A?centuries-old porcelain plate from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) that was accidently broken at Beijing's Palace Museum drew more controversy this week after it was shown for the first time to the public on China Central Television news on Monday.

Top: An ancient porcelain plate dating to the Song Dynasty (960-1279) as it looked before it was accidentally broken. Bottom: A screenshot from China Central Television (CCTV) shows the plate was broken into six pieces.

The pictures triggered skepticism because the broken plate shown on TV seemed to be different from the intact one published by the museum earlier on its website, Eastday.com reported yesterday.

After comparing the pictures of the complete one and the broken one, netizens noted they had different shapes and different colors on the bottom. Some even found the identification numbers printed on the plates different.

Experts explained that the museum had more than 50 pieces of Ge kiln plates. The one published on the website was the most intact, best preserved and with the most distinct characteristics. So it was likely that the one shown on the website was not the one accidentally smashed.

The museum, housed in the Forbidden City, was already under fire for not reporting the mishap for nearly a month, stirring up suspicion that it was trying to cover up the incident. Under Chinese law regarding the protection of cultural relics, any incidents should be reported to higher authorities within two hours of their occurrence.

Museum officials said they didn't want to hastily announce the accident until a complete internal investigation was conducted.

"We stopped the testing right after the accident happened. The museum ordered us to finish the investigation within one month. The process was very complicated," Chen Lihua, deputy curator of the museum, told the Beijing Evening News.

The museum said the plate was damaged as researchers were conducting scientific testing.

The museum handed in a detailed report about the accident to the Ministry of Culture and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage on Monday, 28 days after the rare plate was broken into six pieces, the Beijing Evening News said yesterday. The plate was made in Ge kiln, one of the imperial kilns in the Song Dynasty.

The two government cultural agencies are investigating the incident and will publish their findings.