As the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Forbidden City has always been fascinated by people, and the various treasures and artworks in it are even more amazing. More than 40 years ago, the classic reading book "Three Books of the Forbidden City", which is regarded as the "reference book" of the Forbidden City, was published. Zhu Jialu, a cultural relics expert with 60 years of experience in the Forbidden City, selected 100 national treasures in the book "100 National Treasures of the Forbidden City". So, what are the national treasures of the Forbidden City that are included in this book? The following is the introduction of Zhu Jialu's "100 National Treasures of the Forbidden City", which has been abridged and modified compared with the original text, and the pictures used in the text are from this book. It has been authorized by the publishing house to publish.
The original author | Zhu Jiayun
Excerpt from | Anya
"100 National Treasures of the Forbidden City", by Zhu Jiayun, Movable Type Culture 丨 Guangxi Normal University Press, November 2021 edition.
The Forbidden City was originally the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The palace building itself is an important relic in the history of culture and art.
The Xinhai Revolution of 1911 overthrew the Qing Dynasty. In 1914, an antiquities exhibition hall was established in the front part of the Ming and Qing Forbidden Cities, and the rear palace was still inhabited by the Qing Emperor Puyi. After Puyi left the palace in 1924, the Qingmu Aftermath Committee was established. In October 1925, the Palace Museum was established in the rear. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the antiquities exhibition hall was abolished and merged into the Palace Museum, which has been opened to this day.
The Palace Museum now has more than 900,000 cultural relics, most of which are historical artworks left over from the palaces of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and a few have been collected in recent years. These works of art include famous paintings, legal books, inscriptions, bronzes, ceramics, embroidery and other arts and crafts.
There are many precious cultural relics in the imperial palaces of China. The Xuanhe Book Genealogy, the Xuanhe Pictorial Notation, and the Xuanhe Bogutu are catalogs of books, paintings, dings, Yi and other treasures collected by the Xuanhe Inner House of the Song Dynasty. The Western Qing Ancient Classics, the Western Qing Continuation Classics, the Ningshou Ancient Classics, the Shiqu Baodi (Chu, Chong, and III), the Secret Temple Zhulin (Chu, II, and III), the Tianlu Linlang, and the General Catalogue of the Siku Quanshu are the catalogs of bronzes, calligraphy, paintings, and books in the palace edited by Hanlin officials during the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods of the Qing Dynasty. Many of the ancient artifacts found in the bibliography have long since been lost, and now only the names can be seen in the literature. But there are also many treasures that have been gathered and scattered several times, gone through vicissitudes, and preserved to this day.
Heaven forbid. (Illustration on the inside page of "100 National Treasures of the Forbidden City")
For example, the stone drum, originally found in the field of Chen Cang, a total of ten drums. When Han Yu was a doctor in the Tang Dynasty, he requested that the stone drum be moved to Taixue, but was not allowed. Later, Zheng Yuqing moved the stone drum to the Fengxiang Confucius Temple. After five generations of military turmoil, the ten drums were lost. In the Song Dynasty, when Sima Chi was an official in Fengxiang, he collected nine drums and placed them in Fuxue. In the fourth year of the Emperor's reign (1052), the ten drums were collected. In the second year of Daguan (1108), it was moved to Kaifeng, Kyoto. The emperor ordered that the inscriptions of the stone drums be filled with gold, first displayed in Taixue's Peiyong, and later moved to the Bohol Hall.
The Jin people broke the seal and transported the stone drum to the north and placed it in Daxingfu Xue (now Beijing). During the Reign of Emperor Yuan (1312-1313), it was moved to the inside of the Temple of Literature. The Ming and Qing dynasties successively displayed stone drums in the Guozijian and The Temple of Literature in the Dacheng Gate. After the Xinhai Revolution, it is still displayed in its original place for people to visit. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, some of Beijing's antiquities moved south, and stone drums were also transported to Nanjing, and later to Sichuan via Wuhan. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, it was transported back to the Palace Museum in Beijing by the original road and preserved to this day.
Xuanhe Bogutu. (Illustration on the inside page of "100 National Treasures of the Forbidden City")
Another example is The Jin Wangxun's "Boyuan Ti", which was once contained in the "Xuanhe Book Genealogy", and the Qing Dynasty was also included in the "Shiqu Baodi"; Sui Zhanzi's "You Chun Tu", Tang Hantao's "Five Bull Diagram", and The Five Dynasties Gu Hong's "Han Xizai Night Feast Map" and other famous paintings were also included in the "Xuanhe Pictorial Spectrum", and in the Qing Dynasty, they were also included in the "Shiqu Baoji". Such famous paintings of legal books were lost from Song Xuan and the Inner House, some of which were collected by private families, and some of which were collected by the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. During the Ming Dynasty (1567-1572), some of the Tang and Song calligraphy and paintings collected by the Inner House belonged to zhu Xizhong and Zhu Xixiao, the duke of Chengguo. After Zhu Xizhong's death in the first year of the Wanli Calendar (1573), the finest collection he collected belonged to Zhang Juzheng. After Zhang Juzheng died in the tenth year of the Wanli Dynasty (1582), his home was raided, and this part of the calligraphy and painting was returned to the palace.
Xuanhe Book Notation and Xuanhe Painting Notation. (Illustration on the inside page of "100 National Treasures of the Forbidden City")
Another example is Song Zhang Zeduan's "Map of the Upper River of the Qingming Dynasty", which was once collected by many people, and was obtained by Yan Song, the minister of power, when Ming Jiajing was in charge. Yan Song's father and son were robbed of their homes, and many famous paintings of the Law were included in the palace, and the "Map of the Upper River of the Qingming Dynasty" was also one of them, but it was soon stolen by the eunuch Feng Bao as his own. During the Qianlong Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, many of the cultural relics in the old collection in the palace were left over from the Ming Dynasty. Qianlong loves ancient calligraphy, paintings and utensils, and pays attention to collecting. For example, the famous paintings of the Fashu collected by the great collectors An Yizhou, Liang Qingbiao, Gao Shiqi, Bi Yuan, etc., were later collected in the imperial palace through various channels. This is how the vast sea of calligraphy and paintings contained in the "Stone Canal Baodi" and the "Secret Hall Zhulin" were collected.
After Qianlong and Jiaqing, the palace did not attach much importance to ancient calligraphy and paintings, but continued to collect. In the Xianfeng Decade (1860) and the 26th year of Guangxu (1900), foreign troops invaded Beijing twice, and many precious cultural relics in the Gardens of Yuanming and Qingyi were plundered and destroyed. In the thirteen years from after the Xinhai Revolution to Puyi's departure from the palace in 1924, many precious cultural relics in the palace were lost.
After the establishment of the Palace Museum, it checked the remaining calligraphy and paintings according to the "Shiqu Baoji" and compiled and printed a "Catalogue of Books and Paintings of the Forbidden City". After 1949, the Palace Museum vigorously acquired according to this catalog, collected from many parties, and most of the calligraphy and paintings have been recovered one after another, including the famous paintings of the Legal Books of the Jin, Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties, of which "Mid-Autumn Festival", "Boyuan Ti", "Five Bull Diagrams" and so on were still purchased from Hong Kong with heavy gold.
Liang Qingbiao's collection of "On the Balcony Post" (after processing). (Illustration on the inside page of "100 National Treasures of the Forbidden City")
In addition to the above-mentioned precious cultural relics that have been gathered and scattered, lost and recovered, and finally preserved in the Forbidden City, the fashu and famous paintings that have been safely collected in the palace still account for the majority. As for the precious cultural relics belonging to the field of arts and crafts, such as furniture and utensils, there are even more numerous that have never left the Forbidden City. Some utensils have not been moved since they were made and presented. For example, "Da Yu Zhi Shui Yu Shan", after it was installed in August of the fifty-second year of Qianlong (1787), it has not moved its position until today.
In addition to the ancient jade that has been handed down from generation to generation in the Forbidden City, the existing jade of the Qing Dynasty has also been preserved in the palace since it was made into submission, and some of them are still made of "jade work" by the Yangxin Hall Manufacturing Office. The porcelain tires published in this book, "Enamel Color Pheasant Peony Pattern Bowl", "Painting Enamel Flower and Bird Vase", "Ivory Carved Fishing Music Picture Pen Holder", "Hundred Treasures Inlaid Flower Paint Hanging Screen", made of "enamel work", "tooth work" and "miscellaneous work" of the manufacturing office, have been stored in the palace since they were presented to the emperor, and the number of such crafts is quite large. Porcelain, fired by the Jingdezhen Porcelain Department in Jiangxi Province, has been presented over the years and left more than 100,000 pieces in the palace.
The palace also contains a large number of brocade, satin, aya, luo, yarn, silk, crepe and other whole fabrics, as well as silk and embroidered clothes, as well as special works designed and handed over by the Yangxindian Manufacturing Office. The scrolls of "Shiqingdi Elysium Woven into Brocade Diagrams", "Peacock Feathers Wear Pearls Embroidered Cloud Dragon Jifu Robes", and "Silk Embroidery Nine Yang Cold Relief Diagram" selected in this book are selected from them.
Treasures of the Forbidden City. (Illustration on the inside page of "100 National Treasures of the Forbidden City")
The book contains arts and crafts left over from the Ming Dynasty palace, including porcelain from Yongle, Chenghua, and Wanli Nian, copper filigree enamelware from Xuande and Jingtai Nian, and large books with black lacquer inlaid screws in the Wanli Nian. These artifacts were made for use after they were made, and they were stored in the palace through the Ming and Qing dynasties.