National Palace Museum

The National Palace Museum (NPM) is a treasure house containing countless invaluable artifacts that illustrate the long history of Chinese civilization as well as its cultural and artistic achievements. With more than 600,000 of Qing dynasty records and antiquarian books in the NPM's collection, the Museum contains a wealth of books, literature, and maps about Qing dynasty's coastal defense that give insight to Qing's coastal regions and reflect the chaos in the East Asian Seas at the time. The maritime environment of China, which had remained relatively unchanged for three thousand years, radically transformed as maritime activities gained prominence in European countries. As regions surrounded by water, Taiwan and Hong Kong wish to raise public awareness about China's fascinating maritime history by hosting a new media art exhibition called the "Rebuilding the Tongan Ships." A special issue was published to introduce the production and functionalities of the Tongan Ships. In addition, a new media art approach was employed to present the East Asian sea world during the early nineteenth century and naval reforms initiated by the Qing court. The exhibition is divided by the curatorial team into eleven themes comprising "Shuixian Men" (narcissist door), "Legendary Voyage," "A Dialogue between Historical Characters," "Deconstructing the Tongan Ships," "1/30 Model Tongan Ships," "A Look into the Past," "Interactive Sea Map Table," "Geared Up and Ready to Go," "Operating the Sails," "Cloud Gallery," and "Film Screening Area," which will tell the stories of the Tongan ships and the development history of the Qing court's coastal defense; in addition, the audience will have an opportunity to experience what it is like to operate the Tongan Ships. Oceanic civilization is one of the critical driving forces for the development of modern civilization and embodies the meanings of exploration, discoveries, and forward-looking visions. To emulate these qualities of oceanic civilization, the curatorial team uses digital technology to teach visitors about culture, creating an exhibition that is a fusion of technology and humanities. In short, the "Special Issue for New Media Art Exhibition 'Rebuilding the Tongan Ships'" is issued to record the "essence" of the aforementioned exhibition and to promote education.