The three presidents tell the story with the Forbidden City
Editor's note
2020 is the 600th anniversary of the completion of the Forbidden City and the 95th anniversary of the establishment of the Palace Museum. This is a major event in my country's cultural heritage circle and even the entire cultural circle. Hundreds of years of ups and downs have transformed the Forbidden City from the imperial palace into a museum of the people. It has witnessed the historical transformation of China from the rule of the feudal dynasty to the masters of the people, and it reflects the continuous self-improvement and growing prosperity of the Chinese nation.
At this special moment, this newspaper exclusively interviewed the three presidents of the Palace Museum and asked them to tell their stories with the world's largest palace complex. From their narration, we heard some little-known details and felt the inheritance of the Forbidden City spirit more clearly. Thanks to the unremitting efforts of generations of people in the Forbidden City, the ancient Forbidden City is increasingly exuding youthful vitality. The 600-year-old Forbidden City has gradually entered the lives of the people today, and the magnificent Forbidden City is heading for a glorious future.
The narrators are sorted by the time they took office in the Palace Museum.
The Feelings of the Forbidden City
Narrator: Zheng Xinmiao (the fifth dean of the Palace Museum)
In September 2002, I was transferred to work in the Palace Museum, and the leading comrades asked me to focus on the repair work of the Palace Museum.
The renovation of the Forbidden City is a frequent task of protecting ancient buildings and extending their lives. At the beginning of the 21st century, the State Council made a major decision to repair the Forbidden City. This is the largest repair of the Forbidden City in a hundred years, and it is called "a hundred-year overhaul" by the world.
The Ministry of Culture established the "Forbidden City Maintenance Project Leading Group" headed by the minister as the decision-making body for the repair project. The Palace Museum has also set up a corresponding leading group and management organization, and established the "Forbidden City Renovation Engineering Expert Advisory Committee" to hire experts in planning, archaeology, ancient architecture, cultural relics protection, palace history, museology, management, etc., to provide engineering decisions Scientific demonstration and consultation; the "Forbidden City Repair Engineering Technology Quality Advisory Group" has also been established to check specific engineering technology and quality issues.
The State Council entrusted the State Administration of Cultural Heritage to examine and approve the "Outline for the Protection of the Forbidden City" (hereinafter referred to as the "Outline of the General Regulations") organized and formulated by the Palace Museum, which determined the five tasks of "overall maintenance" and clarified the principles and principles for the maintenance of the Forbidden City. The technology used. Its fundamental guiding ideology is to ensure the historical authenticity and integrity of the Forbidden City, and must strengthen the principles and policies of minimal intervention, not changing the original state of cultural relics, and protecting as many historical sites as possible.
According to the "General Regulation Outline", the renovation project of the Forbidden City will last for 18 years, and by 2020, the state will invest about 100 million yuan in repair funds each year. The project is divided into three phases: the first phase from 2003 to 2008, the second phase from 2009 to 2014, and the third phase from 2015 to 2020. The first phase is divided into two phases based on October 2005.
On October 15, 2002, the Wuying Hall renovation was held as a pilot project at the groundbreaking ceremony. The groundbreaking ceremony for the protection and maintenance of the Xiyu and surrounding buildings on the central axis of the Forbidden City on June 4, 2004, announced that the "overall protection and comprehensive maintenance" project was in full swing. After nearly three years of repairs, the Hall of Supreme Harmony, which has attracted worldwide attention, was officially opened to the public on July 16, 2008, which also marked the completion of the first phase of the repair task. The ancient buildings involved in the maintenance and protection include the buildings in the Wuying Temple area, the main building of the Meridian Gate, the east and west two buildings on the central axis and its surrounding buildings, the Qin'an Hall, the costume library, the Taihe Gate, the Taihe Hall, and the Shenwu Gate, etc. The completed repair area Nearly 40,000 square meters. After renovation, 10 new exhibition halls including the Meridian Exhibition Hall were put into use, and the open area was greatly increased. At the same time, it enters the second phase of the maintenance project as planned.
This repair not only restores the Forbidden City to its solemn, solemn, and glorious historical outlook, but also represents a vigorous inheritance of Chinese official ancient architectural techniques. The practice and exploration of repairs also enrich the theory of international cultural heritage protection.
The maintenance project of the Forbidden City condenses the efforts of many participants. Comrade Sun Jiazheng, who was then Minister of Culture, concurrently served as the leader of the Leading Group of the Forbidden City Maintenance Project. He emphasized: The maintenance of the Forbidden City is not only a cultural relics protection project, but also an important cultural construction undertaking of the country; the maintenance of the Forbidden City must respect the characteristics and laws of the maintenance of ancient buildings. The specific projects are planned, but everything is subject to quality and not on schedule; attention must be paid to details. Seiko real materials, meticulous, can withstand the test of history.
Maintenance practice also educates and inspires us. The maintenance of the Forbidden City is a matter of the country and the nation. We must fully rely on the knowledge and practice of experts and scholars, and insist on the democratic and scientific decision-making. We must listen carefully to opinions and continuously improve our work. There will be many different opinions during the maintenance process. This is completely normal. We are also inexperienced in many aspects. This requires listening to opinions in many aspects, especially different opinions and opposing opinions, to prevent self-righteousness. Brainstorm and try to avoid detours.
In those years, the Palace Museum did not implement a closed system and opened its doors for 365 days. At that time, the project was mainly concentrated on the central axis, which was a must for tourists. There are more than 1,000 workers participating in the maintenance project every day, and a considerable number of people are engaged in operations in the courtyard, as well as temporary workers, as well as military units and archives. This brings maintenance to ancient buildings and preservation of cultural relics. A lot of pressure. Fortunately, everyone worked together to overcome these difficulties and ensure the smooth progress of the project.
The protection and maintenance of the Forbidden City is a continuous relay process. Comrade Shan Jixiang succeeded the Dean of the Palace Museum in early 2012. Prior to this, as the Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, he had been the deputy leader of the Leading Group of the Forbidden City Maintenance Project of the Ministry of Culture. From the beginning of the maintenance of the Forbidden City, he was the instructor and participant. Over the years, with the concept of "delivering a magnificent Forbidden City to the next 600 years", the maintenance and protection of the Forbidden City has been fully promoted. The Hall of Yangxin is the final work of his 18-year overhaul. In July 2016, the research protection project of Yangxin Hall was launched; on September 3, 2018, the maintenance project of Yangxin Hall officially started. I have the honor to attend these two ceremonies. When attending the groundbreaking ceremony, I was still in the recovery period after the operation and was weak. Comrade Jixiang strongly invited and helped me to the top of the temple, and together took out the treasure box on the spine, and witnessed this unforgettable moment together. Now, under the leadership of Dean Wang Xudong, the Forbidden City has taken 600 years of the Forbidden City as a new starting point, and has taken more solid steps in the protection of ancient buildings and the development of the museum. The Forbidden City is not old, and the Palace Museum is always new!
Forbidden City Complex for Half a Century
Narrator: Shan Jixiang (the sixth dean of the Palace Museum)
Life flies so fast, and has reached the age when it is often asked to "think of the year". Indeed, there are always some memories that can't be erased over time, and they will last forever. I have lived in Beijing since I was a child, and have a special affection for Siheyuan. In my opinion, the Forbidden City is the largest courtyard house in the world, and being lucky enough to participate in the protection of the Forbidden City is an experience worth looking back at.
In the early 1980s, when I was studying abroad, I was engaged in research on the protection and planning of historical and cultural blocks. Therefore, after returning to China, he devoted himself to the urban planning of the ancient capital Beijing. The first task accepted that year was to prepare a detailed zoning plan for Dongcheng District, and the Forbidden City was within the territory of Dongcheng District. How to protect the surrounding environment of the Forbidden City is an important part of the planning, including delimiting a high-level control plan for the construction of the surrounding area of the Forbidden City, that is, taking the Forbidden City as the center, determining the planned green space, bungalow protection area and construction control zone, etc., and trying to avoid tall buildings from affecting the cultural landscape of the Forbidden City.
In 1987, the Forbidden City became my country's first batch of world cultural heritage. In the second year, I began to be responsible for the planning and management of Beijing's urban area, and I had more opportunities to participate in the protection of the Forbidden City. One of the tasks is to organize the determination of 25 historical and cultural protection areas in the old city of Beijing, that is, to divide a large area around the Forbidden City into the protection zone, with the goal of protecting Beijing Hutong-siheyuan, and realizing the historical environmental protection around the Forbidden City.
I remember that at the end of 1996, when I was working at the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Cultural Heritage, I organized the "Love Beijing City, Donate Wall Bricks" activity, which won the active support and participation of the general public. After the completion of the Ming City Wall Relics Park from Chongwenmen to Dongbianmen, I hope to further mobilize social forces and make more concrete efforts to protect the ancient capital of Beijing. The first thing that comes to mind is the environmental improvement outside the Forbidden City. At that time, in the narrow strip between the inner side of the Tongzi River of the Forbidden City and the walls of the Forbidden City, more than 400 households and 21 enterprises and institutions were squeezed into it, which was very inconvenient to travel. What's more serious is that there are actually 465 sewage pipes extending to the Tongzi River, and a large amount of sewage is directly discharged into Hanoi every day. At that time, a large amount of garbage accumulated in the Tongzi River, and there were debris floating on the river, which seriously affected the magnificent landscape of the Forbidden City. At that time, Shan Shiyuan, the vice-president of the Palace Museum in charge of the preservation of ancient buildings, said very worriedly that the Tongzi River in the Palace Museum had become a "sewage river."
Therefore, we put forward the slogan "Hand over a magnificent Forbidden City to the 21st century". In the media, experts and scholars actively made suggestions, and the general public actively appealed to form a strong social public opinion atmosphere for a time, and all walks of life reached consensus. Since then, after three years of active efforts, all residents and units between the Tongzi River and the city wall of the Forbidden City have moved away, and the environment on both sides of the bank has been renovated, and the sewage interception system has been constructed to avoid sewage discharge into Hanoi. Finally, before entering the 21st century, the blue waves of the Tongzi River in the Forbidden City were realized. Nowadays, no matter spring, summer, autumn or winter, especially on sunny days, there are always many photography enthusiasts taking pictures of the beautiful scenery of the Forbidden City walls, turrets, and Tongzi River, spreading them all over the world and sharing them with more friends.
In 2012, I came to work in the Palace Museum. After 5 months of detailed research, we once again shouted a slogan: "Hand over a magnificent Forbidden City to the next 600 years." The Forbidden City was built in 1420, and 2020 is her 600th birthday. In 2002, under the leadership of Mr. Zheng Xinmiao, then director of the Palace Museum, the 18-year "Overall Maintenance and Protection Project of the Palace Museum" was launched. This is a very remarkable plan. After continuous efforts, the set goals have been achieved. The open area of the Palace Museum has also increased from 30% in 2002 to 80% today.
"The magnificent Forbidden City" includes not only "beautiful appearance" but also "strong body". Since 2012, the Palace Museum has implemented 6 action plans with the goal of 2020. The first is to implement the "Safe Forbidden City" project, in order to completely solve the 7 major safety hazards faced by the Forbidden City, including fire, theft, earthquake disaster, natural damage to collections, cultural relic storage, infrastructure and audience safety, and implement 7 key contents in a targeted manner. The second is to carry out environmental renovation of the Forbidden City, including a total of 22 indoor and outdoor contents, restore the magnificent landscape of the Forbidden City, and achieve continuous expansion and opening. The third is the preparation of the "Forbidden City General Protection Plan", which is the first detailed plan to target the overall protection of the cultural heritage of the Forbidden City. It reflects a forward-looking system in many aspects such as the protection, utilization and research of the cultural heritage of the Forbidden City. Management concept. The fourth is to carry out the clean-up of cultural relics in the Palace Museum. On the basis of the seven-year clean-up of cultural relics in the Palace Museum, a three-year clean-up of movable cultural relics was carried out to thoroughly understand the “family status”. The fifth is to establish the Palace Academy, accelerate the training of talents in the Palace Museum and the industry, spread Chinese traditional culture, and carry out youth cultural heritage education. It has also become an important training base for talents in the field of international heritage museums. The sixth is to establish the National Palace Museum Research Institute, further integrate the academic strength of the National Palace Museum, rationally plan the academic research system, absorb academic research talents at home and abroad, build an open high-end academic research platform, and continue to produce high-quality comprehensive research results. Through arduous efforts, the realization of these six action plans will enable sustainable protection of the Forbidden City and the establishment of six deep piles for the healthy development of the Palace Museum. I am convinced that only with a solid foundation can we achieve long-term stability.
This year marks the 600th anniversary of the completion of the Forbidden City, and also the 95th anniversary of the establishment of the Palace Museum. The Palace Museum has gone global. The Palace Museum has become one of the world's five largest museums, "The Forbidden City is youthful". Today, President Wang Xudong of the Palace Museum has put forward the goal of “Vitalizing the Forbidden City” on the basis of the “Safe Forbidden City, Academic Forbidden City, Complete Forbidden City, and Powerful Forbidden City” proposed by the old president Zhang Zhongpei. "To hand over the magnificent Forbidden City to the future in its entirety" is the mission of generations of Forbidden City people, and there must be no slack.
The Love of the New Forbidden City People
Narrator: Wang Xudong (the seventh dean of the Palace Museum)
I never dreamed that after 28 years of guarding the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, surrounded by the Gobi Desert, the central government transferred me to the Forbidden City in the capital, and changed from a "Mogao Caveman" to a "Forbidden City". On April 8, 2019, I started another journey in my life.
This year marks the 600th anniversary of the completion of the Forbidden City and the 95th anniversary of the establishment of the Palace Museum. In such a special year, I recall from time to time, what kind of fate do I have with the Forbidden City? After I, a worker in the conservation and management of grottoes, join the big family that protects and inherits the excellent Chinese traditional culture carried by the Forbidden City, how can I continue to forge ahead along the road opened by my predecessors with my colleagues in the Palace Museum?
I remember that the first time I walked into the Forbidden City was in early October 1997. At that time, I had just finished the World Cultural Heritage Protection and Management Training Course organized by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in Chengde. This year happened to be the 10th anniversary of the successful application of the first batch of World Heritage in my country. In November 1987, 6 natural and cultural heritage sites including the Forbidden City and Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes were included in the "World Heritage List" by UNESCO. After the training class, we will transfer in Beijing and visit the Forbidden City. Without acquaintances in the Palace Museum, I went straight to the entrance of the Palace with my colleagues and showed the Dunhuang Academy work card to the staff at the ticket gate. When I heard that we had come from the remote Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, the staff were extremely enthusiastic, and they arranged for us to enter the Forbidden City immediately, and truly felt the beauty of "Tianwenboren are a family". At that time, the open area of the Forbidden City was not very large, basically it was to visit the first three halls and the back three palaces along the central axis, plus the imperial garden. In addition, the homework is not good enough, so I can only follow a tour group to listen to the guide's explanation. Most of the explanations are centered around the life of the people in the palace dominated by the emperor and empress, with some wild history and gimmicks from time to time. To be honest, I did not realize the cultural value carried by the Forbidden City.
After that, I came to the Forbidden City many times, mostly to study and exchange work, and participate in academic conferences. Since 1998, the number of visitors to Mogao Grottoes has increased significantly, and tourism has put increasing pressure on the protection of Mogao Grottoes. In 2003, Fan Jinshi, the dean of the Dunhuang Academy at the time, proposed to build the Mogao Grottoes Visitor Center, using digital technology to display Mogao Grottoes murals and painted sculptures, reducing the stay time of tourists in the cave, so as to make the temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide inside the cave The changes are kept within an appropriate range. At that time, only the Palace Museum had a digital exhibition hall that could be viewed by 50 people. The National Development and Reform Commission recommended that we go to the Forbidden City for inspection. I was one of them. This exhibition hall was built by the Forbidden City in cooperation with Japan Toppan Company. It uses column curtain technology to display the grand palace architecture of the Forbidden City. It is very shocking and gives us a lot of inspiration. But considering that the focus of the Mogao Grottoes display is the cave and its murals, we finally chose a dome display method that is more technically difficult and has no precedent for content production. The exhibition hall can accommodate 200 people at a time. After 11 years of hard work, in September 2014, Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center was finally opened to tourists, basically realizing the coordinated development of protection and open use of Mogao Grottoes. During the demonstration and implementation of the project, Mr. Hu Chui from the Palace Museum and other experts participated in the consultation activities and put forward a lot of constructive suggestions, so that we can avoid detours.
In view of the work experience accumulated by the Palace Museum and Dunhuang Research Institute in the digitization of cultural relics, with the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the two of us acted as co-lead units. Many universities, national scientific research institutes and enterprises in the United Nations have undertaken The "Twelfth Five-Year" National Science and Technology Support Program Project "Research and Demonstration of Digital Protection Standard System and Key Standards of Cultural Relics". Researcher Feng Naien, who was the vice president of the Palace Museum at the time, and I acted as the co-leaders. The Palace Museum and Dunhuang Research Institute were responsible for the study of digital standards for movable and immovable cultural relics. This is the closest cooperation between the two parties so far. The project passed the acceptance of the Ministry of Science and Technology on November 16, 2017, laying a solid foundation for the construction of "Digital Dunhuang" and "Digital Forbidden City", and even the digitization of cultural relics in my country.
Before becoming a member of the Forbidden City, the last time I visited the Forbidden City was to participate in the Taihu Forum in 2018. One of the sub-forums was located in the Palace Museum, and many experts and scholars from the cultural and museum circles at home and abroad attended. After the meeting, Dean Shan Jixiang personally arranged for several of our keynote speakers to have lunch at the Forbidden City Ice Cellar Restaurant, including Ms. Feng Mingzhu, the former director of the Taipei Palace Museum. Dean Shan is very sorry for not being able to accompany us because he is still on business this afternoon. I said half jokingly: "I'll greet everyone for you." I didn't expect that I became a member of the Palace Museum in half a year. It was a bit strange to think about it.
When I really joined the "Forbidden City" family, I never felt that I was an outsider. Whether it was holding a team meeting or going to various ministries for research and discussion, I felt like a colleague for many years without feeling unfamiliar. In my life, I am destined to serve the protection and inheritance of the two greatest world cultural heritages in China. I am destined to be both a "Mogao Caveman" and a "Forbidden City". It’s just that the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes are deeply buried in my heart, and the courage and strength cultivated by it support me, and shoulder the historical mission of guarding the Forbidden City together with all the people in the Forbidden City.
Mr. Zheng Xinmiao, the fifth dean of the Palace Museum, is refined, generous and knowledgeable, and is my role model. We first met at the Potala Palace in Tibet, and 17 years later we met again at the Forbidden City in Beijing. He gave me a poem on April 18, 2019, which records my love for the Forbidden City: "Dunhuang, the sun is purple, the snowy area is clear and the clouds are beautiful. Seventeen years ago, I was happy, and I knew that the Forbidden City was doomed. ".
(Reporter Li Yun interviewed and compiled)