The Looting of a Dynasty: Where the Qing Treasure Went

In October 1860, British and French troops broke into the Old Summer Palace outside Beijing and carried away one of the largest imperial collections ever assembled. It was the first of five waves of looting that would scatter the Qing dynasty's treasure across the world over the next 166 years. Foreign armies took what they wanted in 1860 and again in 1900. Then the dynasty began looting itself. Eunuchs sold pieces to back-alley dealers. The last emperor smuggled 1,000 paintings out in his brother's schoolbooks. Curators loaded 13,427 crates onto trains and pushed them across wartime China. By 1949 the collection had been split between Beijing and Taipei, and it has never been reunited. 5 bronze zodiac heads are still missing. This is the full story of where the Qing imperial treasure went, and who took it. This is a researched documentary created for educational purposes.