Muse and Han Pao-Teh's Museology

Author Pao-Teh Han

What is a museum supposed to be? What can or may museums do or how to run a museum? How close the distance should be between it and ordinary people? And how to shorten the distance? Mr. Han Pao-Teh, with multiple roles, served as the Director of National Museum of Natural Science and Museum of World Religions, acquainted himself with cultural polices and museum management. He was outspoken in what he had seen and heard from the history of Oriental and Western museums and thriving evolution to modern Taiwan. In this book, his personal observations and suggestions were all included, no matter it was about the abundant resources and legal restrictions of public museums, the cultural roots and characteristics of local museums, and the specialized collections of private museums, all of which had its own specializations and deficiencies.

“Museum is the product of civilization and the palace of the Muse. The first half part of the term, Museum, is Muse while the second half part is um, directly translated as the palace of the Muse.”──Han Pao-Teh