On July 19th 2023 , the multilingual website of the Forbidden City Palace Museum- Beijing, China, People’s Republic of Chinawas officially released at the Digital Cultural Tourism Development Forum of the 2023 China Internet Civilization Conference! The website covers five languages: English, French, Russian, Japanese, and Spanish, and will meet the needs of audiences with different languages.
The multilingual website of the Palace Museum is committed to establishing an international website that is concise, clear, easy to use for overseas audiences, and fits the construction of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, including tour guides, information, panoramic tours, online exhibitions, collection appreciation, cultural topics, etc. Rich immersive content describing of the most detail collection that housed within the Forbidden city collection… .
In the Qing Dynasty, gold-plated copper dots emerald inlaid with jewelry and the word Tianhua; in Qing Dynasty, gold-plated jewelry with two dragon knots. Tin flowers are the main decoration on the tin, and the number of tin flowers is one of the factors that determine the grade of the tin. Tin flowers come in a variety of shapes, and depending on their location, they are called knots, face hairpins, green strips, tin tails, head faces, etc. Gold-plated copper dot emerald jewels inlaid with the word “囍” is a set of thirteen pieces, with gold-plated copper dot emerald as the base, and a bead embedded in the character “囍” made of red coral rice beads. Judging from the decorative theme, this tin is made for a big wedding. Another piece of gold inlaid jewelry is a two-dragon knot, in the shape of two dragons playing with gold silk. The center of the fire bead is inlaid with a large ruby, surrounded by green and auspicious clouds. The pendant is made of pearls threaded into eleven strings of tassels, and the corners of the pendant are red sapphires. This kind of decorative knot has the highest standard and is exclusively used by empress dowagers and empresses.
Qing Daoguang, silver-plated hairpin with gold-plated emerald dots inlaid with gemstones, and Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty, silver-plated hairpin with gold-plated gemstones and fake beads and phoenix pattern. In the jewelry of concubines, there are a large number of hairpins of various types, and although they have different themes, they all have auspicious meanings. The number of pearls and the types of gemstones on these jewelry reflect the rank and status of the jewelry owner. Three pieces of silver – plated emerald “囍” character hairpins, with pearls inlaid on the center “囍” character, “囍” character above and below…
In the Qing Dynasty, the golden chiseled word butterfly pattern is flat and square. Bianfang is a unique headdress for Manchu noblewomen in the Qing Dynasty, and it is also a bracket used for dressing up the “two heads”. It has a similar function to the long hairpin used by Han women. This flat square is made of gold, chiseled with sesame seeds as the ground, with a circle of flowers and grass patterns chiseled on the frame, six dancing butterflies and five “囍” characters chiseled inside the frame, and a bat chiseled on the head, implying the double arrival of happiness and happiness. It is a special decoration for the queen’s wedding…
Clear, silver-plated dots emerald beads tassels. Tassels usually refer to drooping tassels, threaded by silk threads, feathers or beads, used on clothes or hair ornaments, also known as step shakes. This tassel is composed of silver-plated dot emerald poles and three strings of pearls. The red coral is embellished with seven “囍” characters, and the pendant corners are three rubies. The head of the pole and the knot in the middle are dotted emerald chiseled bats and money patterns, which means “blessings come to you”. This tassel should be used for the queen’s wedding. Every auspicious festival in the palace, concubines have to wear such ornaments.
Qing Guangxu, stone blue silk embroidered with eight groups of magpies, plums, coral beads and Chinese characters, with water and auspicious clothing materials. The queen’s dowry includes all kinds of ready-made clothes and materials for the four seasons, all of which are woven by Jiangnan Sanzhi, which is prepared in advance several years before the emperor’s wedding ceremony. The pattern of the fabric has always been drawn up by the Ministry of Rites, and the artist draws a sample draft. After the emperor approves, the Ministry of Internal Affairs sends it to Sanzhizao for purchase. The wedding patterns woven for the royal family are all traditional patterns that are related to marriage customs in the palace and contain auspicious meanings, such as Fulu Bandai, Dragon and Phoenix Bringing Good Fortune, etc. The seawater river cliff pattern of this gown is embroidered with a magpie and a plum pattern on the upper part, and decorated with red coral and rice beads to form the character “囍”. The purpose is very clear.
Qing Guangxu, bright yellow silk embroidered with eight groups of magpies, plums, coral beads and 囍 characters, with Shui Jifu gowns. This gown is embroidered with bright yellow silk, with eight embroidered plum blossoms in full bloom, four magpies jumping on the branches, and red coral rice beads in the middle to form the character “囍”, with distinct layers and echoing up and down. Bright yellow is the imperial color exclusively used by the royal family. The magpie and plum blossoms imply happy brows, and the word “囍” pressed on the top implies happiness on top of happiness, highlighting the joy and peace of the emperor’s wedding. Plum blossoms have strong cold resistance, and they can brave the severe cold and bloom alone in the middle of winter when all the flowers are withered. Emperor Guangxu’s wedding coincided with the midwinter when plum blossoms were in full bloom, and such patterns added a festive atmosphere to the wedding..
Images and visuals are from – Forbidden City –Palace Museum Beijing- China –People’s Republic of China…..
