In 1843, the new satirical magazine Punch published a tongue-in-cheek story that accidentally set off an armchair treasure hunt, and nearly sent its publishers to the dock.

‘The Legend of Qiang-Shen,’ attributed to a fictitious author named Qu Fu, told the tale of an ancient Chinese nobleman who died without issue, but left behind an elaborate set of puzzles through which treasure hunters might locate his fortune. Though the piece was intended as a scathing satire of British colonialism, most notably the establishment of Hong Kong after the First Opium War, readers interpreted the fable literally, and searched in vain for the alleged treasure. Punch publishers Henry Mayhew and Ebenezer Landells might have had a laugh at their expense, had an 1839 Act of Parliament not explicitly forbidden British subjects from treasure hunting in the overseas colonies, which subjected the publishers, for their role in the scheme, to twenty years’ hard labor.

Given the choice of disclosing the satire or facing prosecution, Mayhew and Landells hatched a third option: to commission a series of ersatz treasures, and bury them throughout the world, in vague accordance with the story they had published. Punch readers following the clues never got close to finding any of the eight sites, but homeowners and land developers did, ultimately finding all eight of the Qiang-Shen vaults, but opening only five of them. Of the remaining three, two presumably point to the locations of the others; one wonders what withering punchline the publishers left for the sorry soul who opened the eighth and final vault. Perhaps contemporary readers might discover it yet.

Published January 28, 2023. Copyright © 2023 Jonathan Hoefler.