The Jilin Provincial Museum is located in northeast corner of Changchun city, covering an area of 12 hectares. The building was originally built as the imperial palace for Aixinjueluo Puyi, the last emperor of Qing dynasty. Nowadays, it is a historical testimony of the Japanese imperialism's invasion to the Northeast and fabrication of the puppet government. In 1932, the year after 9.18 incident, the Japanese imperialism declared the establishment of the "Manzhou Country", set up the interim "government", supported Puyi as the "governor" of the "state" and made Changchun the "capital". In 1934, they changed "Manzhou Country" to "the Manzhou Empire". The "governor", Puyi, became the "Emperor" by ascending the "throne", and the title of the reign was named as "Kangde".

The puppet imperial palace comprised 2 parts: the inner palace and the outer palace. The inner palace was the living area for Puyi and his family, while the outer palace served as a place where the "Emperor" dealing with his "government affairs". At the celebration of ascending the throne on 1st March 1934, the Japanese and puppet officials paid their respects to Puyi at the "Qinmin hall" in the outer palace. As the emperor, Puyi was actually a puppet because all the military and administrative power as well as all the rights of making important decisions was hold by Japanese.

Puyi fled his homeland in a flurry when Japan surrendered in 1945. The illegitimate imperial palace was damaged grossly, and the losses of internal facilities were very great. After liberation, the palace was rebuilt for several times and restored gradually. The department started the collection of cultural relics in 1982, and they obtained 7,000 pieces of cultural relics and historical data with the assistance from more than 20 provinces and cities. All of the culture relics are exhibiting in the palace. Tourists visiting here would feel as if reviewing the history of Japanese aggression to China.