Scientific exhibitions usually aim at presenting the achievements of great scientists, with an assumption of 「exposing the truths of the nature.」. Following the current scientific paradigm, they deliver the so-call standard and accurate knowledge to their audience. By playing the sleigh of hands of 『multi-level imaginations,』 『heterogeneous de-contextualization, and 『mythological archetypes,』 scientific exhibitions in science museums employ the techniques of 「paradigm display,」 「interpretation display,」 and 「power display」 to erase the socio-political aspects of scientific activities, in order to present a pure, clean, and perfect image of science. Through this process of black-boxing, science become a new myth in the name of de-mythologizing nature.

This paper studies the early development of hygiene exhibitions in colonial Taiwan. It focuses on ho exhibitions promoted the production and circulation of knowledge about sanitation, and how the colonial hygiene policy was imposed on viewers through a specific visualizing technique. The author concludes that the hygiene exhibitions of the 1910s were influenced by both European and Japanese examples, particularly the First International Hygiene Exhibition, held in Dresden in 1911. Moreover, the Japanese concept of 「popular education,」 which involved training viewers via their eyes, clearly had a profound impact. The author traces the evolution of the colonial government's 「visualizing technique.」 Early displays followed what one might call institutional logic. But this yielded a certain redundancy, so the colonial government took to framing exhibitions by classifying hygienic knowledge.