved, so we should place each item individually in boxes and use cushioning materials for storage to ease the problem.” Wu said the three broken artifacts had never been put on display and were not insured. He estimated that the value of the items did not exceed NT$2.5 billion (US$77.85 million). He added that the artifacts were not insured because they had not been appraised. Had they been appraised, insurance policies would have cost a lot, which was why artifacts would only be insured if they were to be shipped out for exhibitions. As for why the museum did not announce the news about the broken artifacts, Wu said the broken pieces were classified as “ordinary artifacts” and not “important artifacts” or “national treasure,” which was why the incidents did not warrant public announcements. The museum had been waiting to confirm liabilities before reporting that the “blue-and-white floral plate” had been broken due to mishandling. Wu said he has been working to upgrade storage methods and “replace boxes with shelves” since he took office, setting aside a budget for 2023 to improve porcelain archive packaging. He added that he has also been improving the museum’s information management system, upgrading it to one with a computerized management, access, viewing, and condition recording system. ↡ Advertisement 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Estrangable 5th Gear November 3, 2022 Share November 3, 2022 bloody hell, this would have never happened if these bao bei are in zhu guo. Reunification is the only way to secure these precious. 2 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inlinefour Twincharged November 3, 2022 Share November 3, 2022 heng ah luckily is old ones thought brand new unused bowls then really heart pain lor 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturtles 6th Gear November 3, 2022 Share November 3, 2022 Maybe swapping originals with broken replicas to be written off can be a way to make a fortune when civil service is strongly linked to the ruling party… Oops… absolute power corrupts absolutely, regardless of place and culture. 2 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beregond Supersonic November 3, 2022 Share November 3, 2022 Just now, Sturtles said: Maybe swapping originals with broken replicas to be written off can be a way to make a fortune when civil service is strongly linked to the ruling party… Oops… absolute power corrupts absolutely, regardless of place and culture. Ya, i read alot of comment, those broken pcs are fakes. the real 1 sold long ago.😂 1 1 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturtles 6th Gear November 3, 2022 Share November 3, 2022 Just now, Beregond said: Ya, i read alot of comment, those broken pcs are fakes. the real 1 sold long ago.😂 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirloom_Seal_of_the_Realm Dear Museum Curator, I can offer up to 25,000 NTD for the original item. Do drop me a PM for a quick deal. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sosaria Turbocharged November 3, 2022 Share November 3, 2022 Reminds me of that Mr Bean movie where he accidentally damages a precious old painting then tries to cover up by re-draw/re-paint it 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mersaylee Supersonic November 3, 2022 Share November 3, 2022 8 minutes ago, Sosaria said: Reminds me of that Mr Bean movie where he accidentally damages a precious old painting then tries to cover up by re-draw/re-paint it 😁 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaiyotakamli Supersonic November 3, 2022 Share November 3, 2022 Theres news said it was US delegation who broke it when they visit the national museum lol 1 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atonchia Supersonic November 3, 2022 Share November 3, 2022 1 hour ago, Thaiyotakamli said: Theres news said it was US delegation who broke it when they visit the national museum lol Pelosi? 🤦 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaiyotakamli Supersonic November 3, 2022 Share November 3, 2022 6 hours ago, Atonchia said: Pelosi? 🤦 Not pelosi got another few delegation from US congress come visit taiwan after pelosi anyway thats probably political accusation by the opposition party 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scion Turbocharged November 3, 2022 Share November 3, 2022 i tot Taiwan culture is if a grave mistake is made, the head will have to bow and resign? seems like no need liao... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D3badge 6th Gear November 4, 2022 Share November 4, 2022 13 hours ago, Estrangable said: bloody hell, this would have never happened if these bao bei are in zhu guo. Reunification is the only way to secure these precious. It won’t be broken but these artifacts will be either store in the CCP officials home or appear in black market for sale to another billionaire 😭 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watwheels Supersonic November 4, 2022 Share November 4, 2022 This just shows incompetence from the museum management. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datsun366 Turbocharged November 4, 2022 Share November 4, 2022 Absolute power does not corrupt absolutely...no no Its absolute corruption that seeks absolute power. Ren zhi chu xing ben shan xing zhi er ren zhi mo Thing about cina mandarin is that its palindromic. Aiyah many many lah, all gone that can have new ones lor. Who knows what goes back with the pandas. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ct3833 Supersonic November 4, 2022 Share November 4, 2022 1 hour ago, Scion said: i tot Taiwan culture is if a grave mistake is made, the head will have to bow and resign? seems like no need liao... Taiwan and Korea are two unique countries that they are quite advance but things that are beyond our imagination can happen there. 🤣 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitvip Supersonic November 4, 2022 Author Share November 4, 2022 13 hours ago, Inlinefour said: heng ah luckily is old ones thought brand new unused bowls then really heart pain lor I thought you want to say " Heng ah, not my rice bowl". 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volvobrick Supersonic November 4, 2022 Share November 4, 2022 1 hour ago, D3badge said: It won’t be broken but these artifacts will be either store in the CCP officials home or appear in black market for sale to another billionaire 😭 All would have been smashed to pieces by the little red army.... ↡ Advertisement Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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