Palace Museum Director Shan Jixiang has announced on Mar. 29 that about 55,000 priceless items were discovered in the Forbidden City. The hidden artifacts have been found during an inventory check of the museum grounds carried out between 2014 and 2016.
A total of 55,132 hidden artifacts has been discovered in the inventory sweep, according to the Global Times. This has raised the total number of items in the collection from 1,862,690 to 1,807,558 by the end of 2016.
The collection includes some priceless manuscripts by the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty such as stone tablets, oracle bones, and old photographs of the Forbidden City captured during the Qing Dynasty, according to News4Europe. These old photographs, amongst other newly found hidden artifacts, essentially explain the history of the late Qing Dynasty, and the society that thrived during the dynasty.
The Palace Museum has been working on cataloging the old photographs following the discovery of the hidden artifacts. To add credibility to the photographs, experts try to identify the time and location the photos were taken, as well as to identify the individuals captured in the photographs.
The experts at the Palace Museum apply serious consideration into preserving the newly found hidden artifacts, especially the photographs due to their authentic nature. As of now, the photographs are stored in custom-designed frames that maintain constant temperature and humidity at a specific level.
Meanwhile, some of the newly found hidden artifacts are currently on display at the museum's Yanxi Palace and will remain there until Apr. 15. The items include the Qianlong manuscripts, written by the emperor between 1722 and 1798.
The Palace Museum has one of the largest collections of Chinese antiques in the world. Shan said that the items comprise of 90.3 percent of all items in the collection, which is a staggering number for any museum worldwide.
