「Discovering Taiwan─Re-visiting the Age of Natural History and Naturalists of Taiwan」

“Discovering Taiwan” has two units. Unit One focuses on the research tradition of the naturalists in the beginning of the 20th century. During on-site field studies, the museum’s researchers recorded their research findings and brought back specimens and new knowledge that contributed to the museum’s collections. Unit Two introduces how specimens became cherished evidence of natural history research through organization, identification, and classification. They are an important source for scientific research. Specimens represent different species. Different specimens form a miniature version of our big nature, illustrating the evolutionary history of different species in nature.

“Taiwan’s New Scopes” introduces the important naturalists and their findings in the 100- year history of the National Taiwan Museum. These naturalists worked hard to unveil the secrets of Taiwan’s nature. Thanks to them, we can appreciate the beauty of Formosa through different lenses.

“The Past is the Future” means that the museum does not only bring visitors to the past, but they also lead us to reflect on the current and envision the future. People often think that museum collections are evidence of history being frozen in time. The appearance of the collections may stay constant. But people’s opinions about the collections change constantly. Therefore, they may have different meanings and values in different times. In the museum, the past is the future. This is why people never lose their interest in museums.