◆ Bonsai type table lamp
Author: Zhao Yingying
"The lights shake the rainbow Zhang Huatang, and the moon scatters Yao light all over the forbidden city." The history of Chinese palace lamps has a long history, as early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, there have been relevant accounts, and the actual palace lamps unearthed can be traced back to the Warring States period or even earlier. Over thousands of years, the palace lamp has continued to develop along with the evolution of society, reaching a historical peak in the Qing Dynasty, with rich material selection, exquisite production, changeable shape, rich and graceful appearance, condensing wisdom and ingenuity and exquisite skills.
At the "Exhibition of Palace Lamps and Lanterns" being exhibited at the Beijing Optical Science and Technology Museum, nine elaborately restored palace lamps were unveiled for the first time, taking the three major festivals of the year, birthday and marriage as an important part of Chinese folklore as the entry point, leading people to relive the memory of Chinese civilization carried by the palace lamps. Looking at the palace lamp in history, it is not only in the taste of the essence of Chinese craftsmanship, but also in the hope of people's bright happiness, expressing the blessing of celebrating grand events, and conveying the wish for the prosperity of the country and the prosperity of the people. It is a heavy tangible cultural heritage.
■ The longevity lantern with a height of more than 10 meters was installed during the New Year of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the Qingcheng lantern decorated with red lacquer was dedicated to ancestor sacrifice during the Lantern Festival of the Qing Palace
When the old is retired and the new is welcomed, it is natural that the palace lamps are indispensable, and some of the palace lamps have also become new year rituals, which are given different auspicious meanings. The lanterns usher in the spring and add climax to the New Year of the Heavenly Family.
The longevity lantern is a large ceremonial lamp installed during the New Year of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and it is also a unique scenery in the imperial palace, which is used from the 24th to the end of the first month every year. The Qing Palace Longevity Lamp is tall, with a height of more than 10 meters (three feet and three feet), which is composed of four parts: stone seat, lamp post, lamp joint and lamp string. The stone pedestal is more than 1 meter (3 feet 5 inches) high and is made of blue and white stone. The lamppost is made of giant wood, etc., and the pillar is painted with gold and painted with cloud dragon patterns, and the top is an important eaves pavilion, a fairy fan, and a cloud dragon head. Each longevity lamp is equipped with eight lamp joints, the length of the lamp joint is about 5 meters, embroidered, and the word for the longevity lamp is on it. Each longevity lamp is also equipped with a string of lights with eight hangings, and each hanging eight lanterns is connected from top to bottom.
The installation of longevity lanterns was an important festival ceremony for the Qing Dynasty Tianjia New Year. When going to the Longevity Lantern, it is necessary to set up a lamppost on the Dan Majesty Stone Seat in front of the Qianqing Palace and the Ningshou Palace, and this step alone requires dozens of people to complete. After the lamppost is set up, the lamp joint is hung under the faucet at the top of the pillar, and the lamp joint is suspended in eight directions, with different contents. On Chinese New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, the eleventh, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth days of the first month, the lights will be replaced and the string of lights will be hung. The string of lamps hangs in the same direction in eight directions, each hanging eight lanterns, consisting of six longevity lamps of different sizes, a gourd lamp, and a fish bottle lamp, all made of sheep's horns and decorated with colors.
From a small sample of longevity lamps and lamps on display, people can glimpse the brilliance of such palace lamps. When making longevity lamps in the Qing Dynasty, it was necessary to make a small sample and send it to the emperor for presentation, and the emperor could only make and modify it after the emperor put forward his opinions. The form and content of the lamp-like sample are no different from those of the longevity lamp-and-lantern, but the size is reduced in proportion.
Qingcheng Lantern is a type of palace lamp specially used in the Qing Dynasty court to sacrifice the ancestors of the Dynasty during the Lantern Festival, and is only displayed in three temples, such as the Taimiao Temple, the Fengxian Hall and the Shouhuang Hall, and the temple dedicated to the ancestors of the Qing Dynasty. The Qingcheng lantern means the merit of Qingcheng and the final success of Fulu, to celebrate the reverence of the ancestors' merits, and to hang the lamp to enshrine the completion of the deeds of the past. This type of lamp is decorated with festive and warm red lacquer, decorated with gold depiction, and the lamp body as a whole is auspicious (tribulus), with inlayed corner pieces, and painted gold dragon patterns in the corner pieces. Using the Qingcheng lantern as a lamp for ancestor worship, and hanging it around the Lantern Festival of family reunion, it expresses the qing dynasty imperial family's attitude of remembering the difficulties of entrepreneurship of the ancestors, inheriting the great achievements of the ancestors, respecting the heavens of the ancestors, and the attitude of pursuing the distant future with caution, respecting sincerity and filial piety, and setting an example for the world. The Qing court attached great importance to the Qingcheng lantern sacrifice, and made clear provisions on the number and specific location of the lanterns on the Qingcheng lanterns, and recorded them in the form of the "Huidian" and other forms, becoming a national canon; many monarchs would also reiterate or modify the rules for the Qingcheng lantern sacrifice after taking the throne to form the Qingcheng lantern sacrifice method of the dynasty.
■ During the longevity ceremony, the flower basket lamp is offered to Rui, and the gourd lamp is used to symbolize Fulu Kangning, which not only conveys the joyful celebration of the monarch's longevity, but also pins the beautiful wish for the prosperity of the country
The birthday of the emperor of the Qing Dynasty was called the Wanshou Festival, and it was listed together with New Year's Day and the Winter Solstice as the three most important festivals in the court of the year. During the longevity ceremony, the whole country rejoiced and celebrated with the whole world, and the streets and alleys of the capital were densely lit and mighty, presenting a magnificent and magnificent scenery. Longxing longevity not only means that merit and merit are celebrated, inheriting the past and opening up the future, but also realizing the joy of the people and stimulating the people's aspirations, and can also show the national strength and the harmony of the world. The treasure lanterns are full of lights, which not only convey the joyful celebration of the monarch's long life, but also pin the beautiful wish for the prosperity of the country.
Flower offerings are commonly used in the Wanshou Festival, and many flower basket lamps appear in the "Kangxi Wanshou Tu" and "Qianlong Wanshou Tu" depicting the longevity of the Qing Emperor. A flower basket lamp in the Forbidden City's collection adopts a flower arrangement flower basket as the lamp body shape, which is divided into three parts: the flower basket lamp body (with wax inside), flowers and lamp spikes. The flower basket lamp is made of rosewood carving, divided into six sides, each side is inlaid with a green and white jade plate, carved with bats, gourds and pan intestines, which means that Fulu is long, and the jade plate is inlaid with dyed ivory melon patterns, which means the prosperity of future generations. The outer edge of the flower basket lamp body, the upper part is decorated with a circle of Nan wood carved curly grass dragon pattern, the lower part is decorated with a circle of ivory dye (green) color carved Ruyi cloud head pattern, very exquisite, the inner edge of the flower basket is embedded with copper gilt flower mouth, flower branches are inserted in this copper gilt flower mouth. The basket contains plum blossoms, camellias, hibiscus, chrysanthemums, etc. made of tourmaline, coral, jade, crystal, etc. Among the flowers, a blue chrysanthemum made of lapis lazuli is quite eye-catching. Blue chrysanthemums are rare, and the use of blue chrysanthemums as ornaments should not be invented by craftsmen, and the Qianlong Emperor once wrote a poem: "The dew leaves are slanted by the wind, and the family of the virgins who know the eastern fence." Although the name of this flower is Mao Chrysanthemum, it can be known that there are also blue flowers. He was surprised to find blue chrysanthemums in the summer resort.
In the emperor's longevity celebration, the gourd lamp is also one of the commonly used lamps, and its lamp is made of gourd-style shape. Gourd, harmonic "Fu" and "Lu", has auspicious meanings such as "Daji Fulu" and "Fulu Kangning". One of the pieces on display this time is a bronze tire painting enamel inlaid glass Daji gourd type hanging lamp, and its treasure cover, lamp body frame and lamp spike hanging tag are all made of copper tire painting enamel process. Under the leadership of the Kangxi Emperor, the painting enamel originally applied only to the metal tire in Europe was combined with the ceramic tire and the purple sand tire in China to develop the enamel color porcelain and the purple sand tire painting enamel, forming a new development of the painting enamel art with a unique Chinese style.
Fish, which means more than one year, more auspicious, more than one, and more than one dragon gate, is also widely used in longevity celebrations and daily furnishings. A red pisces hanging lamp on display this time is divided into three parts: treasure cover, lamp body and lamp spike, the treasure cover is a door type, wooden tire gold paint, and the eaves corner is draped with beads and ears. The lamp body is red Pisces, the exterior is framed by filigree inlays, and the interior is equipped with lampshades, and the lampshades are depicted with gold painted fish scales and fin patterns. The craftsmanship of corner lamps is a traditional Chinese handmade technique. lampshades are transparent such as tulle, windproof and lightweight, compared to glass and other materials, its texture is more stable, not easy to burst, compared to yarn, wood and other materials, its transparency is better, and not easy to burn. The horn lamp production process uses cattle and sheep horns as raw materials, first divides and scrapes them, and then makes thin, hot melts, splices, bonds, plasticizes and colors. Under the body of this red pisces lamp is a rosewood carved seawater wave pattern, the base is drooping silk and a circle of quilts, and the fence is drooping beads and ears, which is cleverly designed, implying the meaning of the fish leaping dragon gate.
■ On the important occasion of the marriage of the Qing Emperor, the palace lamp was used as a decorative decoration, and also appeared in the empress's makeup, as well as as the ceremony ceremony and illumination
The palace lamp is an indispensable content in the ceremonial instrument of the Qing Emperor's wedding ceremony. The marriage of the Qing Emperor not only means the growth of personal cultivation, Qi, governance and peace, but also often accompanies the transfer of the center of state power, and it is also related to the continuation of dynastic rule, so it is one of the most solemn state ceremonies in the Qing Dynasty. On this important occasion, the palace lamp was used as both a decorative decoration and appeared in the queen's makeup, as well as as an honor guard and lighting during the ceremony.
A double-happy croissant handle lamp that appears in this exhibition is used in the marriage ceremony and the welcome ceremony of the Tongzhi Emperor's wedding. This lamp is composed of two parts: the lampshade and the lamp holder, and the lampshade is made of sheep's horn. Before welcoming the empress into the palace, the emperor first went to the Taihe Hall to read the golden book and gold treasure of the canonized empress and accepted the ceremony of prostrating hundreds of officials. In the process of the Tongzhi Grand Wedding Ceremony, at the seven gates around the Taihe Hall, such as the back left door and the back right door, this kind of horn handle lamp is set up, and each door is paired, which is held by a special person. The ceremony of welcoming the empress dowager into the palace is the ceremony of welcoming the empress dowager into the palace. The Tongzhi Empress Alut's Fengyu entered the palace through the Daqing Gate and the Duanmen Gate on the central axis of Beijing, and the lampkeeper took this kind of horn and served the queen on both sides of the road and inside the city gate. After the end of the wedding ceremony, this kind of croissant hand lamp can also be used as a daily necessity, displayed in the various halls of the harem for lighting and decoration, according to records, it has been displayed in Yikun Palace, Tihe Hall, Chuxiu Palace, Qingyun Zhai, Daode Hall, Pingkang Room, Lijingxuan and many other places.
In the exhibition, a rosewood inlaid glass dragon and phoenix table lamp with a pattern is the makeup content of the Empress Alut clan at the time of Tongzhi's wedding. The queen's dowry is the dowry of the queen's big wedding. The dowry of the civil bride is generally prepared by the female family, while the royal family is different, and the dowry of the empress of the Qing Dynasty is fully prepared by the royal (male family), and the Seiko materials of the world must be collected. After the queen's makeup is ready, it is sent to the queen's mansion in advance, and then carried from the queen's mother's house into the palace at the time of the big wedding, and a dowry is taken into the palace. Because the Guangdong Customs, which was in charge of the preparation at that time, failed to prepare and transport the table lamps and others to the capital as scheduled, the lamps of the Office of the Interior Office of the Interior rushed to produce four pairs of rosewood glass heart painting multicolored table lamps, and equipped them with fir light boxes. This exhibit is one of four pairs of table lamps. Until the Guangxu period, these four pairs of table lamps were still displayed in the East Pavilion of Kunning Palace (that is, the big wedding room). Later, in the Puyi period, from the photos taken at that time, it can be seen that this lamp is still displayed on the Kang table of the East Pavilion of Kunning Palace. As explained from the above, the table lamp is likely to have undergone the wedding ceremony of two emperors and one Emperor Sun. To this day, in the original daily furnishings of the Kunning Palace in the Forbidden City, this kind of lamp is still like the old furnishings.
The Tongzhi model Jin DayuanBao Xizi lamp is also the content of the Tongzhi Empress makeup. One of the pieces on display this time is wax-shaped, all-over gilded, composed of yuanbao and double-happy characters, and the surface is engraved with tuanshou pattern, flowing cloud pattern, double-happy character and so on. It can be seen from the "Red File of the Guangxu Wedding Ceremony" and the "Guangxu Great Wedding Map" that there are also such candlesticks in the makeup of empress Yehenara clan at the time of the Guangxu Emperor's great wedding, which should be modeled on the makeup content of the Tongzhi Grand Wedding Empress. In addition to the Big Yuanbao Xizi Lamp, the Guangxu Grand Wedding Empress also saw "Jin Xiaoyuanbao Xizi Lamp Pair" in the makeup, its shape is basically the same, but the volume is slightly increased, which shows that the Qing court has a lot of respect for this modeling lamp.
(The author is a young scholar of the Palace Museum)
Source: Wen Wei Po