Since its reopening in renovated exhibition hall along with new exhibition themes and contents in 2002, the Museum of the Institute of History and Philology (IHP Museum) has been widely acclaimed. In the last more than one decade, the Museum has curated special exhibitions with its collection of Han dynasty wooden slips from Edsen-gol, rare books, archives of the Grand Secretariat, rubbings, Taiwan archaeology findings, oracle bones, and ruins of Yin besides their permanent exhibitions (past exhibitions of the IHP Museum). However, the material presented seldom get to be in new uses after the end of exhibition period, which is also a pity for audiences who missed their chances to visit.

Therefore, we plan to participate the Open Museum project of Academia Sinica Center for Digital Cultures on the basis of our previous exhibitions to combine the magnificent collection of cultural relics and great amount of digital archive data at the IHP, organizing an online museum that significantly differs from physical exhibitions. The IHP Museum will not only install our past displays onto the digital museum but also redesign more lively online exhibitions rich in variety via the curating platform. For example, the planned digital exhibition “For Shang King’s Bath, Water was Served Hot!” will supply unearthed materials from the Ruins of Yin by the IHP in the early years with latter excavation achievements, to show the audiences how noblemen in the late Shang dynasty washed their bodies, how the bath was like, and whether they bathed in hot water or not.

Furthermore, collections in the open museum will be free to use for visitors to bring about their own exhibitions. The Museum aims to share and universalize our digital resources, and simultaneously through the curating platform to promote the visibility and utilization of our exhibits in the spirit of open sharing and joint creation.