National Palace Museum to show Genghis Khan portrait in new exhibition

Taipei, July 7 (CNA) The National Palace Museum (NPM) will display a famous painting of Yuan Taizu (Genghis Khan), the founder and first khan of the Mongol Empire, in its collection for the first time in 13 years in a new exhibition that opens Friday.

NPM Director Hsiao Tsung-huang (蕭宗煌) said the Portrait of Yuan Taizu is one of the most iconic images of Genghis Khan and serves as an important symbol connecting Mongolia's historical memory and ethnic culture.

It will be part of the exhibition "Sports and Skills: Physical Activity and Performance in Painting and Calligraphy" that will also feature "Khubilai Khan Hunting," a painting showing the first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty leading his entourage on a hunt in the desert.

The Ulaanbaatar Trade and Economic Representative Office in Taipei hosted a ceremony at the National Palace Museum on Monday to pay tribute to the Genghis Khan portrait and commemorate the 820th anniversary of the Mongol Empire.

The ceremony was attended by Tumurbaatar Gankhuyag, head of the Ulaanbaatar Trade and Economic Representative Office in Taipei, Hsiao, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良).

Gankhuyag said it was meaningful that the museum was displaying the portrait because Genghis Khan remains an important part of Mongolia's historical memory and has had a profound influence on world history and culture.

Hsiao said the museum has collaborated in recent years with the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, the Bogd Khan Palace Museum and the Chinggis Khaan National Museum, and he hoped to deepen those ties in the future.

The exhibition will run from Friday through Sept. 16.