In July 1928, Sun Dianying, commander of the Twelfth Army of the National Revolutionary Army, secretly excavated the Tomb of Cixi and Qianlong in the Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty in the name of military exercises. All treasures and all gold and silver sacrificial vessels in Cixi's palace were swept away. Emperor Qianlong, the largest antique player and collector in Chinese history, had also been robbed of his extensive collection of famous paintings, calligraphy, and rare antiques. Countless treasures in the Qing imperial mausoleums are scattered in the hands of dignitaries and desperadoes, thus creating strange stories one after another.
