In the Palace Museum, there are many valuable historical relics that can survive the overthrow of the dynasty and the baptism of gunfire, and most of them have a tortuous story hidden in history. For example, the Qianlong Period "Tian Huangshi Triptych", which is regarded as a national treasure, experienced a unique journey of upheaval and displacement before lying quietly in the Forbidden City.
This Tian Huangshi Triptych was originally a treasure cherished by the Qianlong Emperor, and it was also a seal that he basically never left, consisting of two square seals and an oval seal connected together. The square seal is less than 3 centimeters long and wide, and is engraved with "Qianlong Chenhan" and "Only Jing unique"; the oval seal is 3 centimeters long and 2.3 centimeters short, engraved with the word "Lotte", and also engraved with the inscription as a decoration, which is particularly exquisite.
This seal is actually a substitute for the imperial seal, because Qianlong gave the Zen throne to Jiaqing at the age of 85, so he ordered someone to engrave this triptych seal for the purpose of the Seal of the Emperor Taishang. It is said that Qianlong was very fond of this well-made small seal with warm tentacles, and basically did not leave his hand in the years when he was the emperor, and even placed it on the pillow when he slept at night.
The value of this triptych is not only that it is a royal object, but its material is also quite precious. The triptych is carved from the whole piece of Tian Huangshi, which is an independent seal stone variety, that is to say, this stone is specially used to make seals, known as one of the "Three Treasures of Seal Stone". Tian Huangshi has always been very popular with emperors, because its color is the yellow color of the royal family, so it also has the reputation of "Emperor Stone". Folk legends such as Tian Huangshi being transformed by phoenix bird eggs, multicolored stones for Nüwa to supplement the heavens, and so on.
Moreover, the production of Tianhuang is rare, only the sand layer under the paddy field in Shoushan Village, Fujian Province, has been produced, and now after hundreds of years of continuous excavation, the remaining Tianhuangshi has long been very little, so the value has risen. It is said that the price of one gram of tianhuang with the most ordinary appearance has reached more than 3,000 yuan, not to mention the upper grade tianhuang, which has long become a valuable treasure.
After Qianlong's death, this precious triptych was treasured by successive emperors in the palace for them to watch and play. Until 1924, Feng Yuxiang launched the world-renowned "Beijing Coup", led troops into the Forbidden City, and forced the last emperor Puyi and his relatives away from the imperial palace where Ai Xinjue Luo had lived for more than a hundred years.
At that time, Feng Yuxiang only gave Puyi 3 hours to leave the palace, and also sent many soldiers to monitor and control, resulting in many treasures Puyi could not be taken away. Only this triptych, on the one hand, pinned on the feelings of the emperor, is extremely precious, on the other hand, it is indeed small and easy to carry, so Puyi secretly sewed it into the intimate clothes, fortunately escaped the search.
In the later years of upheaval and displacement, this Tian Huangshi Triptych has been carefully kept by Puyi in this way, almost can be said to have never left his body, and spent 31 years in this way. Many royal treasures were sold halfway through, but this treasure has been properly collected by Puyi. It was not until 1955, when Puyi handed over this national treasure-level cultural relic to the state, that the triptych ended the dark life of displacement and returned to the embrace of the Forbidden City.