When imperial rule collapsed in China at the beginning of the 20th century, the emperor’s Forbidden City home was turned over to the public and transformed into the Palace Museum. Fierce fighting that rocked the country for years after the leadership change posed a grave threat to the palace treasures – considered one of the world’s greatest collections of art and artefacts. To protect them, the Palace Museum director decided to evacuate a large number of items and set them on a 14-year, 75…