The National Palace Museum's Forest of Ink Marvel Gems (Momiao zhulin) is a set of twelve albums (numbered 1 to 12 in Chinese). Each consists of 24 leaves with two sides. All on paper in the accordion mounting, they are encased above and below with wood boards. The upper one is engraved with the title in regular script and includes the production date: Qianlong wuchen (1748).
The set of twelve albums has paintings on the right and inscriptions to the left. Each album is of a different theme, with twelve court painters depicting 24 topics ranging from landscapes to figures, stories, and flowers; each work has a title in regular script. Opposing leaves were inscribed by the officials Zhuang Yougong and Ji Huang.
When opened, the leaves in this album measure 72.5cm tall and 93.2cm wide. Thus, an entire album can reach a length of 22 meters. This monumental set is the largest surviving album of court paintings.
