TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Following allegations about attempts to cover up incidents involving broken national treasure dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties, the National Palace Museum admitted that three artifacts had been damaged but denied it tried to hide the news.
Legislator Chen I-shin (陳以信) on Friday morning (Oct. 28) accused the museum’s Director Wu Mi-cha (吳密察) of attempting to cover up what, if confirmed to be true, would mark the first time the Palace Museum has broken a national treasure. He cited a tip as saying Wu forbade broken artifacts from being cataloged, recorded, or from having examination reports written.
He ordered all staff members involved not to speak a word about the incident. He also instructed staff that all relevant paperwork had to be handled as highly classified documents to prevent leaving evidence.
In a statement, the museum wrote that on Feb. 3, 2021 and April 7, 2022, while staff members were organizing artifacts, they discovered upon opening packages that a Ming dynasty (1368-1644) “yellow teacup with two green dragons” and a Qing dynasty (1636–1911) "yellow teacup with dragon pattern” were damaged. Additionally, on May 19, 2022, due to staff mishandling, a Qing dynasty “blue-and-white floral plate” fell and broke.
The museum “solemnly” denied any attempts to cover up the incidents and insisted that it was not inappropriate for documents to be classified during investigations. All classified documents were preserved according to regulations, it claimed, and were made inaccessible to regular staff members or those involved in the incidents to ensure evidence safety.
In all three incidents, staff members followed procedures and reported to the museum director, the museum added. Upon receiving the three reports, the director and deputy director immediately ordered the ethics office to investigate any misconduct.
According to the ethics office, there was no misconduct in the Feb. 3, 2021 and April 7, 2022 incidents, but a case of clear misconduct in the May 19, 2022 incident. Staff members involved were reported to the appraisal committee, which is determining the relevant penalties.
The Ming dynasty "yellow teacup with two green dragons” is currently being repaired. (National Palace Museum photo)
Regarding the damaged artifacts, the museum wrote the Ming dynasty “yellow teacup with two green dragons” is being repaired. The Qing dynasty “yellow teacup with dragon pattern” is awaiting repairs, while the Qing dynasty “blue-and-white floral plate” will be repaired after penalties are issued.
When asked by Legislator Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠) about the alleged cover-up, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said Wu had reported to him about “a situation.” As there are strict rules in place regarding the preservation and management of important artifacts, he told Wu to act according to “artifact preservation expertise.”
He added that he “did not believe” Wu is someone who would forbid broken artifacts from being cataloged, recorded, or from having examination reports written.
The Qing dynasty “yellow teacup with dragon pattern” is among the artifacts broken and awaiting repairs. (National Palace Museum photo)
Wu also answered Shen’s questions, saying he launched two investigations, one by the department involved and one by the ethics office, as soon as he received reports about the incidents. He echoed the Palace Museum’s statement and said he and his staff were not able to confirm who was liable for the first two incidents, but did begin reviewing the case for the third incident.
Despite Su and Wu’s attempt at clarifying the reports, however, UDN cited a source as saying the museum had attempted to repair the artifact in secret in August 2021. Initially, it only admitted to damaging the “yellow teacup with green dragon design,” which Chen had mentioned when he first reported the incident on Friday morning.
According to UDN, the museum only admitted that three artifacts were damaged after Chen began looking into the case.
The source claimed that the broken artifacts have a combined worth of over NT$200 million (US$6.22 million).
