The Forbidden City Exhibition brings 600 years of history to the fore
More than 450 exhibits appeared in the exhibition "Dan Chen Yonggu-Six Hundred Years of the Forbidden City"; 18 years were selected to describe the layout of the Forbidden City, palace life, etc.
The exhibition "Danchen forever-Six hundred years of the Forbidden City" opened at the Meridian Gate of the Palace Museum.
The exhibition selects 18 historical fragments from 1406 to mid-2002, a continuous change of 600 years.
The history of the Forbidden City, major events, court life, architectural features, etc., are all hidden or exposed in the exhibition.
There are more than 450 pieces of cultural relics and historical photos on display.
The Beijing News reported yesterday that the exhibition "Danchen Eternal-The Forbidden City was built six hundred years ago" opened at the Meridian Gate of the Palace Museum.
The exhibition uses the three exhibition halls of the West Yanchi Building, Main Building and East Yanchi Building in the Meridian area, displaying more than 450 pieces of cultural relics and historical photos.
Among them, the theme of the Xiyanchi Building exhibition hall is "the palace and city as one", which tells the construction concept and construction engineering skills of the palace city in the Ming Dynasty.
The theme of the Wumen main building exhibition hall is "Tolerance is great", which tells the changes in the architectural pattern and style of the Forbidden City in various periods of the Qing Dynasty.
The theme of the exhibition hall of the East Yanchi Tower is "Endless Life".
The extension period ends on November 15.
Aspect 1
Qianlong Dynasty Jin Ou Yonggu Cup occupied "C position"
Looking at the entire exhibition hall, the Qianlong Dynasty Jin Ou Yonggu Cup may be the most eye-catching. It is placed in the center of the Wumen main hall, which can be described as "C position debut".
However, the appearance of this dazzling golden cup was not for the purpose of illuminating the treasure, but had its special significance-as a material evidence of court life in the Forbidden City.
There is only one criterion for the selection of more than 450 cultural relics and historical photos: whether they can deeply reflect the changes of the Forbidden City itself.
Therefore, the famous paintings of the ages did not come out, but the "Atlas of Xu Xianqing's Official Relics" and "The Book of Zhanji Traveling Music" that reflected the architectural pattern of the Forbidden City in the Ming Dynasty appeared, which are quite worthy of historical documentation; those valuable jade porcelains did not appear, and The mottled and dilapidated bricks of the palace city of Fengyang Mingzhong and the remaining only a corner of the Nanjing sundial came, and they marked the time and space of the Ming Dynasty capital.
The exhibition hall of the East Yanchi Tower presents the changes in the Forbidden City in the past 100 years. This is the most dramatic period in the Forbidden City.
Turning from the depths of the palace to a museum facing the public, a series of events surrounding the Forbidden City reflect the great changes of the country over a century.
When telling about the incident of Puyi leaving the palace, the exhibition used the memories of Emperor Puyi, Minister of the Interior Shao Ying, and Li Shizeng, who was implementing the "Amendment of the Special Treatment Conditions for the Qing Dynasty" at the time, to provide a different perspective to understand this history. event.
The exhibition attempts to use the form of "storytelling" to restore some cultural relics to historical events.
Aspect 2
The Changes of the Palace of Supreme Harmony in the Two Dynasties from Ancient Paintings
For six hundred years, the Forbidden City has not been static.
At present, the six palaces in the east and west largely retain the buildings of the Ming Dynasty, while many other palaces were built by the Qing Dynasty and even rebuilt repeatedly.
Di Yajing, deputy director of the ancient construction department of the Palace Museum, pointed out that in the exhibition "Atlas of Xu Xianqing's Eunuch's Relics", the structure on both sides of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the picture is different from what is seen today.
The two sides of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the picture are connected by oblique corridors, but after the rebuilding of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the thirty-fourth year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1695), the oblique corridor was changed to a firewall. This is because the oblique corridor is connected to the main building, which is not conducive to fire prevention. .
"For the Forbidden City from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, whether the layout and architectural details have changed, these historical materials are relatively small, but "The Atlas of Xu Xianqing's Eunuch" gives us some reference." Di Yajing said, paintings left by the Ming Dynasty , Can see the appearance of the Forbidden City in the Ming Dynasty, but whether it is completely consistent with the history, it needs to be judged in conjunction with literature, survey, archaeology, and science and technology.
The Hall of Supreme Harmony has been hit by lightning many times over the past 600 years. Architects of the past had to do everything possible to find a way to prevent fire, from architectural design to fire prevention facilities, and even pray to heaven.
There are generally nine animals on the roofs of high-grade ancient buildings in China. There are only ten animals in the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the country, and the last one is Xingshi.
Di Jingya said that, because it resembled Lei Gong, Xing Shi was also regarded as the incarnation of Lei Zhenzi, sitting on the top of the Hall of Supreme Harmony to drive lightning and avoid fire.
It was the first time in Di Yajing's impression that the ten small beasts in the Hall of Supreme Harmony were displayed together.
Aspect 3
Find the history of the Forbidden City in the bricks of Fengyang City
In the context of time clues, the exhibition puts some pocket-sized topics.
Through the series of objects and background introduction, some details of the 600-year history of the Forbidden City are presented.
For example, in the chapter "1902·Reconstruction of Wuying Hall", several fire-fighting appliances in the Forbidden City at the beginning of the 20th century, including helmets engraved with the "Fire Brigade" badge, were invited to give the audience a glimpse of how the Forbidden City's fire protection was integrated with Western technology of.
Another "small topic" worthy of attention is the origin of the Forbidden City.
The first capital built in the Ming Dynasty was the "New Palace" in Nanjing (now the site of the Ming Palace in Nanjing) built in 1366. From 1369 to 1375, Zhu Yuanzhang built the Ming Central Capital in his hometown Fengyang, Anhui.
In 1406, Ming Chengzu Zhu Di built the Forbidden City in Beijing based on the Nanjing Forbidden City. It was completed in 1420.
The three capitals of the Ming Dynasty were connected together, and they had significant inheritance in pattern and technique.
Almost all the cultural relics of the Forbidden City are in this exhibition. Only a few exhibits borrowed from the Fengyang County Museum and Nanjing Museum have even embellished the evolution of Nanjing.
In Fengyang County Museum, many city bricks and inscription bricks unearthed from the Mingzhongdu palace site are clearly engraved with the names of craftsmen, reflecting the ancient construction quality responsibility system, which is also continued in the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing.
There is also a Wanli gold brick from the Suzhou Imperial Kiln Brick Museum in the exhibition hall. These building materials outline the technical details of the construction of the Forbidden City.
Beijing News reporter Ni Wei
This edition of photography/Beijing News reporter Pu Feng