How a humble cabbage became one of the Forbidden City’s most memorable treasures

Taipei, Taiwan —

The Louvre’s “Mona Lisa,” the British Museum’s Rosetta Stone, MoMA’s “Starry Night” — major museums often have one must-see item that singlehandedly draws visitors from around the world.

For the National Palace Museum, in Taiwan’s capital Taipei, the star attraction is somewhat humbler: a cabbage.

Carved from a block of white and green jadeite, the remarkably realistic sculpture of a Chinese cabbage glistens as if freshly picked from a field, still wet with morning dew. A katydid and locust lurk in its verdant leaves, while the unknown sculptor used the material’s natural flaws to create the illusion of ribs running along its stems.

Resting gently on a wooden stand, the carving is just 7.4 inches tall. But it is so popular that it occupies its own exhibition hall. Th