How a humble cabbage became one of the Forbidden City’s most memorable treasures

By Wayne Chang, CNN

Taipei, Taiwan (CNN) — The Louvre’s “Mona Lisa,” the British Museum’s Rosetta Stone, MoMA’s “Starry Night” — major museums often have one must-see item that singlehandedly draws visitors from around the world.

For the National Palace Museum, in Taiwan’s capital Taipei, the star attraction is somewhat humbler: a cabbage.

Carved from a block of white and green jadeite, the remarkably realistic sculpture of a Chinese cabbage glistens as if freshly picked from a field, still wet with morning dew. A katydid and locust lurk in its verdant leaves, while the unknown sculptor used the material’s natural flaws to create the illusion of ribs running along its stems.

Resting gently on a wooden stand, the carving is just 7.4 inches tall. But it is so popular that it occupies its own exhibition hall. The museum even publicizes which dates the object will be away on “business trips” — in other words, when it is on loan or exhibited elsewhere — so visitors are not left disappointed.

The museum does not record how many of its approximately 2 million annual visitors come specifically to view the Jadeite Cabbage. But the long line of people waiting to snap photos suggests that many, if not most, of them do. “When you see it in pictures, it’s doesn’t seem that vivid, but when you see it here in true light, it’s really more attractive,” said Chloe Wang, a tourist from mainland China, during a recent trip to the museum.

The cabbage’s popularity often sees it dubbed a “national treasure” of Taiwan, although the sculpture is not officially designated as such. Its image is pasted across merchandise and turned into plush toys and replica models, in the museum store and beyond.

The Jadeite Cabbage, like most of the National Palace Museum’s collection, is an imperial relic once housed at the Forbidden City in Beijing before being relocated to Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War. It is, by no means, the only one: Beijing’s Palace Museum and the Tianjin Museum, also in mainland China, both have cabbages carved from jade. In fact, the Taiwan museum itself even has two other examples.

So why did this one, also known as “Jadeite Cabbage with Insects,” achieve global fame?

Hsu Ya-hwei, an art history professor at National Taiwan University, said the jade’s shimmering colors and the sculptor’s technique help the piece stand out. “The craftsmanship, combined with this particular piece of the material, produced a good result,” she said.

But the cabbage’s enduring popularity may also come down to its perceived symbolism. Possibly part of a dowry paid to China’s Guangxu Emperor by a consort in the 1880s, the artifact has long been associated with female purity, fertility and abundance. While some historians have questioned the long-held belief that the locust and katydid represent children — and whether the item was even a dowry gift — the idea nonetheless grabbed people’s imaginations, said Hsu.

“The auspicious wishes contained in the artifact are quite important, and probably a key factor in its appeal to ordinary visitors,” she added.

Few historical clues

After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912, the Jadeite Cabbage was discovered sitting in a colorful enamel pot in the Forbidden City. It later went on show at Beijing’s Palace Museum, which was opened by China’s Republican government to display the vast imperial collection. Curators opted to present the cabbage without its pot, to make it more visually appealing, and it was an instant success with the public after debuting in 1928.

In the 1930s, amid fears the palace collection would be seized by Japan’s Imperial Army, many of the treasures were evacuated to other cities and spent years on the road, sometimes hidden in temples and caves on the way. After Communist leader Mao Zedong triumphed in the Chinese Civil War, the fleeing Republican forces shipped thousands of crates of artifacts to Taiwan, where they established a new seat for their government.

The Jadeite Cabbage was among the almost 700,000 items now forming the collection of Taipei’s National Palace Museum, which opened at its current location in 1965. Three years later, Taiwan’s national postal service issued a stamp featuring the cabbage’s image that was printed 3.5 million times, further cementing it in the public imagination.

The cabbage is often referred to as one of the institution’s “three treasures,” along with two other popular artifacts — namely the Meat-Shaped Stone, a piece of jasper carved to resemble braised pork belly, and the Mao Kung Ting, a traditional cooking vessel featuring the longest known inscription of ancient characters on any item of Chinese bronzeware. The trio are often collectively described as “pickled cabbage pork hotpot” by tour guides and as a marketing gimmick.

The everydayness of these items may also hold clues to their draw. “The familiar and endearing image of the cabbage instantly creates a connection to the imperial court, which can sometimes feel quite distant and foreign,” wrote Wang Shao-chun, a former researcher with the museum’s antiquities division, in a museum journal earlier this year.

Yet, despite the Jadeite Cabbage’s popularity among the public, some art historians and museum curators are unfazed. To trained eyes, it is of similar quality to many other realistic jade carvings, which were quite prevalent in the Qing dynasty.

“It is one of the most unique, but not the only great piece of Chinese craftsmanship,” wrote Chang Li-tuan, a former researcher with the museum’s antiquities division, in the aforementioned museum journal.

Researchers also say the lack of written records about the artifact — including information on who commissioned, crafted and owned it — leave the item’s historical context largely unknown.

“There are few historical clues about the piece that allow us to talk about it in-depth,” Hsu said. “Or at least, they have not yet been found.”

This may be why Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture has only designated the cabbage a “significant antiquity,” rather than a full-fledged National Treasure.

“Its popularity and its historical value are clearly unproportional,” Wang told CNN. “Just like movies, a blockbuster may not necessarily be a masterpiece, and vice versa.”

For museum curators, Wang added, the Jadeite Cabbage’s fame is a double-edged sword. “We work hard to promote other great exhibits, but sometimes the only thing on people’s minds is the cabbage. It’s kind of like a singer only remembered for that one hit song.”

Celebrating its centennial

The museum attaches high importance to the security of its most prized artifacts. The Jadeite Cabbage is displayed in a reinforced glass cabinet and held in place by tight strings to protect it from sudden movements — an ever-present threat in earthquake-prone Taiwan.

When it travels, it is placed in a dedicated container, which in turn is placed in a wooden box filled with protective packaging. Police and dedicated museum staff typically escort the cabbage to the airport.

It is, however, seldom lent to overseas museums. Prior to this year, the last time the item traveled abroad was in 2014, when it (and the Meat-Shaped Stone) was exhibited in Japan. But loans can sometimes serve as tools of diplomacy. In August, as Taiwan celebrates 100 years since the Palace Museum opened, the Jadeite Cabbage was sent, along with more than 130 artifacts, to the Czech Republic, whose ties with Taiwan have warmed — as its relations with China have deteriorated — in recent years.

Beijing’s ruling Communist Party, which claims Taiwan as part of its own territory despite never having ruled over it, criticized Taipei for engaging in “separatist maneuvers” by facilitating the Czech exhibition, which is on show in the capital Prague through December 31. Taiwanese government and museum officials rejected the accusation, calling it simply a “cultural exchange.”

In late September, Taiwan’s government said it had received an anonymous email threatening “arson, theft, shootings or terror attacks” if the exhibition continues. In a statement, the National Palace Museum said it was working with Czech authorities to enhance security.

The exhibition remains open, with the Jadeite Cabbage proving to attract Czech visitors.

“It dates from the late 19th century. But it is a perfect example of the highest artistry achievable with jade,” the show’s curator, Ondřej Crhák, told Radio Prague International in September, calling the loan “a rare opportunity.”

“This is its first appearance in Europe,” he added. “Given its importance to the National Palace Museum and to Chinese culture, that makes it truly unique.”

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