Palace Museum Launches Ming & Qing Research Institute

The Palace Museum in Beijing is arguably the biggest treasure house for relics from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now, the Chinese capital’s top tourist site is also hoping to stand at the forefront of research on Ming and Qing relics. Let’s find out how that’s being carried out.

The Palace Museum Research Institute was established on Wednesday. By integrating some of the museum’s current departments and hiring respected experts, the institute aims to fill in the gaps in its academic research.

"We’ve hired a lot of experts who have retired from our museum, to put them back into our research institute. They’ll team up with younger staff members to do research." Zheng Xinmiao, Director of Palace Museum Research Institute said.

The museum has also employed experts and scholars in the history of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and will seek cooperation projects with other institutes from inside and outside of China.

"We’ve teamed up with the Max Planck Institute from Germany in the research of royal history, which has been really helpful to us." Zheng Xinmiao said.

The Palace Museum Research Institute plans to set up a complete academic team within three to five years.