Flashes of Insight: Aesthetic Principles and the Appreciation of Calligraphy

National Palace Museum · Exhibition Hall I, rooms 204 and 206 · Taipei · –

Chinese calligraphy seen through aesthetic principles such as symmetry, contrast and repetition: how calligraphers arrange dots, strokes and radicals, and the spaces between characters and lines, to create beauty in single characters and in whole works.

In-depth audio guide

Plan your visit

Opening hours
09:00–17:00 Ticket sales and exchange end at 16:30.
Closed
Mondays (open Mondays September 28, October 26, November 9 and December 7).
Closed during the exhibition
, , , , , , , ,
Admission
  • Adult NT$350
  • Discount (local ID or ISIC card holders) NT$150
Reservation
Free for everyone under 18, and for disabled visitors with one companion; some local visitor groups are also free.
Address
No. 221, Sec. 2, Zhishan Rd., Shilin Dist., Taipei City 111001

Information verified · Check the official site for same-day updates

Works (4)

  1. 1. Preface to the Sacred Teaching (Song rubbing) Huairen, assembled from Wang Xizhi’s writing; rubbing maker unknown · Ink rubbing on paper, album · Song-dynasty rubbing; original stele erected in 673 · National Palace Museum — A balanced character need not have two matching halves.
  2. 2. Rubbing of Draft of a Requiem to My Nephew After Yan Zhenqing; engraver and rubbing maker unknown · Ink rubbing on paper, album · Ming-dynasty Tingyunguan rubbing; original draft written in 758 · National Palace Museum — A correction can interrupt a line without ending its movement.
  3. 4. Rubbing of the Stele in Eighteen Scripts After the monk Mengying; rubbing maker unknown · Ink rubbing on paper, hanging scroll · Original inscription written in 967; this rubbing is undated · National Palace Museum — Letters can suggest leaves, birds or falling drops while still remaining writing.
  4. 6. Rongxue Letter Mi Fu · Ink on paper, album leaf · Northern Song; attributed by the museum to Mi Fu’s years after age fifty, exact year unknown · National Palace Museum — Four columns are enough for a letter to change its pace.

Official website

Sources for this page

More at this museum

On now and opening soon in Taipei