Safeguarding and Conservation

     In October 1949, members of the councils of the Palace Museum and the Preparatory Office of the National Central Museum convened a meeting in Taiwan at which they called for the artifacts to be moved out of urban areas of Taichung for reason of security, and requested that storehouses be purpose-built on a hill site. Following the meeting, the Ministry of Education instructed the Joint Administrative Office to scout for an appropriate site as soon as possible. Eventually, the councils decided on the site in Beigou, Wufeng, in Taichung. In February 1950, the artifacts of the two museums were relocated to the newly completed storehouses. In March 1953, the Office had a small vault dug in the nearby hill where the most precious artifacts could be stored in an emergency. This U-shaped vault could house up to 600 crates of artifacts.

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  The Beigou warehouse under construction

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  The newly completed Beigou warehouse

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  The cave vault under construction in Beigou

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  Transportation of crates from the cave vault