Exhibitions(Vol.36 No.3)

Exhibition of the History of Wood-block Printing in Taiwan On March 21, the NCL kicked off a special exhibition of rare books published in southern Taiwan during the Ching dynasty. The exhibition traces the more than century-long history of woodblock printing in Taiwan, from the nascent Tat’ong- li, dating back to 1646. The return of Confucian and Han Chinese influence in woodblock printed books becomes evident after the liberation of Taiwan from the Dutch by Cheng Cheng-kung in 1661. This was also a period when wood-block printing techniques in China were advancing. The first publishing house, Sung Yun Hsuan, was established in 1821, beginning a period of popularization of publications. The publisher thrived for over a hundred years until it fell victim to the flames of war in 1945, bringing to an end Taiwan’s wood-block printing industry.