In Portrait of a Thief, a group of Chinese American college students attempt to steal five bronze fountainheads from five museums. The fountainheads were originally looted from China’s Old Summer Palace during an invasion by Western forces. A wealthy Chinese executive hires Will and his friends to steal them back. The story was inspired by real events—both the looting and destruction of Beijing’s Old Summer Palace and a series of museum thefts targeting Old Summer Palace artifacts, believed to be a means of reclamation.

The Old Summer Palace was a complex of imperial palaces and gardens built during the 18th and 19th centuries in present-day Beijing. Serving as the main residence for much of the Qing dynasty (1636-1912), the Old Summer Palace was known for its vast collection of art and historical treasures. The largest palace in the complex boasted an ornate clock fountain, with 12 fountainheads representing the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac.

The Old Summer Palace was looted and destroyed during the Second Opium War. This conflict, waged from 1856 to 1860, was fueled by growing Western imperialism and desires to expand overseas trade, particularly in opium. In 1860, British and French troops captured the Old Summer Palace. They destroyed it over a three-day period in retaliation for the reported death of 19 Anglo-French delegation members at the hands of the Qing government.