Collections of Forbidden City

Collections of Forbidden City Museum (also called the Palace Museum) are based on the Qing imperial collection. According to the results of a 1925 audit, some 1.17 million items were stored in Forbidden City. In addition, the imperial libraries housed one of the country's largest collections, of ancient books and various documents, including government documents from Ming to Qing dynasties.

 During the Chinese Civil War, the Nationalist government decided to ship the pick of this collection to Taiwan. About 13,427 boxes of evacuated artifacts, 2,972 boxes are now housed in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Almost 10,000 boxes were returned to Beijing, but 2,221 boxes remain in storage under the charge of the Nanjing Museum today.

After 1949 a thorough search of the Forbidden City was beginning. In addition, the government moved items from other museums around the country to replenish the Palace Museum's collection. It also purchased and received donations from the public.  

Today, there are over a million valuable rare and works of art within the collection of the Palace Museum. Numbers of Art works in the museum are totally 1,052,653; including paintings, pottery, inscribed wares, bronze wares, and court documents.

 Jade

Jade is very important in Chinese culture. Among these collection, mostly derived from the imperial collection, includes some 30,000 pieces. The earliest pieces can date back to the Neolithic period. Pieces Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty , mostly are items of palace use. and announce the new calendar.  

Paintings  

50,000 paintings does the Palace Museum holds. Among those, most of them are the collections from Ming to Qing Dynasty, in addition, more than 400 can dates back to the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). This may be the largest number of collection in China. However, a significant portion of this collection was lost. After his abdication, Puyi transferred paintings out of the palace, and many of these were subsequently lost or destroyed. In 1948, the pick of the remaining collection were moved to Taiwan. Today, some collections have subsequently been replenished.

Bronzeware

The Palace Museum's bronze collection can dates back to the early Shang Dynasty. 10,000 pieces the Palace Museum holds, about 1,600 are inscribed items of pre-Qin period (in 221 BC). A significant part of the collection is ceremonial bronzeware of the imperial court.