• 2024-12-20

On November 27^th, 2024 National Central Library and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) held the opening ceremony of their jointly organized exhibition of ancient texts and documents at the UTAR Kampar Campus, entitled “A Shared Sky: The World of Chinese Texts and Cultural Exchange” held from November 27^th, 2024 to January 6^th 2025.

NCL Deputy Director-General Chih-Tsung Weng expressed that books and reading are a common language throughout the world. In recent years, NCL has worked to promote collaborative international exhibitions with prominent libraries around the world in the hopes of sharing invaluable cultural heritage and also to promote awareness of NCL’s collection throughout the world. Deputy Director-General Weng hopes that the joint curation of this exhibition with UTAR will be the start of new cultural exchanges between the two institutions. He also expressed gratitude and regards on behalf of NCL Deputy-General Han-ching Wang, emphasizing the value she places on this collaboration.

The opening ceremony for the exhibition was held at the UTAR Kampar Campus with Ms Charlin Chang, Director of the Education Division at TECO Malaysia in attendance. Director Chang not only thanked UTAR for their collaboration on this exhibition, she also commended the exhibition’s significant contribution to cultural exchange. Other esteemed guests at the opening ceremony included UTAR Vice President Dr Choong Chee Keong, Director of Mary KUOK Pick Hoo Library Ms Ang Suan Sim, UTAR's Institute of Chinese Studies Assoc. Prof Dr. Chong Siou Wei, and Director of the UTAR International Office Dr. Lai Soon Onn. UTAR Vice President Dr Choong Chee Keong expressed that ever since NCL established a Taiwan Resource Center for Chinese Studies (TRCCS) at UTAR on November 29^th 2013, they have actively worked to promote academic cultural exchange between the two institutions. In addition to donating publications about Taiwan to the university for use in academic research, NCL has also collaborated with UTAR in organizing international conferences and Taiwan Lectures on Chinese Studies. These efforts hold deep significance in the promotion of academic, cultural, and educational exchange between Taiwan and Malaysia. Vice President Dr Choong Chee Keong looks forward to continuing and strengthening the close relationship between the two institutions in future collaborations.

The exhibition is organized around five main themes, the first: “Square It Off: The Evolution of Printing and Writing,” features a collection of rare prints including oracle bone rubbings and painting prints as an exploration of the history and evolution of writing and printing technologies. The second theme, “A World of Words: Chinese Texts and East Asian Civilization,”displays prints of Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese texts from the NCL collection, providing visitors with insights into Chinese character exchange and the role of ancient Chinese texts as a medium of disseminating knowledge and culture within the East Asian cultural region. The third theme, “Paper Trails: Evidence of Malaysian History in Chinese” presents relevant ancient texts for a glimpse at cultural exchanges in Southeast Asia that have continued unceasingly since ancient times, paying witness to the splendid history of printed civilization. The fourth theme, entitled, “Formosan Footprints: Rediscovering the Beauty of Taiwan” presents traces of ancient travel to Taiwan; through the records left behind by scholars of the era, the exhibit faithfully presents the beauty, history, and local ethos of Taiwan a century in the past. The fifth theme, entitled, “Treasury of Treasures: Highlights from Special Collection” presents a special selection of representative print of ancient works from NCL’s collection, exhibiting the earliest dual color overprint text, the smallest book, the Yongle Encyclopedia, and other special works.