Besides the treasure of the museum 鎮館之寶, the Jadeite Cabbage 翠玉白菜1, there are two others in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Although not as famous, they are nevertheless equally stunning as a work of art.
Jadeite Cabbage 翠玉小白菜
Jade | Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) | L: 8.9cm, W: 8.9cm, (Overall) H: 13.4cm | National Palace Museum Collection. 玉器｜清 （公元1644年-1912年）｜長8.9公分、寬8.9公分、通高13.4公分｜國立故宮博物院藏
To differentiate from its famous cousin, this Jadeite Cabbage is given another Chinese name, 翠玉小白菜, because it is 0.2cm smaller. Emerald green jade, with white spots. Carved in the shape of a cabbage, engraved with leaf veins on the negative line, and a mantis carved in the stalk.2
Following the fall of the Qing dynasty in the 1911 Revolution, the jade became part of the collection of the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City, which incidentally is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2025 and hence a special exhibition was planned at Czech Republic3.
Along with a core of that collection, these pieces survived the Second Sino-Japanese War (World War II) and the Chinese Civil War; it was eventually relocated to Taiwan’s National Palace Museum during the retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan.
Jadeite Cabbage-shaped Flower Holder 翠玉白菜花插
Jade | Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) | H: 10.7cm, W:9.7cm, (Base) D: 2.0cm | National Palace Museum Collection. 玉器｜清 （公元1644年-1912年）｜高10.7公分、寬9.1公分、底徑2.0公分｜國立故宮博物院藏
The Jadeite Cabbage-shaped Flower Holder 翠玉白菜花插 was designed to be a flower holder although it is too small to be considered a vase. As records were missing to where this was originally used, it can only be thought to be part of a larger sculpture or a decoration on a panel.
Emerald jade cabbage, the jade quality is transparent and triangular, the heart of the vegetable is hollowed out, and the emerald green part is the old leaves of the outer edge of the cabbage. The leaf veins are thick and broad, carved with deep knife methods, which should be a technique from the 18th to the 19th centuries.4
Jadeite Cabbage 翠玉白菜
Jadeite | Guangxu Reign (r. 1875-1908), Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) | Dimensions – H:18.7cm, W: 9.1cm, Thickness: 5.07cm | National Palace Museum Collection. 玉器｜清 光绪（公元1875年-1908年在位）｜高18.7公分，宽9.1公分，厚度达到5.07公分｜國立故宮博物院藏
And here’s the piece that caught the imagination of so many generations of Palace Museum visitors. This Jadeite Cabbage 翠玉白菜 was originally part of a beautiful potted decoration at the Qing court, a wedding gift for Consort Jin 瑾妃 from Emperor Guangxu. The jadeite was placed upright in an enamelled planter and at the bottom accompanied by a wood carving of spirit fungus 灵芝. The precious jadeite and spirit fungus as a symbol of longevity and auspiciousness, combined with the colourful cloisonné enamel ware, make the jadeite cabbage appear eternally fresh!
According to records, there should be two more in existence that belonged to Empress Dowager Cixi.5 But for the time being, here’s the three cousins that are in the custody of National Palace Museum.
Photos of the 翠玉小白菜 and 翠玉白菜花插 from visit to National Palace Museum (Taipei) on Aug 2025, 翠玉白菜 from visit on Oct 2023.
About Chinese National Treasure Series
中華國寶系列 Chinese National Treasure series feature specific artefacts and relics from museums all around the world that are historically significant to be considered a National Treasure. The series covers the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation from Neolithic periods before the Xia dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BC) to modern day.
Footnotes :
- 故宮人氣國寶〈翠玉白菜〉將出訪捷克 8月4日起白菜兩姐妹接力代班
發布日期：2025-07-30. https://www.npm.gov.tw/News-Content.aspx?sno=04014197&l=1&idstr=MDMwMDAwOTY=， accessed 21 Nov 2025 ↩︎ - 翠綠色玉，夾帶白斑。雕白菜形狀，陰線刻葉脈，梗部雕螳螂一隻。國立故宮博物院著作權所有https://digitalarchive.npm.gov.tw/Collection/Detail/50784?dep=U, accessed 21 Nov 2025 ↩︎
- 故宮人氣國寶〈翠玉白菜〉將出訪捷克 8月4日起白菜兩姐妹接力代班
發布日期：2025-07-30. https://www.npm.gov.tw/News-Content.aspx?sno=04014197&l=1&idstr=MDMwMDAwOTY=， accessed 21 Nov 2025 ↩︎ - 翠玉白菜，玉質透亮，呈三角形，菜心掏空，翠綠部分為白菜外緣的老葉。葉脈線條粗曠，以深刻刀法刻劃而成，應是十八至十九世紀的技法。國立故宮博物院著作權所有https://digitalarchive.npm.gov.tw/Collection/Detail/58897?dep=U, accessed 21 Nov 20 ↩︎
- “翠玉白菜不是唯一 台北故宫有3顆 北京故宮也有“ 更新日期：2007/03/27 20:19， 記者：記者朱凱翔、于絡維、梁家銘/ 台北訂導
台北故宮的翠玉白菜爆出疑似破損，事實上翠玉白菜並不是專有名詞，只要是翠玉做的白菜雕刻品就叫翠玉白菜，光是台北故宮就有3顆。
1928年7月，國軍將領孫殿英假藉演習的名義，炸開清王朝東陵裡的乾隆與慈禧陵墓大肆搜刮，當時各報都以顯著標題報導這起駭人聽聞的炸陵盜墓事件，末代皇帝溥儀甚至嚎啕大哭，發誓報仇雪恨，蔣介石曾經下令徹查，但因為中原大戰不了了之，總價值超過5千萬白銀的陪葬寶物，就此下落不明，其中就包括兩株慈禧心愛的翠玉白菜，甚至謠傳台北故宮裡的翠玉白菜，就是孫殿英用來行賄官員的贓物。
清史學者：「它是紫禁城永和宮的東西，至於慈禧地宮裡的那顆翠玉白菜，按記載是兩株，而且那翠玉白菜白幫綠葉不僅僅落一個蟈蟈（紡織娘），還有2隻黃色的馬蜂。」
中國清史專家為台北故宮喊冤，由此可知翠玉白菜有好幾顆，但您可能不知道，光是台北故宮就不只1顆。台北故宮器物處長稽若昕：「台北故宮翠玉做的白菜總共有3顆，只要是翠玉做的白菜型的雕刻品，就叫做翠玉白菜，所以不只是台北故宮有，北京故宮也有，我也在他們陳列室看過。」
翠玉白菜一向是台北故宮最受歡迎的寶物，詢問度最高，話題也最多，曾有人說，台北故宮就只有這唯一一顆翠玉白菜，也有人說台北故宮總共有12顆翠玉白菜，如今台北故宮首度公開證實，翠玉白菜總共3顆。
https://web.archive.org/web/20190613083810/http://city.udn.com/55568/2141952， accessed 21 Nov 2025 ↩︎
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