Although the museum's 200,000 objects represent only a fourth of those evacuated from the Imperial Palace in the 1930's and a mere fraction of the millions originally housed there, art historians agree that the museum holds the cream of the palace collection. Why is this? How were the objects chosen? Were any treasures left behind?

"Don't make the mistake of thinking that everything in the palace was a treasure," cautions Na Chih-liang, a recently retired jade specialist who worked with the museum since 1925, shortly after P'u Yi, the last emperor of the Ching dynasty (1644-1911), left the palace. "Actually, the stuff in there in a way was like any big family's--along with the treasures was junk."

Generally speaking, the objects came to the palace in one of four ways: they were inherited from earlier dynasties, presented by subjects, confiscated or purchased. "The collection can be traced back to the Sung dynasty (960-1279) a thousand years ago," Na says. During imperial times, officials would search high and low for precious objects to present to the emperor to win his favor. "It's just these officials who caused the problem," says Na. More eager to please than knowledgeable about art, officials were often duped by merchants into presenting fakes. "But if they had the misfortune to be born during the Ch'ien-lung emperor's reign (1736-95) they had better be careful," Na continues. That emperor was a connoisseur. Na once saw a memorial to the throne that had accompanied the gift of some purportedly rare works that an official had gone through immense difficulties to obtain. In big characters, the emperor had commented, "Fake--not wanted."

But the Ch'ien-lung emperor was an exception. More typical was the K'ang-hsi emperor (1662-1721), a courtier of whose stated openly in his memoirs that the works he had presented to the emperor in his day were all "cheap fakes." And even Ch'ien-lung had his lapses. Museum experts discovered that a favorite painting from the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), which he had covered with imperial seals and comments, was really a copy and the alleged imitation was the true original. "A lot of us were happy the original was lucky enough to have escaped the emperor's eye and keep its original appearance," Na remarks. He remembers boxes and boxes of bogus paintings, porcelain and bronzes all claimed to be originals.

Besides being rife with falles, the collection suffered serious losses during the troubled times of the late Ch'ing. A British general who occupied Peking during the Boxer Rebellion and made off with a painting from the palace was said to have believed that the jade batons around which the painting was rolled must be very valuable to have been wrapped in such "fancy silk." (Traditional Chinese paintings were painted on silk.) He sold the painting for ten pounds. It is now one of the treasures of the British Museum--the "Admonitions of the Instructress in the Palace" by Ku K'ai-chih of the Eastern Chin dynasty (317-420).

"But the most severe losses occurred in the dozen or so years before P'u Yi moved out," says Na. Old retainers continued to pay court, receiving precious gifts in return. People called them "rats." Meanwhile P'u Yi feathered his own nest with proceeds from the collection. A batch of Sung porcelain, for instance, was mortgaged to a bank and later auctioned off when the term for repayment expired. The buyer was an English tourist, Sir David Eumorfopoulos, and the porcelain became the foundation of the Oriental art collection at the University of London.

Under the pretext of gift-giving, P'u Yi systematically shipped out all he could. When he finally left, a list was found of gifts he had given his brother. They included over 200 paintings and 1000 scrolls from as early as the T'ang dynasty (618-907). The whereabouts of these works remained a mystery until the fall of the Manchurian puppet government in 1945 when they suddenly reappeared, causing a sensation in art markets. They are now scattered around the U.S., Japan, Canada and the mainland.

Imperial servants also tried to make off with the treasures. One world-famous painting now in the museum was found stashed away in a eunuch's luggage.

Under these circumstances, the first job of the experts who entered the palace in 1925 was to seal it off and take stock. An exhibit of selected items was opened on October 10th of that year. "Unfortunately, just as everybody was getting into the swing of things, the Mukden Incident of 1931 took place," recalls Wu Yu-chang, a retired porcelain specialist. When it was decided to evacuate south, the question became "what to pack." Wu says that all the objects in the big palace display rooms were taken because they had already been selected as outstanding. Next came objects in palace storerooms. Finally, remaining areas were searched for possible "leftovers." Wu remembers feeling around on an out-of-the-way shelf one day and finding a rare specimen of Ju Kiln porcelain from the Sung dynasty, covered with dust and apparently forgotten for centuries.

Two thousand crates of porcelain were packed in all, in addition to 9000 paintings and scrolls, 2600 bronze works and hundreds of boxes of other artifacts. "Except for awkward furniture," says Wu, "we packed everything movable." Examination of the collection continued in Shanghai, where obvious forgeries were discarded.

The move to Taiwan was more costly. Due to the difficulties of the time, only a fourth of the collection could be taken. Painful choices were made and the less valuable items were left behind. "The most critical choice was official documents," Na points out. Only 204 of the original 3000 boxes could be brought.

Since the museum opened in Taiwan in 1965, visitors from around the world have flocked to admire its collection. Na Chih-liang remembers one time when the director of the Oriental department at the British Museum, after staring in amazement at a box of Ming celadon they had opened for him, exclaimed, "You've got all this?! We have only one and we consider it our prize possession!" "Actually that was just one of our celadon boxes," Na smiles.

Porcelain and painting were the mainstays of the palace collection and are so of the museum's as well. Specialist Wu Yu-chang points out that the largest and richest collection of porcelain in the world is the Palace Museum's. "An example is Ju Kiln celadon," he says. "There are only 30 some pieces in the world and 24 of them are here!"

Paintings are the same. The collection of over 5000 items is incomparable in quantity and quality. Every period, every genre, every school. . . the museum has an example of each. "And for major artists," says Wu, "there's not just one painting but may be dozens."

Since its relocation to Taiwan, the museum has acquired thousands of other artworks to add to the collection from the Imperial Palace. Such a rich and exquisite collection is a focal point for scholars. Museum Director Wang Ch'iu-t'u states, "Numerous Oriental art specialists and museum directors have been trained at the Palace Museum." He stresses that for a scholar who wants to specialize in Oriental art history, an internship at the Museum has become an indispensable qualification.

And it's not just for specialists and scholars. Throngs of curious visitors swarm to the museum daily to pay a visit or a revisit to the collection. Celebrities who come to the ROC, as did Isaac Stern, Hu Na and Taylor Wang recently, all stop for a tour.

What draws them? For a Chinese it may be pride in the achievements of his ancestors; for a foreigner, awe at a magnificent civilization. But whoever he is, a visitor to the Palace Museum is in one sense more fortunate than any of the Chinese emperors. We see the collection after it has been selected, arranged and explained for us by specialists expert in their fields. With one glance we can survey the brilliant accomplishments of ages!

(Peter Eberly)

[Picture Caption]

This portion of one of the paintings from the series the "Twelve Months" shows an actual scene in the Forbidden City. The buildings in the foreground were destroyed by fire before P'u Yi left. Their features can now be reconstructed only through this picture.

Labels put on the artifacts by specialists who catalogued the collectionshortly after P'u Yi left some 60 years ago are still attached. The red hand-written character indicates the original location of the piece.

This piece of bronzeware dates back to the Warring States Period (475-22 1 B.C.). It served as a pitcher when washing the hands. Similar pitchersmade of bamboo are still used today in Japanese temples.

Handicraft techniques reached unprecedented heights during the Ching dynasty. In this carving of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove" each figure appears individual and lifelike.

This memorial to the Ch'ien-lung emperor accompanied the gift by a well-intentioned official of a Taiwanese mango. Unfortunately, the emperor seems not to have appreciate d the favor. He commented, "Useless."

One of the "wronged spirits" left behind in Shanghai was a painting by Ma Lin, the son of Ma Yuan, one of the Four Masters of the Southern Sung (1127-1279). Shown here is another painting of his, called "Listening Quietly to the Wind in the Pines." The enlarged portion on the right shows the figure's vivid expression.

The chueh is the most commonly found form of ancient bronze wine pitcher, but to the eyes of a researcher it affords an inexhaustible source of investigation.

According to the comments written on the far right, this painting by Huang Kung-wang of the Yuan dynasty, entitled "Dwelling in the Mountains at High Spring," is a forgery. Actually, the Ch'ien-lung emperor made a slip-it's the real thing!

This jade ch'i dates back to the Chou dynasty(1122-771 B.C.). The ch'i is a weapon, usually made of bronze. This exquisitely carved jade ch'i is strictly ornamental.

Porcelain from the Sung dynasty (960-1279) is noted for its monochrome glazes, especially greenish-blue and white. Ch'ing-hua porcelain from theMing dynasty (1368-1644), of which this is a sample, represented a technical breakthrough. A special characteristic is its complicated, intertwined floral pattern.

Snuff, a powder made from tobacco and fragrant herbs, was said to prevent disease and sharpen the eyes. This beautiful enamel snuffbox is enough by itself to please the eyes and cheer the heart.

The most exquisite carved lacquerware was produced during the Yung-lo period (1403-24). The Palace Museum itself has but two small vases like this.

Ju Kiln porcelain was the crowning achievement of Sung chinaware. Of the 30 some pieces left in the world today, over two thirds are in the Palace Museum.

Unbaked enamelware from the "Ancient Moon" Workshop is famous among art collectors around the world and extremely rare, yet the Palace Museum has 450 pieces.

Labels put on the artifacts by specialists who catalogued the collection　shortly after P'u Yi left some 60 years ago are still attached. The red hand-written character indicates the original location of the piece.

This piece of bronzeware dates back to the Warring States Period （475-22 1 B.C.）. It served as a pitcher when washing the hands. Similar pitchers　made of bamboo are still used today in Japanese temples.

Handicraft techniques reached unprecedented heights during the Ching dynasty. In this carving of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove" each figure appears individual and lifelike.

This memorial to the Ch'ien-lung emperor accompanied the gift by a well-intentioned official of a Taiwanese mango. Unfortunately, the emperor seems not to have appreciate d the favor. He commented, "Useless.".

One of the "wronged spirits" left behind in Shanghai was a painting by Ma Lin, the son of Ma Yuan, one of the Four Masters of the Southern Sung （1127-1279）. Shown here is another painting of his, called "Listening Quietly to the Wind in the Pines." The enlarged portion on the right shows the figure's vivid expression.

Shown here is another painting of his, called "Listening Quietly to the Wind in the Pines." The enlarged portion on the right shows the figure's vivid expression.

The chueh is the most commonly found form of ancient bronze wine pitcher, but to the eyes of a researcher it affords an inexhaustible source of investigation.

According to the comments written on the far right, this painting by Huang Kung-wang of the Yuan dynasty, entitled "Dwelling in the Mountains at High Spring," is a forgery. Actually, the Ch'ien-lung emperor made a slip-it's the real thing!

This jade ch'i dates back to the Chou dynasty（1122-771 B.C.）. The ch'i is a weapon, usually made of bronze. This exquisitely carved jade ch'i is strictly ornamental.

Porcelain from the Sung dynasty （960-1279） is noted for its monochrome glazes, especially greenish-blue and white. Ch'ing-hua porcelain from the　Ming dynasty （1368-1644）, of which this is a sample, represented a technical breakthrough. A special characteristic is its complicated, intertwined floral pattern.

Snuff, a powder made from tobacco and fragrant herbs, was said to prevent disease and sharpen the eyes. This beautiful enamel snuffbox is enough by itself to please the eyes and cheer the heart.

The most exquisite carved lacquerware was produced during the Yung-lo period （1403-24）. The Palace Museum itself has but two small vases like this.

Ju Kiln porcelain was the crowning achievement of Sung chinaware. Of the 30 some pieces left in the world today, over two thirds are in the Palace Museum.

Unbaked enamelware from the "Ancient Moon" Workshop is famous among art collectors around the world and extremely rare, yet the Palace Museum has 450 pieces.