1996 has got off to a lively start. First of all, when members of the public discovered that photographs had replaced 27 restricted-display Song and Yuan dynasty art works from the National Palace Museum's collection which were due to set off to the USA for an exhibition tour, they began to doubt whether these fragile paintings and calligraphies--including Travelers Among Mountain and Streams, seen as representative of the transition between the Northern and Southern Song styles in Chinese landscape painting--were equal to the rigors of the long journey, the long exposure and the repeated rolling and unrolling of the scrolls which the planned consecutive exhibitions in four US museums would inevitably entail. With the date of the works' departure almost at hand, concerned citizens rushed to the NPM to protest. This prompted urgent interpellations in the legislature, and politicians, academics and art experts voiced opinions on both sides of the argument, attracting national and even international media attention.

The latest edition (29 January 1996) of the US magazine Newsweek reports the furore under the headline "Traveler Amid Screams." Apart from informing readers that the American public will not be able to see Travelers--which has been dubbed the Mona Lisa of Chinese art--in the US, and that James Watt, senior curator for Asian arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, believes that without the restricted works the show's "artistic impact is gone," the article ascribes the withdrawal of some of the pieces to protestors' mistrust of American assurances that the works will be shipped in expensive protective crates, although these are "a world removed from the leaky boats and jolting trucks" used by the defeated Nationalist government to ferry the treasures to Taiwan in 1949. Opposition parties are described as playing on public xenophobia by depicting the government as bowing to foreigners. Newsweek concludes its report with a remark from presidential candidate Chen Li-an that "anyone who wants to see these paintings can always come to Taiwan," and the comment that "fans of Chinese art now have no other choice." The tone of the whole article seems no less emotional than the mood of the protesters in Taiwan.

As a government-sponsored magazine which specializes in cultural and social reports and which has always attempted to be a bridge between the ROC and the rest of the world, we at Sinorama have found the course of e vents surrounding this affair quite regrettable. For pieces from the National Palace Museum to be shown in America should have been something for any lover of art and culture to be pleased about. Culture is the expression of human intelligence, and the beauty of art transcends race, frontiers and even time. If these ancient art works--some over 1000 years old--were not so fragile that the NPM's own experts have judged that their display must be restricted to extend their life, would anyone really object to allowing the people of the rest of the world to share in their appreciation, merely out of chauvinistic selfishness? Is it appropriate for such an influential US publication as Newsweek to compare preparations for today's exhibition with the wartime conditions under which our national treasures were brought to Taiwan over 40 years ago? Without the eight works of painting and calligraphy which have now been withdrawn, will the "Splendor of Imperial China" exhibition really have lost its splendor?

As the heirs to this priceless cultural heritage, should we put our faith in the experts and organizers, and fully support the restricted-display works' trip overseas? Or should we quickly draw up legislation to forbid any risks being taken with fragile national treasures, and prohibit the NPM's greatest pieces from leaving the museum or being lent out to anyone at all? In this month's issue, we present a bilingual focus on public and media opinion, experts' views an d the NPM's own statements, to help readers think about the rights and wrongs of the issue, and judge what is the most rational choice we can make.

There are so many things in life to consider and judge--every day we must make choices large or small. The concerns we highlight this month also include the following. Should the sex of our children be decided by us humans, o r by nature? The upcoming presidential elections in March have been described as "Chinese people's first opportunity to directly elect a president." Should expatriate citizens who still care for their country after many years overseas make the trip back to Taiwan to vote? In the past century, aboriginal Taiwanese have undergone two major changes to the system used to define their names, so that some old people have borne three different names. Now that they have the right to return to their traditional names should they change once again?

Apart from these questions of choice, to mark the start of the NPM exhibition tour and the unprecedented fervor for art appreciation sparked off by the recent showing in Taiwan of landscape paintings from the Louvre, we present a special feature entitled "Where are the Landscapes?" to guide readers into the worlds of nature and landscape as depicted in Chinese and Western art. We also take a peek through some magic eyes in the sky--remote sensing satellites--to see ho w they can help us protect from further pollution the mountains, forests, river s and marshes which nature has bestowed upon us, and how we can together care for the homeland we all share.