Formosa Orchids Blossom

This comprehensive catalog systematically documents and interprets the scope of the international exhibition Formosa Orchids Blossom, jointly organized by The University Museum, The University of Tokyo (UMUT) and the National Museum of History (NMH), Taiwan. The exhibition was held at two venues in 2025: the Tokyo edition at the JP Tower Museum INTERMEDIATHEQUE, and the Taipei edition at the National Museum of History.
 
This volume brings together orchid specimens and botanical illustrations from the University of Tokyo’s collections with calligraphy and paintings from the National Museum of History, incorporating illustrated books, photographs, horticultural materials, and other resources. In doing so, it thereby highlights the intersections of natural history and cultural history, science and art, in exploring the “Naturalis Historia of Orchids” in Taiwan. Two points summarize the volume’s distinctiveness. First, it systematically reorganizes and presents, from a comprehensive perspective, the knowledge system surrounding orchids native to and cultivated in Taiwan, drawing upon collections from Japan and Taiwan within the framework of the “Naturalis Historia of Orchids.” Second, it reinterprets and reconstructs Taiwan’s multilayered history in a contemporary context through scientific specimens and artworks devoted to orchids.
 
The volume opens with two introductory essays by the curators offering an overview, followed by five chapters that develop the “Naturalis Historia of Orchids” along broad chronological and thematic lines, accompanied by the plates and descriptions. Chapter 1, Orchids in Taiwan, highlights depictions of orchids in seventeenth-century ink wash paintings and objects from the Qing Dynasty period, photographs and specimens of the genus Cymbidium (the source of the traditional orchid image in Sinosphere culture), and images illustrating the cultural significance of orchids for Taiwan’s indigenous Tsou people. Chapter 2, Japanese Botanists and the Botanizing of Orchids in Taiwan, draws on specimens and botanical illustrations to highlight the achievements of Japanese botanists who investigated Taiwan’s flora during the colonial period (1895–1945), laying the foundations for modern botany in Taiwan. Chapter 3, The Orchid Craze in Japanese-ruled Taiwan, features works reflecting the orchid-loving tradition of the literati, alongside postcards and publications that popularized the moth orchid (Phalaenopsis aphrodite) as a symbol of Taiwan’s rich natural and cultural heritage, as well as tropical orchid paintings that captured the period’s orchid enthusiasm. Chapter 4, Art and Science of Orchids in Taiwan, examines orchids from both scientific and artistic perspectives, presenting botanical illustrations and photographs of endemic species, orchids cultivated in Taiwan, and other orchids associated with the island. Chapter 5, Orchids in the NMH, showcases postwar orchid-themed artworks from the Republic of China, revealing the revival of Taiwan’s literati culture and its diverse artistic expressions. Additionally, fifteen expert columns and six essays provide multifaceted perspectives on Taiwan’s orchids—covering history, ethnography, art, horticulture, and conservation—serving as a guide for readers to broaden their understanding and to encourage continued exploration.
 
The book’s academic significance lies in presenting a model of an evolving, open-ended “glocal” Naturalis Historia of Orchids. Its social significance derives from making university and museum collections accessible to the public, thereby demonstrating how scientific specimens and artworks can contribute to understanding pressing issues such as biodiversity and sustainable use, as well as to fostering appreciation of regional culture. This illustrated catalog serves as a practical guide for cultivating a critical perspective that reexamines materials and for fostering interdisciplinary ways of thinking.
 

(Written by TERADA Ayumi, Project Associate Professor, The University Museum / 2025)