抗戰時期的北平故宮博物院

The Palace Museum of Peiping during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression

民國十七年六月，北伐戰爭結束，國民政府接收故宮博物院。此後三數年間，故宮進入全面發展階段；時間雖不謂長，然組織、典藏、展覽、出版等作為快速精進，已觕具現代博物館氣象。二十二年元月，日軍陷榆關，抗日戰爭不旋踵而至，故宮開始避禍南遷，繼而西徂巴蜀，顛沛流離者凡十四載。前此蓄積的博物館建設成果遂橫遭截斷，難以為繼。二十六年七月北平失守後，故宮本院由留守職工於艱困中維持，工作壹循既有制度，業務內容未見大幅變動；各類文物展覽雖持續開放，惟蒞院參觀者寡，門庭益顯冷清。期間，日偽臨時政府藉經費補助手段，每欲干涉院務，胥賴平院保管監護職員妥為周旋應付，使彼等無所措其手足，院藏文物大致得獲保全。他若宮殿建築修茸、藏品出版傳播、文物清點審查等項，亦皆略見進展；而故宮同人協助從事之北平中軸線重要古建築實測圖繪，不僅是當時運用現代工程測繪技術，完整記錄紫禁城歷史建築細節的創舉，所得數據圖範更是後來者研究明清城市格局與宮殿結構特徵不可或缺的材料。本文以時間為序，特將舊都陷敵後平院留守人員於地方維持會、中華民國臨時政府、華北政務委員會三階段的種種際遇作一梳理，藉資勾勒抗戰期間北平故宮本院的歷史經緯，兼亦彰顯前賢含垢茹痛，維繫院藏文物於不墜之苦心與定力。

"The military campaign Northern Expedition concluded in June 1928, and with the capture of Peiping the Nationalist Government took over the Palace Museum. In the following three years or so the Museum entered a phase of full development, and within the rather short period it was given the look of a modern museum as evidenced in the intense activity and rapid growth in its organizational planning, collection management, exhibition staging, and publishing practice. In January 1933, the stronghold Shanhai Pass at the eastern end of the Great Wall fell to Japanese forces, and the War of Resistance soon ensued, which prompted the removal of part of the Museum’s collections to Shanghai and Nanking to avoid the flames of an impending military confrontation. Then, in the increasing pressure from the advancing Japanese troops, the crated artifacts were again transported through active war zones to Sichuan province in southwest China. With the collections displaced for 14 years, the development of the Museum was interrupted, and its operation, along with the buildup it had previously accrued, became unsustainable. After the Japanese occupation of Peiping in July 1937, the Palace Museum was maintained by members of the staff who had stayed behind. Enduring hardships of all sorts, they abided by all existing museum rules and regulations, and their work met no major alteration or adjustment. Exhibitions were still available for public viewing, but visitors were few, making the Museum appear desolate. While the Japanese-supported puppet states were keen on meddling with the Museum’s operation via the provision of financial assistance, its staff was able to deal with their attempts tactfully to prevent undue interventions, and the collections were largely kept intact. Small progress was also made in such areas as the repair of palaces, halls, and pavilions, the release of publications and catalogues, as well as the inventory and authentication of the collections. What is most memorable was the measuring and delineation of all historic buildings along the central axis of Peiping to which the Museum offered its assistance. Not only was the project the first undertaking in employing modern engineering survey technology to outline historic buildings in the Forbidden City, but the survey drawings and architectural data assembled are considered indispensable reference materials for future researchers studying urban patterns and palatial structural features of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Chronologically arranged, this paper gives an account of the history of the Palace Museum of Peiping under Japanese rule by sorting out the incidents dealt with by its staff when the city was the seat of the puppet Local Maintenance Commission, Provincial Government of the Republic of China, and North China Political Affairs Commission. It also aims to acknowledge the Museum staff’s painstaking efforts and perseverance, under the most unfavorable conditions, in preserving the integrity of the collections."