Bowers Tests the Good Luck of Jade

It was a streak of bad luck for the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art: Jade collector Yeh Bor-wen of Taiwan tried to turn his upcoming exhibit into a political statement, then canceled the show.

“And he did it last month, three months before the exhibit was supposed to go up,” says museum President Peter C. Keller.

Flashback: Last year, Anne Shih of Huntington Beach, president of the museum’s Chinese Cultural Arts Council, contacted Bor-wen and the National Museum of History in Taiwan. Could they work together to exhibit some of Bor-wen’s priceless Ch’ing Dynasty (1644-1912) jade carvings in the Santa Ana museum? They could. The show was set for September ’97.

A catalog was developed by Bor-wen, detailing the treasures to be shown, including intricately carved table screens and statues of human and animal figures. Copies of the catalog would be distributed by Bowers Museum.

But, in the catalog’s “letter from the collector,” Bor-wen’s comments went beyond the usual artistic remarks. They went to the heart of one of the most significant international issues of the postwar era: Taiwan’s independence from Chinese jurisdiction.

“Taiwan is Taiwan and China is China,” Bor-wen wrote. “. . . I am glad to speak out that I am not Chinese. I am Taiwanese. . . . I hope that the Taiwanese can learn from history, can realize the establishment of a country is only achieved through the determination of its people and their willingness to sacrifice.”

When the catalog remarks were discovered, leaders at Bowers and the National Museum of Taiwan were horrified, says Bowers spokesman Brian Langston.

“Bor-wen’s whole purpose was to promote Taiwanese independence. And we just can’t be associated with political statements of any kind,” Langston says. “Bor-wen thought, as a good nationalist, that the way you make Taiwan strong and independent, able to withstand whatever pressure Red China puts on it, is to enhance your international reputation. And one way to do that is with an art show.”

Hoping to solve the problem, Keller directed that the page be excised from the back of the catalog. “But Mr. Bor-wen found out about it and, in a fit of pique, pulled his collection,” Langston says.

Taiwan-born Shih, 51, was humiliated by the incident. “I never thought that mainland China was my motherland,” she says. “But politically, it’s a very sensitive subject. People don’t like to talk about it.”

Within days of Bor-wen’s decision to cancel the show, she was on the phone to Taiwan. “I made about 30 phone calls to find other collectors” of Ch’ing Dynasty jade, she says.

Within a week, she and Keller were on their way to Taiwan to select “the best pieces” from newly found private collections and those at the National Museum of History.

On Sept. 7, the newly configured 150-piece show will open to the public.

“Thanks to Anne, this regrouping was possible,” Keller says. “We were able to do this because of her energy and contacts in Taiwan, her commitment to the [Bowers] Museum.”

As difficult as the incident has been, it is not that unusual in the world of cultural art, Keller says.

“It happens from time to time. The San Diego Museum of Art has been having problems with its upcoming exhibition of the Romanov Jewels. After it was shown a few months ago in Washington, the Russians changed their minds, said, ‘No, we don’t want it to travel.’ And this was after [the museum had] sold tickets. It took great negotiation to get them to change their minds.”

Included in the Bowers exhibit will be jade ceremonial pieces and adornments such as buckles, buttons and hairpins. The exhibit will also showcase the jade pots, brush washers and paperweights used by Ch’ing Dynasty scholars. Other items will include scepters used by the Imperial Court as “badges of office,” Keller says.

The exhibit will be previewed at a Sept. 6 black-tie dinner gala chaired by Shih. Guests at the $200-per-person benefit will also be invited to bid on 28 “fan paintings” created by famous Taiwanese residents and artists, Shih says.

Guests will be entertained by the 40-piece Young Chinese Orchestra of Irvine. Dinner will be served at tables covered in white brocade and topped with black vases filled with white orchids.

Table favors? “Jade chopsticks,” Shih says. “Jade is for luck!”

Information: (714) 567-3600.