The surging news learned that the Palace Museum's first exhibition "Why China" opened on January 25, 2022, and more than 130 cultural relics from the Stone Age to the Qing Dynasty, including stone tools, ceramics, jade, bronzes, gold and silverware, calligraphy and paintings and other categories, including He Zun, Changxin Palace lamp, Tibetan "Four Medical Classics" and other well-known national treasures. The exhibition will span important festivals such as the Spring Festival, the Beijing Winter Olympics, and the Qingming Festival. The exhibition summarizes and clearly presents why the land of China is China, why the Chinese nation is great, and why Chinese civilization is immortal.
On January 25, under the guidance of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the opening ceremony of the "Why China" exhibition organized by the Palace Museum and the Central Radio and Television Corporation and 29 museums was held in Wenyuan Pavilion of the Forbidden City. The exhibition exhibits a total of more than 130 pieces/sets of precious cultural relics, from the Upper Stone Age to the Qing Dynasty, including stone tools, ceramics, jade, bronze, gold and silverware, calligraphy and painting, ancient books, seals and other categories (limited by the exhibition hall environment, most of the paper and silk cultural relics are reproductions), including He Zun, Changxin Palace lamps, Tibetan "Four Medical Classics" and other well-known national treasures. Due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, the cultural relics of some museums in Henan and Shaanxi have not been exhibited at the opening ceremony, and will be supplemented during the exhibition period in the future as appropriate.
Exhibition site
Ho Zun
Changxin Palace lamp
According to the Palace Museum, since this exhibition originated from the creativity and efforts of holding special exhibitions in the "National Treasures" program, many of the cultural relics on display are "cultural relics stars" that have been introduced in "National Treasures" and "If National Treasures Can Talk". As the first major exhibition of the Palace Museum in the beginning of 2022, this exhibition will span important festivals such as the Spring Festival of the Year of Nongyin, the Beijing Winter Olympics, and the Qingming Festival until the beginning of May.
The surging news saw at the exhibition site that the exhibition mainly uses the big red color that caters to the New Year atmosphere as the main background color, and the exhibits are mainly presented in the main hall of the Wenhua Hall in the shape of "Gong". The exhibition has three units, each of which has three sections, which are combined into "nine chapters". The exhibits in each unit are presented in line with the theme of this chapter, and the exhibits are arranged in order of era and theme.
The first unit is called "Source", which is divided into three sections: "Between Heaven and Earth", "Birth and Work", and "Foundation of Enlightenment", which begins with the geographical analysis of China, explains the motives of the productive forces of Chinese civilization, and uses China's unique material culture to show the philosophical ideas, values, and institutional systems contained therein, thus laying the foundation for the unification of the multi-ethnic country. The land of China is vast, the three-step ladder is staggered from west to east, and the geographical units have distinct characteristics and internal and external connections, cultivating diversified livelihoods and giving birth to the characteristics of civilization. In the process of enlightening the heavens and the earth and conforming to nature, the ancestors visualized their thinking and perception as objects, so they cast the golden wu of Xihe and the golden wu, and the heavens and the earth were set in Bi Chun, and the four directions were fixed in wadang, and the culture was seen in the jade dragon. And the river of Chinese civilization gushed out the first drop of water at this time.
In the origin section of the first unit, the glorious cultural relics such as the Neolithic age and the Sanxingdui civilization are displayed.
Bronze god tree branch head standing bird Sanxingdui culture
Yugui Neolithic
A 1973 human-headed vessel-shaped ceramic vase excavated in Dadiwan, Shaodian, Qin'an, Gansu Province, is shaped like a long cylinder with two pointed ends, the lower part is slightly adducted, and the abdomen and ears are mutilated. The mouth is made of a round carved human head, the hair is draped, the forehead is short, and the hair is neatly droopy. The nose is garlic-shaped. The nose and eyes are carved into hollows, and the mouth is slightly open. Each ear has a small perforation, a round hole in the top of the head as a mouthpiece, and a light red pottery coat above the abdomen. There are three groups of two-sided continuous patterns composed of arc triangles and diagonal lines in black. The shape is characterized by a combination of abstract lines and a portrait of a human head. Decorated with sculptures and ornaments, it is extremely natural. It is an ancient work of art that is both practical and artistic.
Entering the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, culture and art presented a more prosperous scene, with carved jade and exquisite and gorgeous.
A bronze sword unearthed from Liyu Village, Hunyuan County, Shanxi, with a long wax, a ridge sunken between two subordinates, a grid inlaid with turquoise, and a lattice and a head decorated with animal face patterns. On both sides of the sword ridge there are 20 words of the wrong gold inscription: "Auspicious Day Noon, as a yuan use, Xuan Gong Lu, Yuan Yu Zhi, The so-called Shao Yu", which means: "On this auspicious day of the noonday, I made this easy-to-use sword, and the raw materials for making the sword are tin and copper." I gave this sword a name, 'Shao Yu'. "Bronze swords are mostly named after the owner, and this sword has its own name, which is relatively rare. The inscription refers to a new composite sword casting process in the Spring and Autumn Period, that is, the alloy ratio of each part of the sword body is different, the blade content is high, the hardness is sharp, the ridge is high in copper content, and the toughness is enhanced, so as to achieve the effect of rigidity and flexibility.
A bronze sword unearthed in Liyu Village, Hunyuan County, Shanxi
Plate Katakata
Speaking of the origin of Chinese civilization, the oracle bone and the oracle bone it engraved on it are also dazzling.
In addition to the oracle bones, the following Ejun Qijin Festival is also unique.
At present, a total of five pieces have been found in the Ejun Qijin Festival, of which two car festivals and one boat festival are collected in the Anhui Museum. The Golden Festival was a tax-free pass issued by the King of Chu during the Warring States period to Ejunqi for transporting goods. "鄂" is a place name, "Qi" is the name of Ejun, and "Jinjie" is a self-name. There are erroneous gold inscriptions on the surface of the golden knot, with 148 words for the car knot and 164 words for the boat knot. According to the Jinjie inscription, this section was cast in the sixth year of King Huai of Chu, that is, in 323 BC. The routes on the Golden Festival are the land and water routes from E to Ying. The content of the inscription involves many ancient place names, ancient river names, and there are also detailed provisions on embargoed materials. The Ejun Qijin Festival provides valuable materials for the study of the Chu state's methods of festivals, tariff system, water and land transportation, economic and trade, historical geography, and the relationship between the king of Chu and the feudal lord.
Ejun Qijin Festival
Confucius saw Lao Tzu portrait stone
The Palace Museum expressed its hope that with this exhibition, through the memorization of events, the narration of history with events, and the enlightenment of history, the above-mentioned wenbo workers will present the answers of the times of "why China". It is understood that the Central Radio and Television Corporation, as one of the organizers of the exhibition, gave strong support and assistance to the special exhibition. In addition to the main exhibition, the West Side Hall of the Mandarin Hall simultaneously exhibits a derivative group exhibition of "National Treasures and Performance Season" launched by the Literary and Art Program Center of the General Station, and the exhibits are 12 "National Treasure Identity Cards" created for the national treasures created by the intangible cultural heritage and local folklore of each of them. China Construction Bank Co., Ltd., as a joint promotion unit, contributed to the exhibition activities.
The exhibition "Why China" is located in the exhibition hall of the Wenhua Hall of the Palace Museum and will run from January 26 to May 4, 2022.