Huang Tu-shui created this large-scale sculpture 555 cm wide and 250 cm high in his studio in
Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan, using bas-relief techniques. After completing this work, Huang Tu-shui died of
appendicitis complicated by
peritonitis on 21 December 1930 due to overwork. This work was therefore unable to participate in the upcoming
Teiten (Imperial Art Exhibition). In 1937, Huang Tu-shui's widow, Liao Chiu-kui, donated this work to the Taipei Municipal Office. Due to its huge size and fear of the plaster cracking, this work was first cut into eight pieces of plaster, and then transported back to Taiwan with Japanese ships. The work was later put back together when it arrived in Taiwan, and was displayed on the central wall of the staircase landing between the second and third floor of the newly completed Taipei City Public Auditorium, which is now
Zhongshan Hall. The original joint marks from the cutting can still be visibly observed on the work itself. On 2 March 2009, the Council for Cultural Affairs (now the
Ministry of Culture) announced that this sculpture was recognized as a national treasure. It is the first work of the 20th century to be on the current National Treasure List. == Composition ==