NMH Special Exhibition Explores Eastern Views of Life and Death, Xiahai City God Temple Deity on Display

(Central News Agency reporter Wang Bao'er, Taipei, 8th) Ahead of the "Egyptian Mummies" exhibition, which will showcase real mummies starting on the 18th at the NMH, the museum launched the "Unfinished Finale" exhibition today (8th). Centered on Chinese traditions and the views of life and death among Taiwan's indigenous peoples, a deity statue from the Taipei Xiahai City God Temple is also enshrined in the exhibition.

The National Museum of History held the opening ceremony for the special exhibition "The Unfinished Finale: Cultural Reflections on Life and Death" today. Director Hung Shih-yu stated in his address that the "Unfinished Finale" exhibition echoes the international exhibition "Egyptian Mummies: The Eternal Legend," co-organized with the National Archaeological Museum of Florence, Italy, creating a dialogue between East and West.

Hung noted that Eastern concepts like reincarnation and the Ten Courts of Hell differ from ancient Egyptian ideas of judgment and mummification for eternal life, but they share the belief that death is not an end, but a transformation of life into another form. The two exhibitions will simultaneously guide visitors through different cosmologies, suggesting that when people contemplate death, they are also re-understanding life itself.

The "Unfinished Finale" exhibition is a collaboration with the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy at Academia Sinica, the Metaverse Research Center for Chinese Culture at National Chengchi University, and the Laiyi Township Office in Pingtung County. It is structured around the themes of "Cycle, Transformation, Ethics, and Ancestral Spirits" across four exhibition units. It also features an interactive space called "A Word for the Future World," designed to guide audiences of all ages to reconnect with death, memory, and emotion through technological media.

Exhibits include the "Amitayus Buddha Great Hanging Painting," which entered the NMH collection in 1956 and was designated an important antiquity by the Ministry of Culture in 2011. In the Taoist-themed area, to visualize the role of the City God in judging good and evil, a woodblock print from the Taipei Xiahai City God Temple from the NMH collection is specially displayed. The Taipei Xiahai City God Temple has also lent a statue of the City God for the exhibition.

Researcher Liu Yuan-ju from the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy at Academia Sinica mentioned that this collaboration with the NMH combines AI-generated imagery, interactive games, and digital technology to translate research findings on the Ten Kings paintings and ritual paintings into accessible public knowledge. Through "Xiao Bu's Internship in the Underworld: AI Picture Book of the Ten Kings" and "Yue Fei's Journey to the Underworld: Digital AI Game Experience of the Ten Kings," the exhibition presents traditional Chinese imaginations of life and death, good and evil, judgment, guilt, blessings, longevity, and the afterlife.

The special exhibition "The Unfinished Finale: Cultural Reflections on Life and Death" will be on display at the NMH from today until September 20th. (Editor: Li Hengshan) 1150608