"The Fox -- Hu Yi-Hsun's Fox Collection" American Cultural Center July 21 - September 30, 1998

PR9829E | Date: 1998-07-17

The American Cultural Center lobby display cases will showcase "The Fox -- Hu Yi-hsun's Fox Collection" a small-scale craft exhibition, from July 21 through September 30, 1998.

The American Cultural Center lobby area is open to the public from 9:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from noon until 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays. It will be closed Sundays and for holidays on August 29, September 1, and September 28. The American Cultural Center is located at 54 Nan Hai Road, Taipei.

Included in the exhibition "The Fox -- Hu Yi-hsun's Fox Collection" are about 100 representations of foxes from around the world in various sizes and media, including bronze, iron, ceramic, porcelain, stone, wood, crystal, glass, and leather, as well as a variety of books, telephone cards, and daily objects.

Hu Yi-hsun has had the nickname "Fox" since his childhood, because the pronunciation of his surname "Hu" is the same as the first part of the Mandarin name for "fox." Therefore, anything related to foxes has always attracted his attention, and that attraction led him to start collecting foxes. He began collecting fox-related items when he was in his junior year of university study, and he has built up a collection of more than 130 items over the last 10 years. A part of his collection consists of gifts from friends. However, Mrs. Hu is the major contributor to this rare collection of foxes.

Traditionally, Chinese consider fox as a cunning, sly animal and a symbol of bad luck. Japanese, on the other hand, consider foxes to be lucky animals, and therefore a lot of humanized stories about fox have been written through the years. For example, there is a belief that when a fox wears a leaf on its head, it will be able to change to human form and to help people; and that a fox will atone for the wrong it has done, or repay another's kindness. Because of the fox's positive image among the Japanese, a major part of this collection is from Japan.

Currently working at the National Museum of History, Hu Yi-hsun is quite well-known for his knowledge of art history and artifacts. While collecting items depicting foxes reflects part of his personality, Hu enjoys even more the friendship and devotion the collection represents through gifts he has received for the collection. The memories that accompany each of the items have enriched his life greatly. Hu Yi-hsun is proud to be called "Fox."