Category: 北京 中國 中華人民共和國

#北京 #中國 #China #Beijing | #紫禁城 #ForbiddenCity #December2023 | #ForbiddenCityDairies – #明中都#MingZhongdu #滁州 #安徽 #Chuzhou #AnhuiProvince – The first central capital of the #MingDynasty…..  #ChineseIntangibleCulturalHeritage  

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明中都Mingzhongdu  The Ming Zhongdu is located in Fengyang County, Chuzhou City, Anhui Province, China, People’s Republic of China. It was the first capital built by the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang in his hometown of Fengyang. The construction project was presided over by Li Shanchang, the first civil servant of the Ming Dynasty.

The central capital of the Ming Dynasty was first built in the second year of Hongwu (1369) and was stopped in the eighth year of Hongwu (1375). It took a total of six years to build. The Ming Dynasty capital covers an area of ​​more than 50 square kilometers and has three inner, middle and outer cities. Its inner palace city (imperial city) is 120,000 square meters larger than the Forbidden City in Beijing.

The Ming and Zhongdu were designed in strict accordance with the “Book of Rites of the Zhou Dynasty: Kao Gong Ji”, with layout features such as the front dynasty and the back sleeping quarters, the left ancestor and the right commune, and a north-south central axis running through the entire city. When Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict to build the Central Capital in Fengyang, he mobilized skilled craftsmen, soldiers and civilians from all over the country, no less than a million people, to build cities, palaces and palaces like the capital city system, which occupied an important position in the history of the development of ancient Chinese capitals.

Beijing Forbidden City in comparison with the 1062 meters long Odyssey Class – Beijing, China, People’s Republic of China.
明中都Mingzhongdu Forbidden city first Ming Dynasty Forbidden CityFengyang County, Chuzhou City, Anhui Province in comparison with the 1062 meters long Odyssey Class – Beijing, China, People’s Republic of China.

The rise and fall of Zhongdu

The Ming Dynasty was established in 1368. In the same year, the Ming army launched its Northern Expedition and occupied most of the Yuan Dynasty , ending the Yuan Dynasty’s rule across the country. The political situation has undergone tremendous changes. After analyzing the pros and cons of establishing capitals in Guanzhong, Luoyang, Bianliang (Kaifeng), and Peking, Ming Taizu believed that Nanjing was too far away from the Central Plains to control the country; Bianliang also suffered from poor people’s livelihood and was a A place surrounded by enemies. Therefore, in September of the second year of Hongwu, an imperial edict was issued to choose Linhao (today’s Fengyang) to build the central capital, “ordering officials to build cities, palaces and palaces as in the capital.”

The construction project of Zhongdu was presided over by Li Shanchang. In the third year of Hongwu, the ground was started and the construction of the palace city began. By the sixth year of Hongwu, the palace city and forbidden city walls and palaces were basically completed, and the construction of the outer city of Zhongdu also started. On Dingsi in April of the eighth year of Hongwu (1375), Zhu Yuanzhang “went to Zhongdu in person to inspect his merits and reward his hard work.” On the same day, he ordered the construction of Ming Zhongdu to be stopped on the grounds of “labor expenses”. Down, no other buildings in Zhongdu will be built, and unfinished projects will continue. After that, from October of the eighth year of Hongwu, the auxiliary buildings of Zhongdu City were renovated and the imperial tombs were built. In the 26th year of Hongwu, the outer city gates of Zhongdu were built. By the 30th year of Hongwu, the construction of Zhongdu City was completed.

After Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty stopped building Zhongdu, Zhongdu was not used as the capital. However, because it was the imperial hometown, the emperor’s relatives often trained troops in Fengyang and lived in the palace of Fengyang Zhongdu. Later, because Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, Beijing was far away from Fengyang. Princes no longer often lived in Zhongdu as in the Hongwu period. The palaces in the imperial city gradually became deserted, but there were still a large number of residents living in Zhongdu, and there were also many people stationed there. The army and government offices guarded and managed the central capital.

Location map of Zhongdu ruins in Ming Dynasty

“ Anhui Fengyang Mingzhongdu Site was selected as one of the “Top Ten New Archaeological Discoveries in the Country in 2021”

Current status of the Ming and Zhongdu palace city ruins
A schematic restoration of the Tushan Gate city platform in the Ming Dynasty (painted by He Lejun of Nanjing University)

On March 31, 2022, the high-profile “Top Ten New Archaeological Discoveries in the Country in 2021” was announced. The Ming Zhongdu Site stood out from the 20 archaeological excavation projects that were shortlisted for the final evaluation and was successfully selected.

Ming Zhongdu was the capital city built by Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang in his hometown of Fengyang. In the second year of Hongwu (1369), construction was ordered. Six years later, when construction was stopped on the grounds of “labor expenses”, the capital had begun to take shape. The city site consists of three layers of city walls, covering an area of ​​50 square kilometers. City walls, palaces, temples, central government offices, military facilities, together with road networks, water systems, kiln sites, stone quarries and other relics from the time of city construction, together constitute a huge group of Ming Zhongdu ruins. In 1982, its core part, the Ming Dynasty Imperial City, was announced as the second batch of national key cultural relics protection units, and in 2017, it was announced as the third batch of national archaeological site parks.

A schematic restoration of the palace in the former court area of ​​the Ming and Zhongdu capitals (illustrated by Li Wei of the Forbidden City)
The distribution of palaces and ancillary buildings in the former dynasty area of ​​the Ming and Zhongdu
The huge stone foundation unearthed from the front hall of the palace foundation site
Large scale stone structure at the palace foundation site

In 2013, taking the construction of the ruins park as an opportunity, the Anhui Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology formulated the “Archaeological Work Plan for the Ming Zhongdu Site”. In 2014, the archaeological exploration work of the Ming Zhongdu Site was launched, and the excavation officially began in 2015. In 2017, with the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Anhui Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology cooperated with the Palace Museum and other units to conduct excavations in accordance with the excavation principles of “minimum area”, “minimum destruction” and “exhibition first” and in accordance with “layout, regulation, technology and process”. “Four academic goals, combining “field archaeology”, “digital archeology” and “technological archeology”, carried out continuous archaeological work on the Ming Zhongdu site and achieved a series of important gains. Through exploration and excavation, the layout of the city site has become increasingly clear, and the shapes and structures of individual building remains such as Chengtianmen, Donghuamen, and Waijinshuiqiao have been gradually revealed. On this basis, in 2021, we focused on excavation work on the Tushan Gate site and the core palace foundation site in the Qianchao District, with a total excavation area of ​​approximately 2,100 square meters.

1. It is revealed that the Tushan Gate is a single-door arch-type city gate. The bottom of the city platform is about 39.5 meters wide from north to south and about 23 meters deep from east to west. It has a rammed earth inner and outer brick structure. The rammed earth core is made of one layer of bricks and one layer of soil. “Jiawaza” ramming method. On the north side of the city platform, an east-west horse path is set up against the north wall of the city platform. It is also a structure filled with rammed earth on the inside and bricks on the outside. The south side of the city platform and the outer city wall are connected by a brick wall. The city platform, horse paths and brick city walls are all located on a rammed earth platform with foundation trenches dug underground, and there is a clear construction sequence. The foundation trough and platform rammed earth also adopt the ramming method of one layer of bricks and one layer of soil. There are also ground nails at the bottom of the foundation trough of the city platform.

2. After accumulated excavations from 2015 to 2021, the layout of the palace foundation and some ancillary buildings in the former area of ​​Guancheng was clarified by exposing the rammed earth platform foundation and its internal slats, in order to further explore the bay scale and construction sequence of the building. , construction technology, etc. laid the foundation. From the information revealed in the western half, it can be seen that the palace has a “work”-shaped layout of the front and rear halls plus a cross hall. Both the front and back halls have “Ninety-Four” bays, and the front hall leads to Baoxia. The hall is three rooms wide and seven rooms deep. On the west side of the apse are auxiliary buildings that may be corridors, gatehouses and Chonglou. The structure of the main hall, front and back halls plus a passage hall is relatively close to the palace architectural shape in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. The combination of ancillary buildings on the west side of the apse is very similar to the building combination at the same location in the Forbidden City in Beijing.

3. Excavations show that the palace is located on a rammed earth platform with a high front and a low back, similar to the practice of the Imperial Ancestral Temple in Beijing. The outer edge of the southern part of the platform is covered with a stone Xumizuo. A varying number of steps are found on the front and sides. The ground from the apse to the north is level with the top surface of the platform. The platform base is constructed one by one from various types of rammed earth, and a dense and neat platform is built using the “stone-clipping” method of one layer of stones and one layer of earth. There are many types of stone slabs, such as single type, two-piece type and four-piece type, which are constructed at the same time as the surrounding rammed earth. There are still foundation stones close to their original positions beside some of the stone walls. Among them, the giant stone foundation unearthed from the front hall has a side length of nearly 2.8 meters, a foundation surface length of 2.5 to 2.6 meters, and a basin diameter of 1.8 meters. Its volume is the largest at present. The foundation stone of a palace building is the largest I have ever seen. A rectangular loess platform with a length of 5.7 meters and a width of 4.9 meters was found in the middle and rear of the front hall. It was built earlier than the palace site and the palace wall. It is the location of the dragon throne in the palace and is exactly at the geometric center point of the entire palace.

Contents of this issue: The Ming Zhongdu ruins are located in Fengyang County, Anhui Province. More than 600 years ago, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, decided to make Fengyang the capital of the world, named Zhongdu. Historians and architectural historians believe that during the construction, blueprints and model models were drawn for the reconstruction of the Nanjing Palace and the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Contents of this issue: The mystery of Ming Zhongdu has been deciphered beneath the surface of Jingdezhen, five hundred kilometers away. In 1990, the Jingdezhen Ceramic Archeology Institute unearthed an exquisite white porcelain water pipe, 26 centimeters high. Combining literature and stratigraphic analysis and comparison with physical objects, archaeologists in Jingdezhen confirmed that this unusual glazed building component was a sewer pipe produced for the construction of Fengyang Ming Zhongdu.

Contents of this issue: In the six years from 1369 to 1375 AD, a new capital city began to take shape in Fengyang, Zhu Yuanzhang’s hometown. Zhu Yuanzhang completed the national project of Zhongdu with extremely high standards, striving for excellence in every link. Seeing that his wish to “move the capital to Zhongdu” and “fix the tripod” is about to be realized.

Contents of this issue: In 1375 AD, shortly after Zhu Yuanzhang returned to Nanjing, he suddenly stopped the construction of the Central Capital on the grounds of “labor expense”, which shocked both the government and the public. The super project, which had devoted all the efforts of the whole country, came to an abrupt end just when it was “about to be completed.” As for the real reason, historical records are very vague.

The importance of new archaeological discoveries in Zhongdu during the Ming Dynasty:

1. New archaeological discoveries promote in-depth understanding of the Ming Zhongdu ruins

Because historical records are unclear. Archaeological exploration and excavation of key locations have continuously improved our understanding of the overall planning and layout of the capital in the middle Ming Dynasty. The excavation gradually clarified the scale and shape of each individual building, and explored information such as its construction process, order, and materials. It also gained an in-depth understanding of the construction, abandonment, and evolution processes of each group of buildings.

2. The excavation has filled a number of academic gaps.

1. The “3+2” layout of the Chengtianmen site discovered by archaeological excavations in recent years filled in the transitional link for the evolution of the second gate of the capital from three gates to five gates. It is the prototype of Beijing’s iconic “Tiananmen”.

2. For the first time, the architectural layout of the main hall of the former dynasty area during the Ming and Qing Dynasties is completely revealed. It fills the gap in the archeology of the capital palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties when other city sites such as Nanjing and Beijing do not have the conditions for excavation.

3. The discovery of the loess center point in the palace is extremely rare in excavations in the capital. It is located at the geometric center point of the entire palace city and is the location of the emperor’s dragon throne. It has strong symbolic significance and provides precious materials for studying the planning, site selection, and construction sequence of ancient capitals.

4. The huge stone foundation discovered at the palace foundation reflects the grand scale of the building. Its size is the largest stone foundation found in ancient Chinese palace buildings so far.

3. The excavation has supplemented key materials for the transformation of China’s ancient capital system from the Song and Yuan Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Documents record that Zhu Yuanzhang visited Kaifeng in person before the construction of Zhongdu in the Ming Dynasty. When he conquered the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, he also measured the palaces in the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, including the Zhongdu of the Jin Dynasty. In November of the second year of Hongwu, he read the Yuan palace map. Therefore, the planning of the Ming Zhongdu reflected elements of the Song and Yuan capital systems. For example, the palace city is generally located southward in the capital, the T-shaped square is set up, and the outer Jinshui River route is similar to the planning of Dadu in the Yuan Dynasty. The triple city wall ring, the five-gate system on the central axis, and the I-shaped palace are all directly or indirectly inherited from Kaifeng in the Northern Song Dynasty. city ​​planning concept.

Mingzhongdu was the first capital city in the Ming and Qing dynasties that truly embodied the capital system. Its planning was influenced to a certain extent by King Wu’s New Palace, but in turn it had a more profound impact on the subsequent transformation of Nanjing’s palace city and the capital construction of Beijing. The shape of the city gates in the northern and southern capitals, the setting of palaces and courtyards, the symmetrical layout of left ancestors and right shrines, and the internal and external Jinshui River system were all deeply influenced by the Ming and Zhongdu, and were deeply influenced by the planning of Ming Dynasty palaces and mausoleums in various cities.

The excavation of relevant sites along the central axis of the Ming and Zhongdus has revealed that they connect Song Kaifeng, Jin Zhongdu, Yuan Dadu, Ming Nanjing and Ming Beijing, filling key gaps. This connection also reflects the transmission of Chinese cultural genes from generation to generation. and the continuous characteristics of Chinese civilization. At the same time, it also has practical significance for promoting the study of the central axis of Beijing during the Ming and Qing Dynasties and its application for world cultural heritage.

4. The excavation of various buildings in the Ming and Zhongdu has added important reference materials for the study of architectural history.

The excavation of the palace foundation provides a reference for studying the palace layout of the Forbidden City in Beijing in the early Ming Dynasty, and finds the origin of the practice of the Imperial Ancestral Temple in Beijing.

The discovery of the craftsmanship, practices, construction sequence, and building materials of various types of buildings provides key basis for the restoration research on architectural construction in Zhongdu during the Ming Dynasty, and also provides reference materials for the research on other similar buildings.

The excavation of engineering relics such as kiln sites and scientific and technological research on building materials are also of great value in exploring the organization and implementation of engineering construction, and the production and circulation of building materials.

Since 2017, commissioned by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Palace Museum Archeology Institute has cooperated with the Anhui Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology to carry out archaeological work on the Ming Zhongdu ruins, and has participated in the completion of the Waijin Water Bridge, the moat, Xihua Gate, Tushan Gate, the core palace area, etc. Excavation work was carried out and a comprehensive survey was conducted on the Ming Zhongdu City Site and the Ming Emperor’s Mausoleum. At the beginning of 2019, the Mingzhongdu Archaeological Work Station jointly built by both parties was officially put into use.

The archeology of Zhongdu in the Ming Dynasty is one of the focuses of the archeology outside the Forbidden City, and it is also one of the important academic topics that the Forbidden City Archeology is dedicated to the archaeological research of palace-related remains. The archaeological discovery and research of the palace city of the Ming Dynasty is of great significance for deeply revealing the spatial form, structural layout, and regulatory ideas of the Forbidden City in Beijing. In the future, we will fully rely on the platform resource advantages of the Palace Museum, actively give play to the palace archaeological characteristics of the Palace Museum, continue to participate in and undertake various archaeological work on the site of the Ming Zhongdu, and base on the perspective of comparative research on the three capitals of the early Ming Dynasty, based on the archeology of the Ming Zhongdu Guided by the academic goals of the Ming Dynasty, the protection of cultural relics and archaeological work in Zhongdu of the Ming Dynasty will continue to be deepened.

#北京 #中國 #China #Beijing | #紫禁城 #ForbiddenCity #November2023 | #ForbiddenCityDairies -The Palace Museum #ForbiddenCity Collections of Chinese intangible cultural heritage.  –   25th -30th November 2023…..

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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…. 

Qing Dynasty, celebrations, etc., wedding celebrations, imperial edicts, banquet etiquette pictures. After the emperor’s wedding, the emperor held a state banquet in the Hall of Supreme Harmony to thank the queen’s father, brothers, family members, princes, ministers, and foreign envoys. This was the most lively and festive occasion in the entire wedding. This picture is the banquet scene in the eighth volume of Emperor Guangxu’s “Wedding Pictures” “Celebrations, Edicts, and Banquet Etiquette Pictures.” At noon on the fifth day of February in the fifteenth year of Guangxu’s reign (1889), the emperor came to the Hall of Supreme Harmony and rewarded the queen’s father and his family members. The emperor’s banquet table is set in front of the throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony; the banquet tables for his stepfather and princes are set up on the east and west sides of the throne; the banquet tables for first- and second-rank civil and military ministers, Mongolian princes and other officials are set up in the Hall of Taihe; There are banquet tables for the nobles and guards of the second rank and above; on the left and right of His Majesty Dan, there are banquet tables for the civil and military officials below the third rank and the family members of his father-in-law, and they are set in corresponding positions according to rank; the banquet table for foreign envoys is set at the end of the western part of Dan…

The beauty of this head flower and nail polish is worth visiting and savoring. The cultural relics in the picture are on display at the 公王馆馆 西伊华堂Prince Gong’s Mansion Museum  exhibition. Today is the last day of the exhibition. Those who want to visit can still catch up if they leave immediately!

Qing Dynasty, celebrations, etc., wedding celebrations, imperial edicts, banquet etiquette pictures (partial). This picture is taken from the “Picture of Banquet Etiquette” and depicts the family banquet tables set up by His Majesty Dan for civil and military officials below the third rank and his father-in-law, as well as the banquet table for foreign envoys set up in the west of Dan Bi.

The method of ordering tea into pictures appeared in the late Tang and Five Dynasties, and became popular in the Liao, Song, Jin and Yuan dynasties. “Pointing” refers to the action of pouring boiling water into the tea cup from a soup bottle; and the activity of tasting the quality of tea and evaluating the skill of tea by ordering tea is called “tea fighting”; from this, a term is derived This kind of tea art is to transform the surface of tea soup into poems and paintings, which is called tea play.

The combination of skills and art in tea ceremony is the embodiment of Song people’s life aesthetics.

On the 28th November the Full Moon  risen above Forbidden City Palace full moon blockbuster Yinhan turns the jade plate silently. Under the clear light, who do you want to spend this time with?  fall in love with the forbidden city…..

Qing Dynasty, celebrations, etc., wedding celebrations, imperial edicts, banquet etiquette pictures (partial). Qinglong Dance is a music and dance performance held after the emperor’s wedding banquet. The Qinglong dance used for grand banquets held in the Qing palace was divided into the Yanglie dance, which showed the emperor’s martial arts, and the Xiqi dance, which showed the emperor’s achievements in civil and political affairs. This picture shows the moment of the dance after the banquet. Eight people acted as Eight Banners warriors, wearing Eight Banners armor, carrying bows and arrows, riding imitation wooden horses, and attacking the man who was pretending to be a beast wearing a mask and a black sheepskin coat. Bow and shoot arrows. The purpose of this kind of music and dance is to educate the descendants of the Manchu people not to forget the hardships of their ancestors in starting a business. After the various music and dance performances were completed, the emperor returned from the Hall of Supreme Harmony to the Palace of Qianqing. At this point, the music stopped and the emperor’s wedding ceremony ended.

On November 28, the ” 大圣音 – Guqin Culture Exhibition (Second Phase)” of the Zhongcuigong Guqin Hall of the Palace Museum was reopened to the public with a brand-new look! This exhibition displays a total of 55 cultural relics collected by the Palace Museum, including 9 guqins. The ancient qin collection in these courtyards has a complete chronological sequence, including the Feiquan Qin made by Lei family in the late Tang Dynasty and the Haiyue Qinghui Qin made in the Southern Song Dynasty. In addition, the exhibition also displays a number of cultural relics related to the guqin to highlight the function and cultural value of the guqin. It is not only used in state ceremonies and elegant music, but also a support for scholars to cultivate their moral character and express their aspirations. This exhibition is a permanent exhibition, and visitors can make an appointment to visit it in the “Palace Museum” WeChat applet…

Qing, Anonymous, Tongzhi wedding color shed scroll. After the emperor got married, there were many etiquettes such as the temple ceremony, the court ceremony, the celebration ceremony, the imperial edict ceremony, and the banquet ceremony. The temple ceremony means that the queen goes as a bride to worship the emperor’s ancestors and gods. When the emperor of the Qing Dynasty got married, the temple ceremony was held in the Jingshan Shouhuang Hall where the portraits of his ancestors were hung. On that day, the emperor and his queen went out of the Shenwu Gate to the Shouhuang Hall in Jingshan, burned incense in front of the holy faces of their ancestors, and performed three bows and nine kowtows to seek acceptance from the gods of the emperor’s ancestors. This scroll is a Qing Dynasty painting of the temporary colorful shed built outside the red wall of the Shouhuang Palace during the wedding of Emperor Tongzhi…

Brewing tea for a refreshing drink and brewing tea for viewing leaves

. From the Yuan Dynasty to the mid-Ming Dynasty, the method of brewing tea was popular. The loose tea is put into a vessel such as a tripod or cauldron for cooking, and the water stops boiling. No seasoning is required, and tedious steps such as grinding the tea and sifting are eliminated. It is very popular among literati. The method of brewing loose tea directly has been popular since the mid-Ming Dynasty. Thousands of years of tea affairs have been reduced to simplicity. Tea is in the water, stretching and lurking, and the light is swaying. The shape of the leaves, the color of the soup, and the taste of the tea are all integrated into one, and their beauty comes from nature.

Tea has been drunk for thousands of years, and there are five main ways to prepare tea – eating tea, making tea, ordering tea, boiling tea and brewing tea. Due to different methods, the tea leaves used, the combination of utensils, and the complexity and simplicity of the steps have their own characteristics; but what is consistent is the pursuit of the color, shape, and taste of the tea, and the emphasis on the beauty of the tea utensils…

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Shouhuang Palace held a wedding ceremony in the shed. The wedding tent was temporarily built in the Shouhuang Hall. When the emperor and queen saluted in front of the ancestors’ holy faces, they had to change the dragon robes they wore when leaving the palace into sacrificial robes. This is the place for changing clothes. In order to build the wedding tent, the palace specially made hot samples, that is, three-dimensional models. The sample shown in this picture is still well preserved. It can be seen from the roof pattern that the diamond-shaped opening is decorated with dragon, phoenix and “囍” patterns.

December wallpapers are now online. View bat-patterned flowers on the table, and enjoy the winter atmosphere in the cold pond. Go to the official website to download high-definition wallpapers in various formats and sizes, suitable for various terminals→

Images and visuals are from – Forbidden City –Palace Museum Beijing- China –People’s Republic of China…..

#北京 #中國 #China #Beijing | #紫禁城 #ForbiddenCity #November2023 | #ForbiddenCityDairies -The Palace Museum #ForbiddenCity Collections of Chinese intangible cultural heritage.    17th- 25th November 2023…..

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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…. 

Forbidden City Ginkgo is about to turn yellow, looking forward to a #Forbidden City dyed with golden color ! Fall in love with the Forbidden City

During the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, there was a special chime made of jasper depicting golden clouds and dragon patterns. After Emperor Qianlong cast the bell, in order to complete the ritual and music system, he also added a set of twelve special chimes in the same year, one for each, and they were used in the same way as the bell. The special chime is made of a whole piece of Xinjiang Hotan jasper and is crafted by Suzhou jade craftsmen. The body of the chime is obtuse-angled rectangular, with both sides decorated with golden clouds and dragon patterns. The gold and green contrast with each other, and the decoration is gorgeous. On the left and right sides of the upper part of the stand are phoenix heads. The page board is decorated with phoenixes pierced by peony patterns, and the lower part supports a reclining duck.

There are twelve special chimes in a set, corresponding to the twelve rhythms made in the Qing Dynasty. The pitch is adjusted by the size of the chime body. The larger the chime, the lower the pronunciation. Each chime is hung separately, so it is called special chime. When used, different special chimes are chosen according to the rules for each month, such as “Taicu” corresponding to the first month, and so on. The use of special chimes reflects the political concept of Emperor Qianlong advocating Confucian ritual and music education.

Daju, who was covered in autumn fat, couldn’t resist the howling autumn wind and started playing “hide and seek” under the stone fence. This weekend, have you decided where to go to “cat”?

Yellow satin embroidered cloud and dragon pattern (replica). Hui was the commanding tool of Heshao music in court performances in the Qing Dynasty. When the music was under his command, the music was composed, and when it was under his command, the music stopped. The main body of the robe is made of bright yellow cloud satin, embroidered with colorful rising dragons, clouds and fire beads. The upper part is made of blue satin, embroidered with nebulae. In the middle is the sun wheel, with the word “中和” embroidered on it. The lower end is embroidered with seawater and river cliffs. The upper and lower parts of the muzzle are pierced with gold-painted crossbars, with double dragons carved on the upper part and landscapes carved on the lower part. The harem is hung on a red pole, the end of the pole is decorated with a copper-plated dragon head, and the lower part is inserted into a gold-lacquered wooden base. The chariot shown in the picture is a replica, and the red pole and stand are left over from the Qing palace.

The drum is built with gold lacquer and colorful paintings of clouds and dragons. Jiangu originated very early and was relatively mature in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty at the latest. It is a “leather” musical instrument in the ancient eight-tone classification. The drum used in Zhonghe Shao music in the Qing Dynasty has a long and round drum body, a large drum body, and the whole body is painted with gold paint. Both sides are decorated with two gold-plated copper dragons holding copper rings.

Both ends are covered with leather and painted with cloud and dragon patterns. There is a vertical pillar running through the middle of the drum body, with a hood on it, curved beams hanging down on all sides, and a golden dragon carved on the top. The cover is also covered with yellow satin embroidered with clouds and dragon patterns. There is a golden Luan bird on the top of the cover. The drum is supported by a cross-shaped bracket and is engraved with cloud patterns. There are four pedestals under the pillar, and lions are carved on the four legs. The four-cornered dragon’s mouth, golden luan, and copper ring all hang with colorful silk tassels. When playing, beat the drum as the starting and ending rhythm of the phrase. At the end of each sentence, beat the drum and all the music will stop; hit the drum again and all the music will resume.

introduced the ancients’ love for roasted pears . In addition to fire roasting, there are frozen pears in cold northern areas, which are frozen pears. “Jilin Tongzhi” Volume 33 “Shi Huo Zhi 6” records, “It is as hard as a stone. Soak it with water. The cold air will melt inside and ice chips will form on the outside. Shake it with your hands and it will crack like a shell. Remove the shell. And when you make it complex and suck it, it is extremely sweet.” For the royal family of the Qing Dynasty, which originated between the white mountains and black waters, frozen pears were an unforgettable taste of hometown, and they were often listed as tributes in the Qing palace archives.

Qing Dynasty, wooden color painting Xiaozhu (zhù). It is made of wood, shaped like a square bucket, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. The inner wall is painted black, the outer wall is painted with patterns, and the frame and Xumi base are painted in gold. There is a round hole in the middle of one side of the pail, and a corresponding drum-shaped bulge of the same size in the middle of the inner wall, which is the part where the sound is produced when struck. The striking tool of the 柷 is called “Zhi”, which is an octagonal mallet with a long handle. The 混 is one of the musical instruments played in the palace during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. When the “band conductor” is raised, the performer taps the inner wall of the instrument three times with a mallet, and the music begins

This green gauze gown with clouds, bats, and golden dragon patterns was introduced in Let’s Read the Calendar Together on November 10th. The audience in the comment area was very interested in the details of the clothing. Let’s follow the high-definition picture. , appreciate the beauty of the details of this court gown!

This gown was worn by the concubines of the Qing Dynasty when celebrating grand ceremonies. It is slightly shorter than the court robe and is worn over the court robe. The gown has a round collar, double lapel, sleeves, and left and right trains. The whole body is decorated with colorful silk and gold embroidery patterns, with two flat gold embroidered dragons on the chest and back. The embroidered seawater cliff is densely covered with colorful clouds and the word “囍” pattern, which is suitable for the wedding..

Qing Dynasty, wooden color painting (yǔ). It is made of wood and looks like a crouching tiger. The surface is decorated with tiger stripes and the bottom is decorated with a golden lacquered footrest. There is a groove in the middle of the tiger’s back, and twenty-seven rectangular pieces of painted wood are planted in a group. Two ears protrude from one side of the seat, which are used to place Ao’s shooting tool (zhēn). It is made from a bamboo tube, which is split and separated into twenty-four thin bamboo strips. When playing, the performer uses the laini to scrape the discord and make sounds. The 攔 is one of the musical instruments played in Zhonghe Shao music in the Ming and Qing dynasties. When the music is about to end, the sound of “waiting” is used as the ending sound, and then the bow is put down and the performance is finished

The air is cold and it is snowing, but the autumn scenery is still there. A cloud of “light snow” has already fallen on the red wall. Will the First Snow in the Forbidden City be far behind this winter? Today 小雪 爱Forbidden city…..

Gold lacquer painted cloud and dragon pattern bo (bó) suo (fǔ). The drum is as small as a drum, with a leather-covered drum surface and painted double dragons. The whole body is painted with gold paint, and there are two gold-plated copper dragons on it, each holding a copper ring to tie the bright yellow velvet. The drum is usually placed on a wooden golden lacquered footrest. During the performance, the player hangs the drum around his neck with a velvet (xún) and beats the drum head with both hands. The Bohuo was also a special instrument used in the Qing Dynasty’s court performances and Shao music. It was used in conjunction with the Jiangu. The Jiangu struck once and the Bohuo played twice to match the festival.

Qing Dynasty, black paint painted clouds and dragon patterns. The harp is a traditional Chinese plucked string instrument, shaped like a harp, also made of paulownia wood, with twenty-five strings. Each string is equipped with a movable post to adjust the pitch. The longer the vibrating section of the string, the lower the pronunciation. The harp is often compared with the harp, collectively known as “harp”. In comparison, the zither is larger in size and louder in volume; with more strings, the timbre changes more. The musical instruments used in the Qing court and Shao music also included the harp and the harp. The zi shown in the picture, whether it is the decoration or the wooden and gold-lacquered bracket, maintains the same style as Jiangu, Bohu,

Gourd is homophonic to “Fu Lu” and is a symbol of wealth, longevity, good luck and peace. The body of this pair of golden Daji gourd hanging screens has a silk pattern of ancient money as the base. The circular consecrated center is inlaid with the regular script “Daji” in regular script with lapis lazuli, and is surrounded by jade, turquoise, tourmaline and other gems. They are currently on display in the exhibition 西伊华堂 at the Prince Gong’s Mansion Museum . The exhibition will be on display until November 25th, so go and have a look!

Qing Dynasty, celebrations, etc., wedding celebrations, imperial edicts, banquet etiquette pictures. After the emperor’s wedding celebrations, he would issue an imperial edict to inform the world of the happy event. This picture is from the album “Pictures of Ceremonies for Celebrations, Edicts and Banquets”. The officials of the Ministry of Rites took out the edict from the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The staff of the Ministry of Rites placed the cloud disk containing the edict in the Dragon Pavilion. They were escorted by Lieutenant Luan Yiwei and led by the honor guard band. They carried it to the yellow table on the Tiananmen Gate Tower and announced the edict. The official read out the contents of the edict in both Manchu and Chinese languages. After that, the edict officer placed the edict in a cloud disk, tied the cloud disk with a colorful rope, and hung it in the mouth of the golden phoenix in the middle of the Tiananmen Gate Tower. The colorful rope was relaxed to make the cloud disk slowly fall down, which means that the edict fell from the sky. , is the will of God. The edict was then placed in the Dragon Pavilion, carried to the Ministry of Rites, engraved and printed, and issued to the world. This is a picture of the issuance of an imperial edict, showing officials from the Ministry of Rites kneeling to receive the edict.

Finally waited for the golden color of ginkgo! In the cold wind of early winter, recycle a curtain of bright autumn colours that are “returning for a limited time…

Qing Dynasty, celebrations, etc., wedding celebrations, imperial edicts, banquet etiquette pictures. After the emperor’s wedding, the emperor held a state banquet in the Hall of Supreme Harmony to thank the queen’s father, brothers, family members, princes, ministers, and foreign envoys. This was the most lively and festive occasion in the entire wedding. This picture is the banquet scene in the eighth volume of Emperor Guangxu’s “Wedding Pictures” “Celebrations, Edicts, and Banquet Etiquette Pictures.” At noon on the fifth day of February in the fifteenth year of Guangxu’s reign (1889), the emperor came to the Hall of Supreme Harmony and rewarded the queen’s father and his family members. The emperor’s banquet table is set in front of the throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony; the banquet tables for his stepfather and princes are set up on the east and west sides of the throne; the banquet tables for first- and second-rank civil and military ministers, Mongolian princes and other officials are set up in the Hall of Taihe; There are banquet tables for the nobles and guards of the second rank and above; on the left and right of His Majesty Dan, there are banquet tables for the civil and military officials below the third rank and the family members of his father-in-law….

Images and visuals are from – Forbidden City –Palace Museum Beijing- China –People’s Republic of China…..

#北京 #中國 #China #Beijing | #紫禁城 #ForbiddenCity #November2023 | #ForbiddenCityDairies -The Palace Museum #ForbiddenCity Collections of Chinese intangible cultural heritage.  –   3rd -17th November 2023…..

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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…. 

Qing Dynasty, the emperor’s winter crown. The imperial crown is the crown and hat worn when wearing imperial robes. In the imperial attire system of the Qing Dynasty, imperial garb and imperial robes were the garments worn during major ceremonies, and were the highest-grade among the garments of the Qing Dynasty. The “Great Qing Hui Dian” of the Kangxi Dynasty records: “The emperor’s crown and attire were decided in the first year of Chongde, and the crown was inlaid with Dongzhu stones… It was decided in the 22nd year of Kangxi that in all grand ceremonies and altars and temples, the crown was inlaid with large Dongzhu stones. For the crown, the dress should be yellow, autumn fragrant, or blue… The queen’s crown dress: for any celebration ceremony, the crown should be set with east beads on the top, and the dress should be yellow, autumn fragrant, or blue.” By the time of the Qianlong Dynasty, the “Dynasty Ritual Utensils Illustration” described the costumes Made a more detailed classification. The ceremonial dress worn by the emperor during major celebrations consists of a court crown, court clothes, end cap, court beads, court belt, etc. When the emperor comes to the Taihe Hall to receive congratulations from princes and officials when he wears court robes for his wedding, he must also wear a court crown. This crown is the emperor’s winter crown.

Qing Dynasty, bright yellow kesi silk clouds and gold dragon pattern, leather edge men’s court robe. The court robe was the most important form of dress in the Qing Dynasty. It was the attire worn by emperors and empresses during court ceremonies. In addition to court crowns, formal attire also includes court robes, hoods, gowns, court beads, etc. The emperor must wear court robes when he holds a wedding ceremony to celebrate the Empress Dowager, and when he comes to the Taihe Palace to receive celebration gifts from princes, officials, and concubines. The court robe is in the style of a top and lower skirt, with a collar, arrow sleeves and a large placket on the right side. A sarong can also be worn over the court robe. This robe has a tapestry pattern of colorful clouds and golden dragons on a bright yellow ground and is trimmed with leather. It was probably worn by Emperor Guangxu when he held major ceremonies in winter.

“The sunset gradually sets in the west, and the sunset glow turns the sky red, as well as the locust forest and bamboo forest. There are fewer and fewer birds in the sky, but the gray starlings in the whole forest still don’t want to sleep prematurely. Look, these few days Just as they landed on the branches, those few flew up again… Inside and outside the woods, hundreds of birds were singing, calling for friends and chirping, like a waterfall falling into a deep stream, or like a stormy wave crashing on the beach. , the entire black locust forest and bamboo forest became a natural club.” The author of the essay “Gray Starling” is China’s first crane taming girl, Xu Xiujuan. She died in 1987 while rescuing an injured white swan from drowning. She was later Posthumously considered a martyr.

Today, we will get to know the gray starlings written by Xu Xiujuan. Gray starlings have a strong sense of community. In addition to moving in pairs during the breeding season, they often move in groups during the non-breeding period. In the Forbidden City, pay more attention to the grass or tall trees, you may be able to see them….

Qing Dynasty, Queen Xia Chaoguan inlaid with jewels and green velvet. The imperial crown is the most important among all kinds of crowns and hats. The various ornaments on the crown are symbols of the status and rank of the wearer. The more pearls inlaid on the top of the crown, the higher the status of the owner. The queen wears a crown of sable in winter and green velvet in summer. This queen’s crown is made of green velvet. There are three layers of phoenixes on the top of the crown. Seven birch-bark phoenixes and one Zhai are hung on silk threads on the top of the crown. The hanging beads are in the “five elements and two” style. It is one of the highest-ranking symbols in the crown of a concubine. First, it is the Xia Dynasty crown worn by empresses and empress dowagers of the Qing Dynasty when they wore formal clothes…

“Puzzle Figure” is a traditional toy in the Qing palace. It was designed by Tong Yegeng in the first year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1862) based on the “Tangram”. It is composed of 15 different wooden boards, which are arranged and combined according to the principle of Bagua. The graphics that can be assembled are more abundant than the “tangram”. On the base of this “wooden puzzle picture”, an unknown prince or princess also drew a pony, which is very childlike and very cute. The cultural relics in the picture are on display in the exhibition

Qing Dynasty, coral carvings with 囍 characters and patterns on the beads. Chaozhu is a kind of pendant in the Qing Dynasty, hung around the neck and hanging on the chest. When the concubines of the Qing Dynasty wear court clothes, they must wear three strings of court beads, one hanging in the middle and two hanging crosswise. Depending on the rank, the beads worn are also different, so it is also a symbol of identity and status. The Queen’s Chaozhu belongs to the highest level. The queen wears a court robe and must wear a string of East beads on the front of her chest and two strings of coral beads on her armpits. This piece of court beads is made of red coral beads engraved with the character “囍”. The Buddha’s head and the pagoda are made of lapis lazuli. Yellow sash, used for the queen’s wedding

If you want to learn a foreign language, where should you start? This “Mongolian” study book by Emperor Qianlong can be used for our reference. In 1743, when Emperor Qianlong was on an eastward tour, he began to systematically learn Mongolian in order to communicate with the Mongolian princes and nobles he met along the way. In this book “Mongolian”, the translated Mongolian words are transcribed from Manchu letters to facilitate understanding and learning; in terms of content, it is mainly suitable for scenes such as meeting lamas in the Mongolian and Tibetan areas. It is highly targeted and focuses on phrases and sentences. , mostly contain spoken language components. “How’s the journey? When did you arrive?” “Is there snow on the road?” “How is the year?” It seems that regardless of ancient and modern times, to master a foreign language, most of them start with “300 Practical Conversational Sentences”!

Autumn leaves are still red, rustling and cold wind blows. Today is the beginning of winter , under the clear sky and setting sun, it is the early winter of  Falling in Love with the Forbidden City .

Qing Dynasty, silver and gold-plated beaded stone collar. The collar, also known as a collar, was an accessory worn on the necks of concubines in the Qing Dynasty to distinguish their status. It was very valuable in the royal dowry of the Qing Dynasty. “The Qing Hui Dian Diagram·Crown Clothes·Contract” stipulates: “The Queen’s contract is engraved with gold and decorated with eleven east beads, with coral in between. There are two yellow sash hanging at both ends, with coral in each middle, and turquoise at the end. Two of each.” The higher the user’s status, the more Eastern beads will be inlaid. The same is used for concubines, concubines and concubines. This necklace is made of gold-plated silver, carved with hollow curly grass patterns, inlaid with two sections of rubies, two sections of ink jade, inlaid with red stones and pearls at intervals, tied with a golden ribbon, and four red and green stones at the corners.

During the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, women’s court robes were made of bright yellow silk embroidered with colorful clouds, bats and 囍 characters and gold dragon patterns. The queen’s dress consists of court crown, court robe, court gown, court beads, gold covenant and collar covenant, etc. It is made like the emperor’s dress. When the emperor receives congratulations from the court on his wedding day, the queen must also wear court robes, crowns, collars, court beads, colorful silk ribbons, etc. This queen’s court robe has a large placket with right flap, round collar, horse hoof sleeves, attached collar, and straight body style. The court robe is bright yellow, with silk embroidered with the word “囍”, colorful clouds and golden dragon patterns. It should be worn by the empress at the wedding of Emperor Tongzhi.

During the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, he wears a green gown with clouds, bats and emblems, and a golden dragon pattern. This gown was worn by the concubines of the Qing Dynasty when celebrating grand ceremonies. It is slightly shorter than the court robe and is worn over the court robe. The gown has a round collar, double lapel, sleeves, and left and right trains. The whole body is decorated with colorful silk and gold embroidery patterns, with two flat gold embroidered dragons on the chest and back. The embroidered seawater cliff is densely covered with colorful clouds and the word “囍” pattern, which is suitable for the wedding.

Qing Dynasty, gold hoop inlaid with rubies and red satin color. Caixi is a kind of scarf used by the imperial concubines in the Qing Dynasty. It is mostly made of silk and satin and is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. When in use, it is hung on the second button of the court gown and hangs down on the chest. This colorful silk ribbon is made of red silk with embroidered patterns on the front such as bats, Ganoderma lucidum, peach fruits, the Eight Immortals, and seawater cliffs. The upper end is a green and white jade ring, with eight groups of sixteen pendants, and various gemstones at the bottom. A red coral flat bead with a dragon pattern is dropped from the top of the yellow ribbon, and a tourmaline drop is placed on each corner of the gold lace support. The colors and embroidered decorations of different colored silk ribbons can be used to distinguish the rank of concubines.

What did the ancient “coach” look like…  In, we reviewed the scene of the autumn sentry deer in the Qing Dynasty palace. In addition to setting up ambushes for hunting, horseback shooting is also a national skill developed by the Manchus in their long-term hunting life. It was designated as a “national policy” in the Qing Dynasty and an important assessment subject for members of the Eight Banners. The Xi Yi Huating exhibition at Prince Gong’s Mansion Museum displays several Qing court riding and archery equipment, including bows and arrows, quivers and saddles. The photo materials in the exhibition hall also show an important prop for learning equestrian-a wooden saddle, which can be called an ancient version of a “coach” and provides a window for us to understand the riding and shooting culture of the Qing Dynasty..

In the 1920s, Wanrong dressed up in old photos for her wedding. Guo Bulo Wanrong (1906-1946), courtesy name Muhong and nickname Zhilian, was a native of Zhengbai Banner in Manchuria and the wife of Emperor Puyi of the Qing Dynasty. Wanrong and Puyi got married in 1922, and the wedding was held in the Forbidden City, imitating the emperor’s wedding ceremony. During the wedding, Wanrong wore court clothes, a court crown on her head, a collar and court beads around her neck. She was dressed according to the Qing Dynasty queen’s dress. This is an old photo from that time….

Emperor Kangxi was very interested in natural science subjects such as mathematics, astronomy, geography, pharmacology, anatomy, etc. Among them, the best results were in mathematics and astronomical calendar. Mathematics subjects such as geometry, algebra, trigonometry, and logarithms laid a good mathematical foundation for his future decisions such as advocating science and regulating the Yellow River. He also personally taught the princes how to use telescopes and observed solar eclipses together. The XiYiHuating exhibition at Prince Gong’s Mansion Museum displays Qing Dynasty drawing tools, logarithmic tables, telescopes and other cultural relics..

Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, gilded copper chimes with cloud and dragon patterns; Qingkuan et al. of the Qing Dynasty, pictures of wedding celebrations, edicts and banquets (details). The emperor’s wedding is one of the most important ceremonies in the palace. During major ceremonies, there is a Zhonghe Shao music band under the east and west eaves of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Zhonghe Shao music belongs to ancient court music and has the highest standard among the music systems of the Qing Dynasty. Zhonghe Shao music was used in the wedding ceremonies of emperors in the Qing Dynasty, which was a symbol of the supreme status of the emperor and empress. During the emperor’s wedding ceremony, Zhonghe Shao music was played when the emperor ascended and descended.

Chime bells are an important instrument in Zhonghe Shao music. They are the “gold” musical instruments in the “eight tones”. There are a set of sixteen pieces, including twelve regular temperaments and four double temperaments (bass). The bell is gold-plated, with double dragon buttons, chiseled with cloud and dragon patterns, and is oval and hollow, with respective names cast on the back. When Zhonghe Shao music is played, the bells and chimes ring in harmony, and the golden sound vibrates.

During the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, jasper chimes were made with golden clouds and dragon patterns. Chimes and bells are both important instruments in Zhonghe Shao music. The musical instruments used in Zhonghe Shao music are made of eight materials: gold, stone, silk, bamboo, gourd, soil, leather and wood. They are called eight tones, with a total of sixteen types. When the grand ceremony is held, Zhonghe Shao music is set up under the eaves of Taihe Hall. The “stone” in the “eight tones” of the chime is a musical instrument, with a set of sixteen pieces, and the name of the chime is the same as that of the chime. The thickness of the chime body adjusts the sound. This chime is made of Hetian jasper in Xinjiang and decorated with golden cloud and dragon patterns on both sides. It was made in the 29th year of Qianlong’s reign (1764)…

The beautiful elf yellow-rumped warbler, commonly known as “Tree Chuan’er”, is a small bird in the Forbidden City and difficult to identify. This little bird is not only beautiful to look at, but also has a nice chirping sound, which is loud, melodious and changeable. Commonly found in the middle and upper crowns of trees and some shrubs, it flies and jumps short distances between tree branches. In warm and sunny weather, it is relatively active in singing and foraging. The yellow-rumped warbler is a migratory bird in urban Beijing, mainly during its migration in spring and autumn. The chance of encountering it is relatively high from April to May and October to November every year…

The Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, the gold-plated copper bell at the entrance of Yongniu Bridge was Zhonglu. Bells and special chimes are important ritual instruments used exclusively in the Qing palace and Shao music. In the twenty-sixth year of Qianlong’s reign (1761), Emperor Qianlong imitated the shape of ancient bells and made a set of twelve bells with gold-plated copper. Each bell was hung separately. The pitch was adjusted by the size of the bell body, and the sound of the bell became louder. The lower. Before the band plays, the bells are struck once, and at the end of the music, the chimes are struck once to create a golden sound.

During the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, a special chime made of jasper depicting golden clouds and dragon patterns was produced. After Emperor Qianlong cast the bell, in order to complete the ritual and music system, he also added a set of twelve special chimes in the same year, one for each, and they were used in the same way as the bell. The special chime is made of a whole piece of Xinjiang Hotan jasper and is crafted by Suzhou jade craftsmen. The body of the chime is obtuse-angled rectangular, with both sides decorated with golden clouds and dragon patterns. The gold and green contrast with each other, and the decoration is gorgeous. On the left and right sides of the upper part of the stand are phoenix heads. The page board is decorated with phoenixes pierced by peony patterns, and the lower part supports a reclining duck.
There are twelve special chimes in a set, corresponding to the twelve rhythms made in the Qing Dynasty. The pitch is adjusted by the size of the chime body. The larger the chime, the lower the pronunciation. Each chime is hung separately, so it is called special chime. When used, different special chimes are chosen according to the rules for each month, such as “Taicu” corresponding to the first month, and so on. The use of special chimes reflects the political concept of Emperor Qianlong advocating Confucian ritual and music education…

Daju, who was covered in autumn fat, couldn’t resist the howling autumn wind and started playing “hide and seek” under the stone fence. This weekend, have you decided where to go to “cat”?

Yellow satin embroidered cloud and dragon pattern (replica). Hui was the commanding tool of Heshao music in court performances in the Qing Dynasty. When the music was under his command, the music was composed, and when it was under his command, the music stopped. The main body of the robe is made of bright yellow cloud satin, embroidered with colorful rising dragons, clouds and fire beads. The upper part is made of blue satin, embroidered with nebulae. In the middle is the sun wheel, with the word “中和” embroidered on it. The lower end is embroidered with seawater and river cliffs. The upper and lower parts of the muzzle are pierced with gold-painted crossbars, with double dragons carved on the upper part and landscapes carved on the lower part. The harem is hung on a red pole, the end of the pole is decorated with a copper-plated dragon head, and the lower part is inserted into a gold-lacquered wooden base. The chariot shown in the picture is a replica, and the red pole and stand are left over from the Qing palace

“Roasted pears” is a popular snack on the streets in autumn and winter today. The middle of the pear is hollowed out, filled with red dates, rock sugar and other ingredients, and then slowly roasted in the oven. The roasted pears are soft in the mouth, sweet and mellow. Chinese people have a long history of eating pears, and they eat them in different ways. Fresh food is the most common, and steaming and boiling are also common practices. There is a poem that goes, “The old man in the Tian family has nothing to do, and the pear steamed in the steamer during the day has a dull fragrance.” In ancient times, The method of roasting pears is similar to today’s roasted pears. The story of “burning pears to give secretion” in the Tang Dynasty is well known. In addition, there is also a poem in the poem, “I still remember the wind and snow in the official Chengcheng, and the fire burned pears together at night.” Burning pears is the joy of gathering around the fire at night.

There are many ways to eat pears, which one do you prefer?

Images and visuals are from – Forbidden City –Palace Museum Beijing- China –People’s Republic of China…..

#北京 #中國 #China #Beijing | #紫禁城 #ForbiddenCity #November2023 | #ForbiddenCityDairies -The Palace Museum #ForbiddenCity Collections of Chinese intangible cultural heritage.  Collection 26th October – 3rd November 2023…..

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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…. 

Qing Dynasty, filigree enamel candlestick with the word “囍”. Before the advent of electric lights, people used oil lamps or candles for lighting. There were many candles and candlesticks in the Qing palace. Candlesticks are mostly made of metal, which is stable and difficult to ignite. Menorah styles vary depending on where they are used. This cloisonné enamel candlestick has a sky blue glaze base and is decorated with lotus patterns. Yuanbao symbolizes wealth and can prevent wax oil from spilling. The word “囍” indicates that this candlestick is specially made for weddings.

Wang Xizhi’s “Lanting Preface” of the Eastern Jin Dynasty is known as “the best running script in the world”. The “Lanting Preface” that has been handed down from generation to generation is divided into two types: later generations’ copy, copy and stone rubbing. During the Song Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, engraving and calligraphy flourished. “Preface to Orchid Pavilion” was carved in stone and passed down, which became a fashion. Collecting rubbings of “Lanting Preface” has gradually become a hobby among literati, ranging from a few to more than ten, or even hundreds or even hundreds.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, Lizong, the Prime Minister of Yousi, collected hundreds of rubbings of Wang Xizhi’s “Lanting Preface”, which were later called “Youxiang Lanting”. According to the heavenly stems, there are ten types of each stem from A and B to Ren and Gui. In the third section of the exhibition 松图charm , “You Xiang Orchid Pavilion”, the Palace Museum and the Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong jointly displayed fourteen of them for the audience to compare and appreciate….

Encounter ancient characters in the Forbidden City “Grandfather”, “Grandmother”, “Ancestor”, “ancestor”… Where does the word “ancestor” come from? What does the Yin-Shang period mean? Are grandparents represented by the word “ancestor”?

Qing, the wooden tablet of the God of Joy. The wedding of an emperor and an empress, with dragons and phoenixes appearing auspicious, is the greatest joyous event in the world. The emperor and the empress wanted to seek good fortune, avoid misfortune, and bring joy with them, so they naturally wanted to worship the God of Joy. The emperor and queen only became official husband and wife after performing the wedding ceremony. The next day, they also had to worship the gods of heaven and earth, the god of joy, etc. This picture is the tablet used to worship the God of Joy. The tablet is made of wood and has the words “the tablet of the God of Joy” on it. It is placed on the table of the God of Joy when worshiping. The time, direction, and location of worshiping the God of Joy are determined by the calculations of Qin Tianjian…..

Purple Forbidden City Xunfang In the ninth month of the lunar calendar, chrysanthemums are the official flower of the month. Whether it is cold and chilly or rich and gorgeous, the various features of autumn can be expressed through the posture of chrysanthemums.

As one of the Four Gentlemen of Flowers, the chrysanthemum has a deep connection with literati. From Qu Yuan, who “ate autumn chrysanthemums in the evening” to Tao Yuanming, who “picked chrysanthemums by the east fence”, there are many sages in Chinese history who were fascinated by their unique temperament. “A thousand years of white clothes and wine, a lifetime of youthful fragrance” is a vivid portrayal of the image of chrysanthemum.

Qing Dynasty, red paint with 囍 character pattern and incense bucket. After the wedding, emperors and empresses would worship the God of Joy and ask the God of Joy to bring happiness to their bodies. The specific method is to place the tablet of the God of Joy and the incense stick with the word “囍” in it, the green apple, and the incense stick with the word “囍” in red paint on the table to worship the God of Joy together. The four sides of this incense bowl are painted with the Chinese character “囍” in gold, which is specially used to worship the God of Joy. The incense bucket was originally stored in Kunning Palace, indicating that the ceremony to worship the God of Joy was held in Kunning Palace.

Late autumn has arrived and the weather is getting colder. Children should wear cute hats and warm cotton clothes. The several costumes in the picture were all used by princes and princesses in the palace in the old days. Tiger-head shoes and tiger-head hats are traditional Chinese children’s clothing. They are often worn at the same time and have auspicious meanings to ward off evil and ensure safety. Regardless of the court or the people, people like to wear tiger-head shoes and hats for their children to wish them healthy growth. The cultural relics in the picture are on display in the exhibition 西伊华堂 at the Prince Gong’s Mansion Museum….

During the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, a round cushion made of red silk embroidered with dragons, phoenixes and 囍 characters. The center of the round cushion is embroidered with the golden word “囍”, the two sides of the word “囍” are embroidered with images of dragons and phoenixes, and the edges are embroidered with the character “囍”, bats, and gourd patterns, which means that the wedding of the emperor and the empress will bring many happy events, endless blessings, and the proliferation of descendants. This red silk cushion with embroidered dragon and phoenix “囍” characters may have been specially made for the wedding ceremony of Emperor Guangxu and his wife.

In order to implement the spirit of the “Opinions on Promoting the Work of Ancient Books in the New Era” and deepen the protection and revitalization of ancient literature and cultural relics, the Palace Museum, on the basis of sorting, protecting and researching the engraving cultural relics in the museum’s collection, has established a monastery in the southeast of Taihe Gate. The ” 九牌馆 ” was opened in the building and the court room , and the ” 吉光片雨 – Exhibition of Qing Dynasty palace engraving cultural relics collected by the Palace Museum” was held at the same time , with more than 15,000 pieces (groups) of cultural relics displayed in a warehouse-style display. This is the first time the Palace Museum has held a special cultural relics exhibition of this type since its establishment. The exhibition will be officially open to the public from October 31, 2023, in the Southeast Chonglou and Chaofang Engraving Hall inside the Taihe Gate of the Palace Museum.

Qing Dynasty, silver-plated gold-plated stone, jade and coral beads inlaid with three Ruyi. According to the wedding custom in the palace, after marriage, one should worship the God of Joy in the bridal chamber of Kunning Palace. On the table of the God of Joy, the word “囍” for “Ruyi” is placed. A “Ruyi” is also placed on each corner of the emperor’s and empress’s marriage bed to convey the beautiful wishes of the newly married emperor and empress. This silver-plated Ruyi piece is inlaid with various jewels with the characters “auspicious”, “auspicious”, “ru”, “yi” and “囍”, which may be related to the emperor’s wedding ceremony to worship the God of Joy. Three-inlaid Ruyi is one of the Ruyi shapes. It is named after the inlays are applied to the head, handle body and tail of Ruyi. Inlay was initially used on bamboo handles and wooden handles, and then gradually expanded to other materials.

Qing Dynasty, celebrations, etc., wedding celebrations, imperial edicts, banquet etiquette pictures (partial). The emperor and the empress performed the union ceremony in the bridal chamber. After officially becoming husband and wife, they also held celebration ceremonies, edict-issuing ceremonies and banquet ceremonies. The eighth volume of Emperor Guangxu’s “Wedding Pictures”, “Pictures of Celebrations, Edicts, and Banquets,” depicts the entire process of celebrations, edicts, and banquets. The pictures in this volume are very rich in connotation. The “Wedding Pictures” selected this month are all taken from this volume. Emperor Guangxu first congratulated Empress Dowager Cixi in Cining Palace. During the celebration ceremony, the emperor knelt down and kowtowed to the empress dowager, and the emperor and internal and external ministers presented congratulations to the empress dowager. This picture shows Emperor Guangxu leading the princes and ministers in a celebration scene of kneeling three times and bowing nine times to the Empress Dowager Cixi…

1st November 2023 – Frost red is dancing in several places, and thousands of golden spots are dyed, riding on the autumn wind. Hello November fall in love with the forbidden city …..

Qing., pictures of wedding celebrations, issuing edicts, and giving banquets. The emperor led the princes and ministers to congratulate the Empress Dowager at the Cining Palace, and then came to the Taihe Hall to receive the congratulations from the princes, princes and officials, and then issued an edict to announce it to the world. The celebration of the emperor’s wedding, the issuance of edicts, and the banquet are all state rituals, and the scenes are extremely grand. The picture selected this month is a page from the album “Pictures of Etiquette for Celebrations, Edicts, and Banquets”. In the picture, you can see the Fajialu Book in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the Square of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Zhonghe Shaoyue Music under the eaves of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and the There is Danbi Da Le under the eaves of Taihe Gate. The princes, ministers, civil and military officials, and envoys from foreign vassals were ranked according to their grades and stood respectively in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, His Majesty Dan and His Majesty Dan. As the official of Luan Yiwei issued the whip command, His Majesty Dan, the captain of the whip, cracked the silent whip three times, and then the praise officer of Honglu Temple shouted the command: “Scheduling!” The saluting officials presented congratulations to the emperor according to their rank. , among whom there were also envoys from foreign vassals, who kowtowed and saluted under the guidance of ritual music.

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Search and enter the “Transfer Heart and Extension” applet to experience the art of transfer with your own hands…

Qing Dynasty, static whip with red wooden handle; Qing Dynasty, celebration of Kuan, etc., pictures of wedding celebrations, edicts, and banquets (partial). The static whip is a tool used to maintain order during grand ceremonies in the palace. The static whip has a wooden handle, one foot long, engraved with a golden dragon head, and painted with red paint. The total length of the whip is about 5.93 meters. When the emperor came to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to accept the congratulations from all the officials, ascended to the throne and descended from the throne to leave the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the guard Luan Yi shouted the command: “Cry the Whip!” At this time, His Majesty Dan’s Whip Cry was set up in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The captain of the school whips his whip to the ground three times to remind the officials that the ceremony is about to begin or to announce the end of the ceremony.

Images and visuals are from – Forbidden City –Palace Museum Beijing- China –People’s Republic of China…..