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….
Dyeing, powdering, and drawing different patterns on various colours of silk can be used as writing materials. The silk paper without writing is already beautiful!
Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, Jin Tingbiao, and the scroll of the baby’s play. This picture was created by Jin Tingbiao, a court painter of the Qianlong Dynasty, and depicts a scene of children playing in the countryside. Some of the childish and lively children picked flowers, and some competed in “grass fighting” by pulling the stems of flowers and plants together. The children’s naughty expressions are fully displayed, and the cheerful atmosphere overflows the picture. Emperor Qianlong, who was looking forward to having many children and grandchildren, was very satisfied with this picture and wrote an imperial poem on it: “Weeping poplars, strange stones, and luxuriant grass, red and green baskets are pouring out to fight against each other. The heart of a child loves business, and the famous saying is that there is a stream of water in the river.” “He also stamped more than ten square seals and included the picture in “Shiqu Baoji” to show his love.
冬至 At the winter solstice, Yang is born, and the sundial begins to grow. Today Winter solstice , the wall tiles, eaves corners, and plaques of a city are lit up with warmth, and we can’t help but look forward to the coming of the New Year….
Qianlong Qing Dynasty, anonymous, Kesi Sanduo Youqing Picture Scroll (partial). “Three mores” refers to many descendants, more blessings, and longer life. Having these “three mores” at the same time is truly a blessing in life, so “three mores are celebrated” has become a traditional blessing. In this tapestry scroll with its warp and weft cut through, the craftsman cleverly displayed the theme of “three mores” in the way of children playing: the children gathered together represent “many children”; the red bats flying in the sky allude to “the flood”. (Red) Fu (bat) Qitian” means “many blessings”; the boy holds longevity peaches in his hands, which represents “many lifespan”; and at the end of the scroll, there is a boy lifting a hammer to strike a chime, which means “chime” is homophonic to “celebration”, which completely completes the whole story. It expresses the creative theme of “three more times bring celebration”.
The pearl-necked turtle dove is a small wild resident bird of the family Dove and Columbidae that is common in cities, and is also one of the most common birds in the Forbidden City. The sides of their necks are black and densely covered with white spots, like many “pearls” scattered around their necks. This feature is only found after the Pearl-necked Turtle Dove reaches adulthood, so it can also be regarded as their “coming-of-age ceremony”.
Sun Zhiwei, a poet in the early Qing Dynasty, said in his poem “Doves in the Rain”: “The sun rises in the southeast corner, and the pigeon calls his wife.” “Banjiu” means “turtle dove”. The poem depicts a turtle dove and its partner staying together and inseparable. Pearl-necked turtle doves are usually monogamous and behave respectfully in daily life. They breed once a year, and the breeding period is from May to July. Usually the male bird first looks for a location, and then takes the female bird to choose a place that both parties think is suitable, and then build a nest with branches.
Qing, anonymous, baby play picture album page. The “Baby Play Pictures” album was created by a court painter. This page is one of the pages, depicting a scene of five children picking lotus flowers and playing in the water by a lotus pond, with the sun burning like fire in June. The author uses meticulous and rigorous writing and rich and gorgeous colors to humorously depict the cute, lively and interesting image of children. In particular, the staggering and unsteady steps of children wearing crotchless pants when walking ashore are vividly depicted, showing the author’s keen observation. The expressive power of describing God through form…
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.
Why does the 600-year-old Forbidden City remain as new as ever? Innovatively telling the story of eternal youth in the Forbidden City, let’s have a conversation that transcends time and space! 六百岁故宫何以历久弥新？创新讲述紫禁城青春永驻的故事 来一场超越时空的对话！
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.
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.
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.
How many steps does it take to transfer the words on the stone tablet to paper? The process of rubbing a monument may seem simple, but a good rubbing also requires skilled rubbing skills. Take a look at the schematic diagram below. Do your eyes catch it? Do you know how to do it? 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.
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….
On the 26th October 2023 is World Food Day, let’s get to know the word “rice” in Oracle! The word “rice” in oracle bone inscriptions is made up of rice grains. The small dots above and below represent rice grains. Some people think that the horizontal drawing in the middle is the shape of a sieve.
“Mi” initially referred to millet that had taken off its shell, and later it gradually referred to rice specifically, which is the rice we are familiar with. my country’s early rice domestication played an important role in the origin of world agriculture. As early as more than 10,000 years ago in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (Shangshan Site), our ancestors had begun the domestication of rice, which was basically synchronized with the domestication of major crops in the world such as wheat and corn.
Today, more than half of the world’s population depends on rice, but there are still 200-300 million people facing severe food crises. Let us join together to respond to the ” palacezerowaste ” initiative, take action on discs, cherish every particle and never throw it away!
Qing Dynasty, clay paint and yellow wine jar. Wedding ceremonies are grand and lively, often with wine added to the fun. This wine jar is made of clay and painted with colorful paint. The body of the jar is painted with auspicious patterns of dragons and phoenixes. There is the word “囍” on the jar body and sealing mud. The jar is filled with rice wine produced in Zhejiang. In ancient China, the best rice wine was brewed in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. This wine may have been specially produced by local officials as a tribute to the emperor’s wedding.
Tongzhi, Qing Dynasty, yellow ground pastel color magpie plum bowl. In preparation for the wedding in the 11th year of Tongzhi (1872), the palace issued a firing list and official instructions to the Jingdezhen Royal Kiln Factory: “The queen needs to use porcelain for fourteen points and nine colors.” Among them, “Fourteen Points” refers to fourteen sets of porcelain with different patterns, each of which is a sea bowl, a large bowl, a medium bowl, a soup bowl, a rice bowl, a pocket bowl, a nine-inch plate, a seven-inch plate, a five-inch plate, and a four-inch plate. One-inch plates, three-inch plates, two-inch five-plates, wine cups, soup spoons, tea cups, large tea cups, tureens, tea jars, urns, powder boxes, rice bowls, rouge boxes, flower pots, narcissus boxes, etc. The inner wall of this bowl is plain, and the outer wall is painted with magpies and plum blossoms on the yellow ground. The main trunk of the plum tree is curved, the branches are strong, and plum blossoms are dotted on the branches. Black magpies are flying or perching, with vivid postures and delicate depictions. The magpie climbing on the plum blossom is a traditional Chinese auspicious pattern. It is pronounced by the words “xi” and “plum”, which means “happy on the eyebrows”. This patterned bowl is one of the “Fourteen Points” porcelain fired at Tongzhi’s wedding ceremony.
From October 12th to 18th, the week-long third “Forbidden City Zero Waste Catering Culture Week” came to an end! During this Catering Culture Week, the Forbidden City has newly upgraded and launched an “immersive zero-waste restaurant” experience. It provides publicity, decoration tips, action guidelines, etc. based on scientific dining procedures to encourage audiences and employees to proactively reduce food waste and develop a “CD-ROM” Actions”, “reduce disposable plastic tableware”, “garbage sorting” and other good green dining habits.
“Grains are the life of all people and the most important treasure of the country.” Palace museum and Vanke philanthropy foundation invite you to participate in palacezerowaste and let the good habit of “zero waste dining” accompany you every day to ensure “food security”
Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty, a gold-engraved tea bowl with patterns of flowers, longevity and longevity. The tea bowl is made of 80% gold. The round mouth is slightly open, and the upper part of the outer wall and the circle foot are engraved with a pattern around it. The middle of the outer wall is engraved with two pairs of characters “囍” and the character “Shou”, and the lower part is decorated with lotus petals. Inscribed on the sole of the foot is “Two liang equal to seven liang, four qian and two cents in the eleventh year of Tongzhi (1872)”. The eleventh year of Tongzhi (1872) was the year of Emperor Tongzhi’s wedding. The word “囍” was engraved on the bowl, which should be used for the wedding.
Dharma stickers are made by imitating the ink marks of famous people from different eras on stones, making rubbings and spreading them widely. Among them, the ancients said that those with fine imitation, engraving, and rubbing are “first class than authentic works.” Dharma stickers can more realistically reproduce the calligraphy of famous artists, making it easier for people to practice calligraphy. The publication of “Chunhua Pavilion Tie” in the Northern Song Dynasty created the trend of engraving and passing on rubbings, and it is known as the “ancestor of Fati”.
The original stone of “Chunhua Pavilion Tie” was destroyed long ago. Song Tuo Charming The second section of the exhibition “Chunhua Pavilion Calligraphy and Song Dynasty Dharma Calligraphy” displays the Maoqin Palace copy collected by the Palace Museum and the Quanzhou copy collected by the Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. They are both rare re-engraved copies of the “Chunhua Pavilion Calligraphy” handed down from ancient times.
Qing Dynasty, golden dragon and phoenix double 囍 pattern plate. This gold plate is 4.8 centimeters high and 30.6 centimeters in diameter. It is made of 80% gold and weighs forty taels. It is the largest gold plate existing in the Qing palace. There are four characters on the plate: “dragon”, “phoenix”, “double” and “囍”. This plate may have been used for the weddings of emperors and empresses.
Painted banquet table with golden dragon and phoenix patterns. In the Qing Dynasty, when the emperors and empresses held wedding ceremonies, they had to share a table and eat together. The table was entered by the female official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The emperor sat on the right and the queen sat on the left, eating and drinking opposite each other. This table is the combined banquet table. The table is made of wood, with a yellow lacquered table top and a painted golden dragon and phoenix “囍” pattern. The legs are slightly curved, making it beautiful and practical. Emperor Guangxu’s “Red Banquet of the Wedding Ceremony” records that the emperor and empress’s banquet table was one foot high, three feet five inches long, and two feet five inches wide. It was decorated with the Chinese character “囍” with dragons and phoenixes on a yellow ground. The size and pattern matched this table.
The scroll of “Guiju Mountain Birds” (Fig. 1) was painted by Lu Ji, a court painter of the Ming Dynasty, and is now collected in the Palace Museum. The subjects depicted on the axis of the picture are red-billed blue magpies, starlings, sweet-scented osmanthus, and autumn chrysanthemums, all of which are auspicious and precious things. The objects in the picture not only truly show the natural nature of the creatures, but also vividly express the beautiful meaning. The starlings on the branches are chirping at each other, highlighting their good singing nature; the four red-billed blue magpies are graceful and their dark blue feathers are particularly eye-catching. Among them, the three in the lower left corner are fighting for an insect, which is lifelike. The red-billed blue magpie is a beautiful bird. The male and female have similar feather colors. Its extraordinary temperament can be called the “face value” among birds. However, their calls are in great contrast to their beautiful appearance and graceful flying posture. They make many different noisy calls and whistles, which are rough and noisy….
Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, the recipe for the Henu Banquet. According to Emperor Guangxu’s “Red Banquet of the Wedding Ceremony”, on the twenty-seventh day of the first lunar month in the fifteenth year of Guangxu’s reign (1889), the emperor and his empress had a banquet. The meal list was as follows: red gold plate with two items: pig black fork and sheep black fork; red gold bowl The fourth product: bird’s nest with the character “Eight Immortals” duck, the bird’s nest with the character “囍”, shredded duck, thin pork shreds soup; the second product of the red gold plate: the bird’s nest with the character “dragon” mixed with shredded smoked chicken, the bird’s nest with the character “phoenix”, golden and silver elbow flower, the bird’s nest with the character “Cheng”, spiced chicken , bird’s nest with auspicious characters, gold and silver duck silk; red gold snail plate with side dishes, second item; red gold plate with side dishes, second item; red ground with golden flower characters, porcelain bowl, second item: bird’s nest and eight immortals soup, second item; colorful Bai Zi porcelain bowl, second item: old rice meal; second item; The second product of the colorful Baizi porcelain bowl: the second product of Zisun Pastry. The dumplings are dumplings brought by the queen from her natal family and cannot be cooked. When the emperor and empress were eating them, a boy outside the window asked if they were alive, and the emperor and empress had to answer “live”. Eating cakes for descendants should be done before the Henu Banquet, which shows that the royal family attaches great importance to the inheritance of descendants. The tableware for the Hexin Banquet is luxurious, and the dishes contain the beautiful meaning of dragons and phoenixes, and the succession of descendants…
Qing Dynasty, red sandalwood inlaid glass with the word “囍” hanging on the corners. Emperors of the Qing Dynasty mostly married their queens in the afternoon or evening. Emperor Tongzhi married during the Shen hour, that is, between 3 pm and 5 pm, while Emperor Guangxu chose the Zi hour, which was between 11 pm and 1 am. When a wedding is held at night, lights and candles are naturally indispensable. There are poke lamps that can be inserted on the base, hand-held lamps, table lamps placed on the table, and hanging lamps hung on the room. Poke lamps and holding lamps are mostly used outdoors, while table lamps and hanging lamps are mostly used indoors. This hanging lamp consists of two parts: a lamp cap and a lamp body. The red character “囍” is pasted on the lamp body, which means prosperity and joy.
Qing, the horny character holds the lamp. The lamp consists of two parts: cover and base. The lampshade is round in shape, with the upper and lower parts slightly tightened, and the word “囍” is written in red on both sides. The handle is connected to the base, and a bracket is installed on the base to fix the lampshade. The cover is made of horn, heated and boiled with cow and sheep horns and solvent until soft, and then different types of lasts are used to gradually expand it. The cover wall is thin and seamless, has good light transmission and is windproof. However, the production of lampshades is difficult, the yield is low, and those with large diameters are particularly rare. This kind of horn lamp is controlled by eunuchs and is not only used to illuminate the queen’s carriage when walking in the palace, but can also be placed in the wedding room to create a festive atmosphere…..
On the 24th October 2023 .. Fall in Love with the Forbidden City…. Turtles and cranes watch the sun and moon from a distance, while divine lins spit out mist and turn into frost. Repost three auspicious beasts and reap Frostfall…… good luck!
The autumn air is crisp and the autumn clouds are light. After mid-autumn, galloping horses and sentrying deer in the forest were seasonal leisure activities for the Qing Dynasty court. The method of sentrying a deer is to “put on the deer’s head and lie down in the forest ravine, and use the whistle to call the deer.” It can be seen that the deer whistle is an important tool for hunting deer. Deer whistles are shaped like horns, about two to three feet long, and can simulate the sound of a deer. According to the habits of deer, deer hunters need to start from the camp before the fifth watch, go to the predetermined location to hide, and wait with bated breath after the deer whistle blows. After the deer appears, because the distance is close and the target is clear, the deer will hit more; if occasionally If you fail to hit, the pursuit will generally not continue. Figure 8 is one of the imperial deer whistles collected by the Palace Museum that is on display in the exhibition….
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 #松图charm exhibition, “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.
日国宫 , tonight’s good night comes from the book “Yuemanqingyoutu”·Chrysanthemum Appreciation on the Double Ninth Festival.
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….
On the 11th October the anniversary of Daily palace, tonight’s good night comes from the 98-year-old Palace Museum…..
The wind blows and the rain blows, the stars move, and the ancient city remains undefeated through the prosperous years. Today is the 98th anniversary of the founding of the National Palace Museum . The Forbidden City carries the ancient memories of history, and has witnessed and accompanied everyone to open new chapters in life over the long years. On the 98th birthday of the Forbidden City, let us look back on every detail of our visit to the Forbidden City, relive our exclusive memories with the Forbidden City, and jointly protect this precious world cultural heritage!
Let’s read the calendar together During the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, bright yellow satin and flat gold embroidery with dragon and phoenix patterns on the backrest, bedding, and greetings. The Qing Dynasty palace mostly used hardwood furniture. Hardwood furniture is valuable and strong, but it can cause discomfort when sitting or lying down for long periods of time, especially in winter, so soft cushions are needed. The wooden kang is larger, and the mattress, backrest, and handstands are often used together. They are filled with cotton on the inside and wrapped in brocade and other fabrics, making them soft and comfortable. The soft cushion in the picture is embroidered with flat gold, using real gold threads embroidered on the surface of the fabric. Mattress, backrest and handrails are essential items in home life. Although they are trivial details, they are related to personal feelings and can reflect the taste of life, so they are valued by people at the time. Emperor Yongzheng put forward specific requirements for the design of cushions, backrests and hand patterns.
“The Qiang Guan is covered with frost all over the ground.” The autumn wind blows the camel bells, and also blows away the confusion at the end of the eyes of homesick travelers.
[Clothing] Camel gray tufted kui pattern dark flower diameter gauze small simple robe, camel ground dragon and phoenix Ganoderma lucidum Ruyi pattern brocade, beige ground flower pattern woven gold brocade, camel gauze short-waisted women’s socks [Accessories] Topaz sword head with hooked grain pattern, light camel satin embroidered scratching chrysanthemum pattern waist round purse, gauze head flower [Daily necessities] Topaz double ear-shaped movable ring bottle with lid, yellow tapestry fan with vines, flowers and butterflies and mahogany carved handles
日面宫# , tonight’s good night comes from Zhu Yunming’s cursive chrysanthemum poem ceremony.
In the Qing Dynasty, the kang blanket was embroidered with red cloth with Chinese characters, dragons and phoenixes, and colorful cloud patterns for generations. The carpet cultural relics in the Palace Museum are divided into carpets, kang rugs, and tapestries according to their uses. The center of this kang rug has a dragon and phoenix character “囍” pattern, and the edges are patterns of bats, gourds, plum blossoms, longevity peaches, and the character “囍”, which symbolize wealth, longevity, and descendants for generations. This kang rug uses Cantonese embroidery stitching and may come from Guangdong. It was a tribute specially purchased for the emperor’s wedding. According to Emperor Guangxu’s “Red Wedding Ceremony”, the East Nuan Pavilion of Kunning Palace used a red felt kang blanket embroidered with dragon and phoenix “囍” patterns.
Forbidden City Autumn Fashionable Color – Fragrant color “The fragrance of ripe rice is ten miles west. The hibiscus fences fall with long bamboo silk. The hanging mountain fruits hang green and yellow.” In the scene of a good harvest, where does the autumn fragrance come from?
[Clothing] Women’s robe with fragrant yarn embroidered with eight groups of peony and Kuifeng patterns, fragrant satin soap boots with rice beads, fragrant satin velvet mouth with peony pattern oval purse, fragrant silk embroidered flower pattern handkerchief [Accessories] inlaid with pearls and jade Belt buckle, yellow tourmaline bracelet with pearls and emerald ornaments [daily necessities] jade flower handle cup, tea powder glazed string pattern bottle, tea powder glazed flower
Qing Dynasty, with dragon and phoenix characters on the mattress. The emperors and empresses of the Qing Dynasty often sat on the kang when they lived in the house, and kang blankets and mattresses were laid on the kang for convenience. According to Emperor Guangxu’s “Red Wedding Ceremony” records, when Emperor Guangxu got married, eight large red satin mattresses embroidered with dragons and phoenixes with “囍” patterns were prepared in the East Nuan Pavilion of Kunning Palace. This cushion was originally stored in Kunning Palace. From the embroidered pattern of dragon and phoenix with the character “囍”, it can be seen that it was used during the wedding of Emperor Guangxu.
Knots are the flowers that decorate the flowers. The mother-in-law is composed of a skeleton, an inner tube, and an exterior mother-in-law flower. The shapes of the flowers are various, including vase-shaped, olive-shaped, long angular, round, etc. They are called knots, hairpins, green strips, etc. according to the yellow strips they are attached to. Among them, the knot is decorated on the lower middle part of the front of the knot. Since most of the knots are equipped with hanging rings on both sides and the bottom edge of the back, beads can be hung; round hairpins are decorated on it, and long angular hairpins are decorated on the left and right sides of the knots..
Qing Dynasty, wood inlaid material, stone, gold and peach leather saddle. The saddle is made of wood, with an asphalt surface and painted with patterns such as butterflies and lotuses. The edge of the saddle is inlaid with rubies, turquoise, coral and other jewels. The attached yellow strips have the words “Happy Saddle” and “Branded Bundle” written on it. , it can be seen from this that it is a wedding saddle specially used for weddings. When the stipulated time came on the day of the emperor’s wedding, the eunuchs used ceremonial carriages to carry the queen to the Kunning Palace in the middle palace. When the queen entered Kunning Palace, the eunuch arrived in advance..
Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, bright yellow silk embroidered with clouds, bats, dragons, phoenixes and 囍 patterns. The napkin is a napkin. The emperor and empress wore it on their chests to avoid staining their clothes when they ate. The main color of this piece of clothing is bright yellow, with red, blue, white, and green colors in between. There is a yellow “囍” pattern in the center, dragon and phoenix patterns on both sides, and the edges are decorated with cranes, bats, deer, and the Chinese characters “Shou” and “Shou”. “囍” character pattern, etc. This bodice was specially made for the weddings or longevity celebrations of emperors and empresses of the Qing Dynasty.
Before the Han Dynasty, there were pre-Qin stone drums and Qin Shihuang carved stones. It was not until the Eastern Han Dynasty that rectangular standing stones with inscribed characters and a certain shape appeared, which were the stele with the meaning of later generations. With the development of the times, the meaning of stele gradually expanded to include stone inscriptions, such as stone inscriptions, epitaphs, cliff inscriptions, statue inscriptions, stone monument inscriptions, etc.
Most of the steles handed down from the Han Dynasty are rubbings from the Ming and Qing dynasties, with only a few rubbings from the Song Dynasty. The “Xiyue Huashan Temple Stele” of the Eastern Han Dynasty was destroyed in the Ming Dynasty, and only four rubbings survive: the Huayin and Siming editions collected by the Palace Museum, the Shunde edition collected by the Cultural Relics Collection of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the Nagagaki edition collected by the Taito Ward Museum of Calligraphy in Tokyo, Japan. . Two of them, the Huayin version and the Shunde version, are on display in the first unit of this Song Tuo Charm exhibition, “Xiyue Huashan Temple Stele and Han and Tang Stele Inscriptions
Ming Dynasty, Zigang style sapphire cup. After the sitting ceremony was completed, the emperor and empress performed the ceremony of union. Before the ceremony, the queen redressed and dressed up. In addition to changing into court robes and gown, she also had to comb her long hair, which is a symbol of an unmarried girl, into the “two hairs” of a married daughter-in-law. At the end of the lunar month, the emperor and empress sat on the mattress, drinking and eating. Under the eaves outside the house, the banner couple sang a song of celebration in Manchu to wish the emperor and empress good luck on their wedding, and the wedding ceremony was completed. This sapphire cup has two connected tubes. A phoenix is carved between the two tubes as the cup handle. The rim of one side of the cup is engraved with the inscription “Zigang Zhi”, and the rim of the other side is engraved with the inscription “Henan Cup”.
Qing Dynasty, clay paint and yellow wine jar. Wedding ceremonies are grand and lively, often with wine added to the fun. This wine jar is made of clay and painted with colorful paint. The body of the jar is painted with auspicious patterns of dragons and phoenixes. There is the word “囍” on the jar body and sealing mud. The jar is filled with rice wine produced in Zhejiang. In ancient China, the best rice wine was brewed in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. This wine may have been specially produced by local officials as a tribute to the emperor’s wedding.
Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty, yellow ground pastel magpie plum bowl. In preparation for the wedding in the 11th year of Tongzhi (1872), the palace issued a firing list and official instructions to the Jingdezhen Royal Kiln Factory: “The queen needs to use porcelain for fourteen points and nine colors.” Among them, “Fourteen Points” refers to fourteen sets of porcelain with different patterns, each of which is a sea bowl, a large bowl, a medium bowl, a soup bowl, a rice bowl, a pocket bowl, a nine-inch plate, a seven-inch plate, a five-inch plate, and a four-inch plate. One-inch plates, three-inch plates, two-inch five-plates, wine cups, soup spoons, tea cups, large tea cups, tureens, tea jars, urns, powder boxes, rice bowls, rouge boxes, flower pots, narcissus boxes, etc. The inner wall of this bowl is plain, and the outer wall is painted with magpies and plum blossoms on the yellow ground. The main trunk of the plum tree is curved, the branches are strong, and plum blossoms are dotted on the branches. Black magpies are flying or perching, with vivid postures and delicate depictions. The magpie climbing on the plum blossom is a traditional Chinese auspicious pattern. It is pronounced by the words “xi” and “plum”, which means “happy on the eyebrows”. This patterned bowl is one of the “fourteen points” porcelain fired at Tongzhi’s wedding…
