The collections of the Palace Museum are based on the imperial collection of the Qing Dynasty. They include paintings, ceramics, seals, steles, sculptures, inscribed ware, bronze ware, enamel ware, etc.

In total, the collection consists of 1,862,690 pieces of art. The Imperial Libraries also contained a large collection of rare books and historical documents, including government documents from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which are now housed in the First Historical Archives.