Nanjing ZhanYuan, also known as the "First Garden of Jinling", the Palace of the Ming Dynasty, and the Qianlong Palace, is the best-preserved garden in Nanjing and the only open Ming Dynasty royal palace. This garden with a history of more than 600 years was once part of the residence of Xu Da, the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, the office of the Qing Dynasty's various envoys in Jiangnan, and the palace of Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Since 1958, Zhan Yuan has been divided into two major viewing areas, namely the Zhan Garden garden and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Museum, and the east is the "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Museum" that is now the only state in the country.
Coming to the Zhan Garden, walking into the gate, passing through the Yi Gate, the three halls facing you are the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Exhibition, which is a thematic museum for the collection, preservation, display, publicity and research of the cultural relics and historical materials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in China. The museum has an exhibition area of about 1,200 square meters, which is divided into a brief history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and special sections such as military, economy, art, foreign relations, and influence. There are more than 2,800 pieces of cultural relics of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, including 42 first-class cultural relics; more than 10,000 photos of various cultural relics, ruins and relics; more than 2,000 files of original archives and correspondence materials; more than 6,000 books on the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom; more than 30 books of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom that have been sorted out and published with more than 7 million words, which is the cultural and museum unit with the largest collection of cultural relics and the richest historical materials in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
"Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Exhibition" is the basic exhibition of the museum, there are 4 exhibition halls, divided into prologue, historical background, Jintian Uprising, the establishment of the capital Tianjing, institutional policies, persisting in struggle, resisting aggression, defending Tianjing and the successors of the former servants and other 9 parts, systematically introducing the whole process of the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
From the end of 1850 to the beginning of 1851, under the organization of Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing, Xiao Chaogui, Feng Yunshan, Wei Changhui, Shi Dakai and others, an armed uprising against the Qing Dynasty was launched in Jintian Village, Guangxi. Under the name of "Taiping", they established an establishment system and formed the initial official, ceremonial and military systems. In January 1853, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom army conquered Wuchang, and in March 1853, the Taiping Army occupied Nanjing, and the capital was Set in Nanjing, renamed "Tianjing". The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom peasant regime, which was in opposition to the Qing Dynasty, was formally established.
As the largest, longest and most far-reaching peasant uprising in China's modern history, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom lasted 18 years and swept through most of China. It not only shook the foundation of the Qing Dynasty's rule, but also greatly promoted the course of China's modern history.
After the establishment of the capital Tianjing, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom gradually reached its peak, promulgated the "Heavenly Dynasty Field And Mu System", established the principle of "all the people under the heavens, the people under the world cultivate together", guaranteed the peasants' right to use the land, and attacked the feudal land system. This system of fields and acres won the support of the vast majority of peasants and also effectively promoted the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement.
At the same time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also banned the sale and purchase of marriages, maintaining the families of most of the people. An administrative system below the county level has been set up, stipulating the method of paying surplus grain and surplus money to the "state treasury", and after deducting the rations for each agricultural and sideline business, the rest is sent to the "state treasury" and then distributed according to regulations. It also criticized and reformed the bad habits of the Qing Dynasty, put forward new norms for the employment of the state, criminal law, economy and other systems, and was the first government in China to propose to learn from capitalist countries.
There are several cultural relics worth seeing at the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Museum, one is: in a conspicuous place in the exhibition hall, there is a tuanlong horse coat, which is the official uniform worn by the senior officials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Yellow satin texture, short sleeves fat, embroidered with four dragons, as well as peonies, bats and drifting clouds, sea water and other ornaments. It is the official uniform of Hong Tianguifu, the young king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Tiaobei: It was erected on December 30, 1855 (February 4, 1855) of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The stele is of stone, 95 cm high and 46 cm wide, and the inscription is inscribed in italics. Although it has been broken and cracked into three pieces, its contents are to ensure the smooth flow of the wharf and prevent the "stubborn boat households" from arbitrarily blackmailing the people crossing the river, and set out the charging standards, and stipulate that "all people who have no money have urgent matters, it is advisable to fly across, even if it is a person, it must be sent." A very humane stele.
Door number: The original establishment of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was implemented as a military measure, with the increasing expansion of the territory, each occupied land, the establishment of township officials, inventory of household registration, the establishment of door numbers, and gradually evolved into a measure to pacify the people, the purpose of which is to facilitate the investigation of the trouble and harassment of the undesirable people. This door plate lists the names, ages, births and deaths of the three generations of the head of the household, the close relatives of the collateral family, and the relationship with the head of the household. The house number is complete in shape, clear in print, rich in content, and is a rare first-class cultural relic. It is not known whether the history of Household Registration in China began at this time.
Changshu Wall Poem: This is written after the Taiping Army conquered Changshu, each line is 4 words, a total of 10 lines and 40 words. Its content is: "If there is a demon in constant heat (cooked), if it does not retreat, the people will live (suffer) hardship; when the heavenly soldiers arrive (driving), they will not be able to afford (deceive) their people, and they will not burn their houses; if they practice in groups, they will not burn and kill, and if they do not stay, they will be persuaded to (to) the people, and those who flee will be high." "A propaganda poem that makes it easy for ordinary people to understand has played a very good role.
To Nanjing, you must go to Zhan Yuan, one of the four famous gardens in Jiangnan, and to visit the Zhan Garden, you must go to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Museum to systematically understand the whole process of the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and its impact on China's modern history.