Carved into culture

China Red Sandalwood Museum director Chan Laiwa showing a red sandalwood model of a Beijing siheyuan courtyard to KMT Honorary Chairman Lien Chan, his wife Lien Fang-yu, and others in Taipei.

Since opening on Sept 27, the grand Mystery of Red Sandalwood exhibition in Taiwan's financial center Taipei 101 has attracted throngs.

Among the early visitors were Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung, Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung, KMT Honorary Chairman Lien Chan and Taipei Palace Museum Director Chou Kungshin.

"The unprecedented show of red sandalwood art shows the depth and scope of traditional Chinese culture," Lien said at the opening ceremony.

Recalling his experience at July's Cross-Straits Economic and Cultural Forum in Changsha, Hunan province, Lien says: "An important idea shared by people attending the forum is that we Chinese are all committed to Cross-Straits cultural exchanges and pushing Chinese civilization forward in the new century."

The red sandalwood exhibition in Taiwan "rightfully echoes the spirit of the forum", he adds.

Lien helped bring the exhibition to Taiwan after his first visit to the China Red Sandalwood Museum, the world's largest of its kind, in Beijing late last year.

"I was totally captivated by the museum's rare, elegant and superbly crafted red sandalwood pieces," Lien recalls.

He especially likes the scaled-down red sandalwood model of a Beijing siheyuan courtyard.

"For those who have not yet visited Beijing, the delicately carved pieces in this exhibit demonstrate the subtleties of traditional Chinese architects' fine tastes," he says.

The exhibition marks the 10th anniversary of the museum's founding, and its overseas tour is reportedly the largest ever.

On display are 101 red sandalwood furniture pieces and sculptures selected from more than 2,000 works from the museum's collection, museum founder and director Chan Laiwa says.

Chan says the three-month exhibition "offers a glimpse of the refined culture of home decoration in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, and the extremely high levels of artistry involved in making red sandalwood furniture".

At the opening ceremony, Chan presented to Taipei Palace Museum an embroidery piece featuring a portrait of Qing emperor Yongzheng that is of the same scale as the original in the Palace Museum in Beijing.

She in turn received a gift from Taipei Palace Museum director Chou Kung-shin, who gave her an intricate replica of a painting of 100 horses created by Italian painter Giuseppe Castiglione (known as Lang Shi'ning in Chinese).

Chou showed Chan some rare, red sandalwood pieces in the Taipei Palace Museum's collection, including 28 sets of red sandalwood furniture that were originally in Prince Gong's Palace near downtown Beijing's Shichahai Lake.

"For historical reasons, we don't have much classical furniture in our collection," Chou says.

"In the future, the two museums may carry out wide-ranging cooperative projects."

Chou is requesting technical support from the China Red Sandalwood Museum for the conservation and replication of the rare red sandalwood items in the Taipei museum's collection.

"I feel privileged to send experts from my museum to replicate the 28 sets of Qing Dynasty furniture for the Taipei Palace Museum," Chan says.

Over the past decade, she has brought together about 1,000 top-level artisans for replication work.

"Coming to Taipei is just like visiting my close relatives. It is an unforgettable journey for me," Chan tells China Daily.

She says she "was greeted with big smiles, warm hugs and firm handshakes" when she arrived at the Taipei airport on Sept 25.

"I felt very comfortable during my four days in Taipei," she says.

"We talked for hours, like family members who hadn't seen one another in a long time. I promised them that I will come back."