The cultural relics were moved to Shanghai in five batches.
according to historical records, in January 1933, the Japanese army entered Shanhaiguan, and the situation was sinister, so it was imperative to move cultural relics. On behalf of the government, Song Ziwen, the acting dean of the administration, made a promise that "Beiping is quiet and the original things are still returned", and finally decided to move the cultural relics to Shanghai.
As soon as the decision was made, Zhou Zhaoxiang and others let it out that as long as the cultural relics train leaves, someone will plant bombs along the railway and blow up the train. At the same time, drivers and porters will be prevented from transporting cultural relics to the Forbidden City [Weibo]. In desperation, Yi Peiji had to cable Li Zongtong, secretary-general of the Council of the Palace Museum, to state the whole story. Li asked Song Ziwen, acting executive dean, for instructions, and Song cabled Zhou Dawen, the mayor of Peiping, and Zhou Dawen sent bailiffs to arrest Zhou Zhaoxiang secretly until the cultural relics left Peiping for 1 days. On February 4, 1933, Wu Ying, the secretary of the president of the Palace Museum, received a notice that the cultural relics were ready for shipment and went to the Forbidden City for standby.
At noon on February 5th, a large number of carts were dragged into Shenwumen. At sunset, martial law was imposed from the Forbidden City to the station, and the cultural relics were officially shipped after dark. Along the way, there were many military and police officers, and there was no one in the street. Except for the rattling of scooters, there was no other sound. At that time, no one thought that, after this trip, Guanshan Wan Li and Haitian were separated, and they and 19,557 boxes of cultural relics have never returned to their hometown. On the morning of February 6th, two trains departed from Beiping West Railway Station and headed for Pukou. There are more than 2, wooden cases with seals floating on the 18 carriages, which are three feet long, one and a half feet wide and one and a half feet high. In addition to the precious documents, paintings and archives of the Forbidden City, the wooden box also contains priceless treasures-a full set of Wen Yuange's Sikuquanshu. When the train started, it was protected by local troops along the way. There were machine guns around the roof, and there were policemen armed with guns all over the carriage. In addition, Zhang Xueliang's cavalry gathered with the car to guard the guards. Except for the express train, all other trains have to give way to the heritage train first. Important pass, lights out in the car. This is the best treatment for a national treasure during its 16-year migration. Since then, conditions have deteriorated, and there is no more manpower and material resources to protect the relocated cultural relics. Nevertheless, none of the cultural relics were damaged or lost.
In order to prevent Japanese bombing, the train bypassed Tianjin, changed from Pinghan Line to Longhai Road and then to Jinpu Line, and stopped only when adding water and coal. As soon as the bus stops, the escorts get off the bus and check the seals on each train. When the train finally arrived in Pukou, it was found that Pukou could not find a suitable place to preserve cultural relics because of the hasty trip. All cultural relics had to be left on the train, and the conditions on the train could not preserve precious rare ancient books, calligraphy and painting documents for a long time. Wu Ying, Na Zhiliang and his colleagues, who were in charge of the escort, waited anxiously for a whole month before receiving instructions to transfer the cultural relics to Shanghai. The national treasure was finally deposited in Renji Hospital of Shanghai Catholic Church Street and Sichuan Luyeguang Company, and the Beijing Palace Museum's Shanghai office was established. Since then, four batches of cultural relics, including porcelain, jade, bronze, calligraphy and painting, documents and archives, have been shipped to Shanghai one after another, with a total of 19,557 boxes in five batches. Cultural relics have been preserved in Shanghai for four years, during which 8 boxes of the essence were selected and went to Britain to hold the "London China Art International Exhibition", which was a sensation.