NPM southern branch to open with jadeite cabbage display

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/17
By: Christie Chen

Taipei, Sept. 17 (CNA) The National Palace Museum (NPM)’s most popular item – the Jadeite Cabbage with Insects – will go on display at the trial opening of the museum’s southern branch in Chiayi on Dec. 28.

The Jadeite Cabbage with Insects, the NPM’s signature piece, will be exhibited at the southern branch from Dec. 28 this year to Oct. 2, 2016, NPM Director Fung Ming-chu (馮明珠), announced during a media tour of the almost completed museum building in Chiayi.

The jadeite carving, 18.7 cm long and 9.1 cm wide, is a Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) piece that was originally housed in Yonghe Palace in Beijing’s Forbidden City.

It is believed to have been a dowry gift for Guangxu Emperor’s Consort Jin to symbolize purity and a fertility blessing, as a locust and katydid on the cabbage represent children.     [FULL  STORY]