北京故宮博物院是在明清兩朝的皇宮建立起來，是中國最重要、規模最大的博物館。過百萬件藏品大部份為明、清兩朝宮中原藏的歷代珍品，部份更可上溯至北宋年間帝皇藏品。歷經千年蓄積，故宮藏品數量之多，價值之高實在是中國歷代文物藝術的寶庫。
The Palace Museum in Beijing, world-renowned as the largest museum in China, was originally an imperial palace in both the Ming and Qing Dynasties (A.D. 1368 – 1911), known as the Forbidden City. The Palace Museum is also the nation's most important treasure house that boasts its collection of over one million pieces of valuable objects of art and relics. The treasures were mainly from the imperial collection of the Ming and Qing Dynasties' emperors, with some being handed down from the other dynasties as early as the Northern Song Dynasty.
能親睹故宮博物院藏品的機會不多，公開展出的數量也極有限。《故宮博物院藏文物精品集》六十卷中文版以及十卷英文版是目前可以代表故宮博物院的大型畫冊，精選出過萬件珍藏文物，包括明清五百年的皇室收藏以及罕為人知的新近出土的文物珍品。
Chances are rare for ordinary people to view these treasures and even who pay a visit the Museum personally will only have a glimpse at a very tiny percentage of the whole collection. "The Palace Museum's Essential Collection" with its 60 volumes in Chinese and 10 volumes in English is the only pictorial that represents the Palace Museum of China. It depicts ten thousands of pieces of highly treasured Chinese cultural relics, including the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties over a stretch of 500 years and some newly unearthed prize items scarcely known to the public.
《故宮博物院藏文物精品集》的出版全面展示了中國豐富的藝術資源和文物研究的成果。更重要的是為世界文化藝術交流打開了東方的一扇大門，為世界各地的鑑賞家欣賞和研究中國文化提供了橋樑。
The publication of "The Palace Museum's Essential Collection" is a thorough revelation of the abundant artistic resources and achievement in cultural relic studies. More importantly, the set serves to open the door to Oriental Art for the international cultural exchanges and provide a chance for those connoisseurs around the world to appreciate and study Chinese cultural relics.
