Mr. Peng Kai-dong led an extraordinary life.

Born in Hsin-chu, Taiwan, in 1912, he played snooker actively in his early years before moving to Japan to make a living at the age of 15. He then traveled between Taiwan and Japan frequently before he eventually settled down in Japan. Although he did not have a distinguished education, his tenacity, determination to succeed, original vision, and excellent social networking made him one of the most successful businessmen in Japan. Eventually amassing a vast business syndicate, it covered a wide range of industries such as retailing, jewellery, restaurants, galleries and property management. In fact, he was once rated as the thirteenth richest person in Japan. He was therefore able to build up a great collection of Buddhist art, using his successful business consortium as a financial source.

At the age of 33, after the Second World War, a great number of antiquities were changing hands in the art market because of post-war socio-political instability. Mr. Peng, strongly attracted to the beauty of these antiques, started to collect them at that time. He acquired all sorts of objects in the beginning, but he then limited his collection solely to Buddhist images. Mr. Peng collected Buddhist artifacts with great passion. On the one hand, he traveled all over the world to visit exhibitions, museums, and galleries, establishing connections with distinguished collectors as well as sharing experience and knowledge with his Japanese colleagues. On the other hand, he acquired extremely rare and valuable Buddhist artifacts via well-known international auction houses. Consequently, Mr. Peng's collection of religious art became widely regarded for its world-class variety and quality of images from a wide range of places of origin.

Mr. Peng also developed a long and deep relationship with the National Palace Museum through their shared interest in Buddhist art.

Out of affection for his homeland in his later years, in 1987 Mr. Peng lent his excellent collection of gilt bronze Buddhist sculptures to the National Palace Museum for a special exhibition, and nine years later he sold 32 of them to the Museum. In 2004, he donated 358 bronze sculptures and objects of his collection to the Museum, and a special exhibition,"The Casting of Religion," was based on his donation and organized in the same year. Mr. Peng sadly passed away in 2006, and in his will he again donated 48 pieces to the National Palace Museum.

Though the amount of this bequest is not great, nor the size of the items large, these 48 religious bronzes ought to be justifiably treated as a classic reflection upon Mr. Peng's lifelong devotion to Buddhist art. The present exhibition aims to share the sublime elegance of these Buddhist images with members of the public to commemorate the lasting contribution that Mr. Peng has made in promoting the significance of Buddhist art. Like Mr. Peng Kai-dong himself, "Religious images of awe and inspiration, their dignifying manner shall transcend countless generations to come!"

This exhibition has been generously sponsored by BenQ Communications & Multimedia Inc.