National Taiwan Museum showcases its treasured exhibit: The Yellow

By MOOK Scenic Spots Family Travel Life Network, reported by Li Xinyi

 

Under the Treaty of Shimonoseki, the Qing court ceded Taiwan to Japan. In response, Governor Tang Jingsong assumed the presidency of the "Republic of Formosa" and raised the "Blue Ground Yellow Tiger Flag." Later, when Japanese forces landed and captured Taipei City, the flag was taken as war booty and its current whereabouts remain unknown. Japanese painter Takahashi Untei created a reproduction of the original flag, which is now housed in the National Taiwan Museum. Alongside the "Kangxi Taiwan Map" and the "Portrait of Zheng Chenggong," it is ranked among the museum’s three most treasured artifacts. The National Taiwan Museum has launched the exhibition “The Yellow Tiger Flag Reappears—Restoration Results of the Republic of Formosa’s Blue Ground Yellow Tiger Flag,” showcasing discoveries made during last year’s (100th year in the Republic of China calendar) restoration process. It was revealed that beneath over thirty years of thick backing paper, there was another tiger on the reverse side, slightly different in appearance—proving that the Yellow Tiger Flag was double-sided. Based on all the information gathered during the restoration, the exhibition unveils the true form of the flag as restored.

Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai personally presided over the press conference. Reflecting emotionally, she said that imagining the situation in 1895, when Taiwanese people discovered their homeland would soon be completely transformed, one can understand how the island’s elite leaders—including intellectuals—joined forces and naively declared the establishment of the Republic of Formosa, hoping for international assistance. In reality, it was a self-rescue movement driven by love for their homeland

The National Taiwan Museum explained that the only well-known image of the Yellow Tiger Flag had always been its front side. The back was mounted with thick reinforcing paper and lining paper, causing it to be treated as an ordinary painting or calligraphy piece. It wasn’t until 2004, when the museum commissioned the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties to conduct an examination and analysis, that a small area of peeling on the backing paper revealed faint traces of pigment on the reverse side of the fabric. Although uncertain at the time, experts speculated that there might be painted imagery on the back. Following expert advice, this restoration project removed layers of reinforcing and lining paper, finally uncovering the long-hidden reverse image of the Yellow Tiger Flag, revealing the form of a second tiger.

Why is it called the second tiger? Although the overall outlines of the front and back sides correspond to each other, slight differences can be observed in the density of the stripes on the tiger’s body and in the decorative cloud patterns. Most notably, the tiger on the front has round pupils, while the one on the back has crescent-shaped pupils. This realistic depiction of the different pupil shapes of felines in daylight and at night is both fascinating and may subtly convey a duality—perhaps symbolizing day/night or yin/yang. The exhibition runs until April 21, 2013. However, due to the fragile nature of the century-old textile, the original Yellow Tiger Flag from the museum collection will be displayed for a limited period of three months, until March 17, 2013. For the remainder of the exhibition period, high-quality replicas and digital images will be used.

 

 

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