Zhihui Zhang

National Palace Museum

Founding of the National Palace Museum The collection of cultural artifacts held by the National Palace Museum is composed of an enormous treasure trove of objects inherited from the previous Sung, Yüan, Ming and Ch'ing dynasties. When the Republic of China was first founded, these imperial treasures had remained within the Forbidden City with the last Ch'ing Emperor Pu Yi, but countless works of art were lost either because they were granted by Pu Yi as presents, because they were borrowed by his past noblemen, or because they were pledged to pawnbrokers or stolen. In 1914 the Republic of China Government relocated the cultural artifacts preserved at the Rehe Imperial Summer Retreat and the Shenyang Former Palace to the outer court of the Forbidden City, and made them available for public viewing at an Exhibition Office of Ancient Artifacts. In 1924 Pu Yi moved out of the Forbidden City, and the Government formed a "Committee for the Disposition of Ch'ing Imperial Possessions" to reorganize the invaluable artifacts stored within the Palace. On October 10, 1925 on National Day, the National Palace Museum was officially inaugurated to preserve the imperial collections and palatial treasures from the various Chinese dynasties, so that all members of the public and future generations will henceforth be able to freely enter the Palace to admire this cultural inheritance of humankind. During the first years of the National Palace Museum, a board of directors was set up as the decision-making and supervisory organ, which supervised over a subordinate board of executive directors, the two separate departments of Antiquities and Books, as well as the General Affairs Office. Over the years dramatic political changes ensued, and the National Palace Museum was in turn governed by the Maintenance Officer, Preservation Committee, Maintenance Committee and a Management Committee.