The journey traversed thousands of kilometers, during which the items in the collection could only be conserved using the old methods. Museum curators in those days seldom had a background in the modern sciences, and were thus little on guard for damage not visible to the naked eye. This proved disastrous in hot and humid Taiwan, where insects thrive.
在長達幾千公里的倉皇顛沛中，故宮文物的保存只能依循古法，而當時館員對現代科技鮮少涉獵，對於肉眼不能直接觀察的損壞也就少了注意和警覺，這在環境高溫潮溼導致蟲害嚴重的台灣尤其糟糕。