In the early days of the Founding of the Republic of China, Puyi and others still lived in the Forbidden City. In accordance with the preferential conditions for the Qing Dynasty agreed upon by the Nanjing Provisional Government and the Qing government and the deputies, Puyi and others also lived in the Forbidden City. The government of the Republic of China allocates 4 million taels of silver every year for the daily use of Puyi and others.
It is said that this 4 million taels of silver is also a huge amount of money, which is completely enough for Puyi and others to spend. However, Puyi and others were accustomed to a luxurious and luxurious life, and at that time, the National Government was tight in finances, and often could not pay the "preferential treatment fee for cleaning up the room" on time, so they often could not make ends meet. On the other hand, under the temptation of going abroad to stay in the west, he also left a good way back for himself to prevent accidents, and he began to guard the behavior of self-theft.
However, after all, he was a thief with a weak heart, and did not dare to openly transport the national treasures treasures treasured by the Forbidden City to the outside of the palace without scruples, so he hollowed out his mind and came up with a two-pronged strategy, not only to steal the treasures in the palace out of the palace, but also not to show his feet. The method adopted in the name of "rewarding" Pujie made the act of stealing national treasures cloaked in a "reasonable" cloak. Just when Pu Jie was "reading together" in the palace, he had to go in and out of the Forbidden City every day, providing convenient conditions for their theft of luck.
Puyi still lived in the Forbidden City after his abdication
The "reward" officially began on September 4, 1922. They first targeted the smuggling on the precious books of the Song and Yuan dynasties.
After Puyi succeeded in stealing good books, he set his greedy eyes on the famous paintings of the fa books of the past, because Puyi was well aware of the preciousness of these famous works. It can be said that Puyi is still quite interested in works of art such as calligraphy and painting, which is mainly due to his objective political environment. In the 12 years after Puyi's abdication, he still called the lone widow "close the door and become the emperor" in the Forbidden City in Beijing, and had neither military affairs nor political affairs. Puyi had nothing to do, so he wanted to find something to do, so he began to clean up and appreciate the calligraphy paintings of the past dynasties treasured in the palace.
Since Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty, many state affairs have begun to embark on the road of weakness. The emperors of the Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi, and Guangxu dynasties had been overwhelmed by internal and external troubles and had no time to take care of the art of calligraphy that they were not interested in, and it was doubtful that they had never read the famous relics of the palace. In this regard, Puyi's recollection is the best explanation: "When I was 16 years old (1921), one day, driven by curiosity, I asked the eunuch to open a warehouse on the side of Jianfu Palace, and the seal of the warehouse was very thick, and it had not been opened for at least several decades. I saw a room full of large boxes piled up to the ceiling, with jiaqingnian seals on the skin, and no one could say what was inside. I asked the eunuch to open one, and it turned out to be all hand-scrolled calligraphy and paintings and very elaborate antique jade objects. Later, it was clear that this was Qianlong's own favorite treasure of that year. After Qianlong's death, Jiaqing ordered that all those treasures and playthings be sealed and filled with many palace warehouses around The Jianfu Palace, and all I found was one of them. ”
Therefore, in the collection of calligraphy and paintings in the palace, the appreciation marks of the emperors after Jiaqing cannot be seen, but the last emperor Bo Yi ordered Luo Zhenyu to seal the seals of "Xuantong Imperial Collection" and "Wuyi Zhai Jingjian Seal", handed them over to Wang Fuchang to carve, and then ordered the ministers who cleaned up and appreciated the calligraphy and paintings to put them on the original works of calligraphy and painting.
"Treasure of Xuantong Imperial Collection" seal
The seal of "Wuyi Zhai Jing Jian Seal"
One of the intentions is to sell fame and reputation, and to be elegant. Because as early as the ninth year of Qianlong (1744), the first appraisal and collation of the Qing Palace calligraphy and painting collection was carried out. In the order of the stored palaces, according to the books, albums, and scrolls, one by one, appraisal, distinguish between superior and inferior, numbered with a thousand characters, detailed and concisely written one by one; in addition to the "Treasure of qianlong Royal Collection" and "Shiqu Baoji", the top grade is added "Qianlong Appreciation", "Sanxitang Qingjian Seal", "Yi descendants three seals", called "Five Seals". In the fifty-sixth year of Qianlong (1791), the second appraisal and collation work was carried out, and in addition to the original "Five Seals" and the seal of the storage palace, the seals of the collection were added with "Stone Canal Recompilation" and "Stone Canal Dingjian", called "Seven Seals", and after Qianlong abdicated, he added such large seals as "Emperor Taishang", "Treasure of the Ancient Rare Heavenly Son", and "Treasure of the Eight Signs". In the twentieth year of Jiaqing (1815), the third appraisal was carried out, and the Tibetan seals of the Jiaqing Zhujian were also imitated in the format of the Qianlong Five Seals and the Seven Seals.
Puyi felt that since the ancestors and emperors had all sealed their seals, he followed suit and stamped his own connoisseur seal.
The second intention is to be concise and clear, to find out the bottom number, so that the "reward" is prepared for the smuggling out of the palace.
The famous paintings of the Fashu in the Qing Palace are mainly stored in the Qianqing Palace, the Yangxin Hall, the Chonghua Palace, and the Imperial Study.
The calligraphy and paintings in the palace have brocade sleeves on the vertical scrolls, the albums have Aya brocade bags, and the hand scrolls also have light yellow or light blue and white flowers for the house despoticism, and the white soft satin is wrapped, and the names of the calligraphy and paintings reported in ink color are printed on them, the name of the author, the age, and the evaluation level, and each piece is dedicated and must not be confused. In addition, each piece is custom-made with a white jade skimmer, a relief pattern on the front, wrapped in engraved names, and filled with red gold, and the text is consistent with the wrapped skin. Each piece of calligraphy and painting is decorated with a nanmu box, and its length and size are customized according to the volume of the calligraphy and painting itself. The calligraphy and paintings collected in various places were originally used for large cabinets, mostly made of rosewood, and some were as high as the roof, which was quite convenient to store and not too troublesome to extract. In addition, a number is added to the name of each piece of calligraphy and painting, and the cabinet shelf is found by number when extracted. In Puyi's "Reward" catalog, the vast majority of works have font sizes, the most are "Jing" font sizes, the second is the lack of numbering although the number is listed, and the second is the "Yong" font size, the "Long" font size, and the "Sea" font size.
Although the gates of shenwu gate and north gate in and out of the Forbidden City were still guarded by the "inner city guard" commanded by the infantry of the Republic of China, Puyi felt that this still could not pose a threat to his plan to steal calligraphy and paintings, because the successful action of transporting good books had always played a psychological role in cheering him up. Since good books can be smuggled out of the palace unconsciously, what is so difficult about the theft of calligraphy and paintings?
Puyi still imitated the method of stealing good books, first choosing the hand-scrolled album, because it was small in size, it looked inconspicuous, did not attract the attention of the guards, and was easier to fool through. At the same time, huang huang, who had always been carried by eunuchs, went in and out, followed Byojie, the personnel on duty were commonplace and ignored them, so they ignored them and were lazy to ask questions, so they let it go and went unhindered.
Puyi 's first time ' rewarded " Pu Jie with 10 paintings and calligraphy. From December 9 of the same year, they saw that the guards guarding the gate were sloppy and careless, and they were useless. So they took the opportunity to increase the number of pieces smuggled at a time. 15 pieces, 20 pieces, 25 pieces, the thief's boldness is getting bigger and bigger, it is simply unscrupulous. On December 27, the "reward" was as high as 30 pieces at a time, including: (Ming) Tang Yin's "Wild Flight Rain Scene", (Yuan) Zhao Mengfu's "Le Zhi on the Combination of Calligraphy and Painting", (Song) Ma Yuan's "Xishan Qiu ShuangTu", (Song) Zhao Boju's "Pengying Xianhe Tu", (Ming) Wen Zhengming's "Chibi Futu", (Ming) Qiu Ying's "Five Hundred Luohan Tu", and (Yuan) Huang Gongwang's "Xishan Endless Map".
Ming Wen Zheng Ming "Chibi Fu Scroll" partial
On several occasions after January 5, 1923, the number of "rewards" reached 35. It is with this method of increasing one by one and stealing in batches that the companions of Pu Jie and Pu Jia, the two "emperors", returned from the Forbidden City almost every day, taking away several large bags of calligraphy paintings. At first, it was "rewarded" twice in a few days, and then it was simply "rewarded" once, and its real intention was to steal all the famous calligraphy paintings in the palace.
It can be seen from this that Puyi was also adopting a multifaceted method in the "reward" activities he carried out, not only covering his ears and stealing bells to deceive himself, but even more vicious is not to do one or two, simply to eliminate the evidence of the crime, not to include it in the list, tore off the original disguise, intensified, had no scruples, secretly stole, even the eunuchs in charge of the management and guard were also confused, leaving only a confused account that could not be sorted out.
Puyi's plan to steal national treasures was by no means limited to the part of the fashu title scroll, he wanted to steal all the national treasures that could be smuggled out of the palace in the Forbidden City and take them for himself. After more than two months of continuous "rewards", the original collection of books and scrolls has been basically looted, and as for the books, the remaining books are very limited, and only the scrolls have not yet been moved. These untouched scrolls and a very small part of the album are not discovered by Puyi's gang of "conscience" and are reluctant to do it, but objectively there are specific difficulties that are not easy to overcome, mainly because the volume of the scrolls is too large, and some are too long to be wrapped, and they are obviously dangling out and afraid of exposing the horse's feet. While studying new safe and secure methods of smuggling, we were confronted with turbulent political times and dramatic changes in the domestic situation.
In 1924, Feng Yuxiang's Nationalist Army, which occupied Beijing, placed the bribe-elected "Grand President" Cao Kun under house arrest at the "Yanqing Building" behind the Wuying Hall of the Forbidden City, and the "Inner City Garrison" outside the Forbidden City had been reorganized by Feng Yuxiang's Nationalist Army and strengthened its strength and guardianship of the Forbidden City. In this situation, Puyi's original planned conspiracy plan obviously encountered strong resistance. Therefore, it is the sudden change of the situation that forced Puyi and others to restrain and temporarily stop the smuggling activities. As long as the situation changes again and there is an opportunity to take advantage of it, Puyi will still come up with new tricks until all the scrolls are stolen, which is his ultimate goal.
The preciousness of the fine works of calligraphy and paintings that Puyi smuggled out of the palace is difficult to express in words, and it is even more incalculable, among them, among them are Wang Xizhi's "Broken Qiang Ti", "Cao E's Monument", and "Er Xie Ti", Tang Ouyang's "Thousand Characters of xingshu", Tang Xuanzong Li Longji's "Mao Yingqi Zhi Zhi Zhi Zhao" handwritten inkblot, Song Huizong Zhao Qi's "Hou Chibi Fu", Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian" autographed original manuscript, and so on. In terms of painting, there are Gu Kaizhi's "Luoshen Tu" and "Lienu Renzhi Tu" of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Sui Zhanzi Qian's "You Chun Tu", Tang Yan Liben's "Gong Tu" and "Bu Bao Tu", Song Li Gonglin's "Female Shi Zhen" and "Nine Song Tu", and the Song Dynasty Ma Yuan, Xia Gui and Ma Lin's "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River" painted by each of them.
Gu Kaizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty's "Roselle Futu"
As for the treasures, antiques, gold and silver utensils that Puyi stole from the Forbidden City in Beijing, there are no records, but according to the recollections of some parties and from the later diaspora, there are also many of them. Puyi's cousin Pujia, who read as Puyi's English companion when he was a child, often went in and out of the palace, and he once recalled: "Two days before Puyi left the palace, we took advantage of the fact that there was no one in the Yangxin Hall, took out some pearl bracelets and other things that were easy to carry from the safe, and packed them in two small suitcases, ready to take them out of the palace. ”
Pu Jie, Pu Yi, Pu Jia photo
Puyi has liked jade since childhood, see more naturally also have a certain level of appreciation of jade, Puyi from the Forbidden City in Beijing smuggled jewelry jade to jade jewelry as the most refined, the value is also very expensive, of which glass jade has many, size and shape, are rare treasures, as well as dozens of grams of diamonds, Indonesian opal, ruby, jadeite and other treasures.
On November 5, 1924, Puyi took Empress Wanrong and Shufei Wenxiu, in the name of carrying daily necessities and jewelry, with some jewelry and jade, in a car prepared by the Republic of China government, accompanied by Lu Zhonglin and Zhang Bi, out of the Forbidden City and arrived at the former Prince Of Alcohol's mansion along the Beihai and his biological father Zaifeng's house. Puyi saw that the front of the palace gate and around the palace were covered with soldiers with live ammunition, so he went straight to the palace. At this time, what kind of mood Puyi was in, no one knew, people just saw him tightly shut, looking serious and depressed, with a sense of indescribable loss. But there is still some relief in the loss. It turned out that Puyi thought of the rare treasures that he and Pujie had smuggled out of the Forbidden City in Beijing, and although they had been stored in prince's mansion for a period of time, fortunately, they had all been transferred to the safe place in the Japanese Concession of Tianjin, which was enough to ensure his life's glory and wealth.
On the left is Lady Wen embroidery, in the middle is Empress Wanrong, and on the right is Tang Shixia, the niece of Princess Duankang
How the national treasure stolen by Puyi was transported to Tianjin
The national treasures stolen from the Forbidden City in Beijing by Puyi, Pujie, and others were stored in the Palace of alcohol for a period of time and then all transferred to the concession of Tianjin. In this regard, Puyi's cousin is also the companion of his palace to read the theft of national treasures in a self-report of Pu Jia:
Because as early as 1922, because Beijing was often threatened by war, I was deeply afraid that once Puyi could not live in the palace, there would be nowhere to avoid chaos, so my father (Zaitao) bought a building on behalf of Puyi in the Tianjin concession.
When these national treasures were transported to Tianjin, it took a lot of trouble. These books, calligraphy and paintings contained a total of seventy or eighty large wooden boxes, which were both large in size and numerous in number. When entering and leaving the train station, not only do you have to pay taxes, but you are also most afraid of being inspected. It so happened that Sun Baoqi, the national railway superintendent at the time, was the father-in-law of Zai Zhen (zai zhen the Prince of Qing). I found Zai, saying that the things of prince Shuo's mansion and our family were to be transported to Tianjin, and asked him to entrust Sun Baoqi to obtain a passport that was exempt from inspection and taxation. Sure enough, the passport was successfully completed, and I escorted the antiquities to Tianjin, all stored in Building 166 Gordon Road. With this batch of rare treasures to be Puyi's strong capital for living and studying in the future, I think it is most appropriate to live in Tianjin, which can be said to be fearless.
On February 23, 1925, Puyi came to Tianjin and soon moved all the national treasures stored in Gordon Road to ZhangYuan and later to Jingyuan.
How the national treasure stored in Tianjin was transported to Changchun
Later, after Puyi sat firmly on the throne of the puppet Manchukuo Emperor, he certainly would not forget the batch of national treasures he collected in Tianjin, which was his greatest economic sustenance and the priceless wealth he possessed. Shipped to puppet Manchukuo? Even if it is luck, what is the luck method? In Tianjin, with his father Zaifeng and a number of cronies guarding the treasures, and with the support of the Japanese police station, of course, there will be no mistakes. Shipped to "Xinjing" and placed next to Puyi, the heart will always be calmer, but after the shipment is afraid of accidents, will the Japanese fight the idea of this batch of national treasures?
When Puyi ascended the throne, he wanted to wear a dragon robe The Japanese did not agree, but only allowed him to wear the costume of the Japanese Grand Marshal
Just when Puyi was still hesitating to play his little calculation, the Japanese had already established a set policy for this. Because the Japanese attach no less importance to this batch of national treasures than Puyi, transporting them all to Changchun is more conducive to the overall control of Puyi, although it can be said to be a thing in the hand in the Japanese concession of Tianjin, but there is always a sense of whiplash. Why don't the Japanese covet this large number of national treasures, and when the time comes, they can become a treasure at any time.
"Emperor's Imperial Hanging" Yoshioka Yasuna said of Puyi in accordance with the instructions of the Japanese Kwantung Army: "It is necessary to transport that large number of calligraphy and painting cultural relics from Tianjin to the 'Palace House' in 'Xinjing'. Otherwise, some people will think: 'Why did the Emperor of Manchukuo not store his things in Manchuria, but in Tianjin outside the territory of Manchukuo?' This may well make people suspect that you still want to go back to Tianjin to live!" Under this threat, Puyi obediently transported the calligraphy and painting cultural relics stored in Tianjin to the Changchun Puppet Imperial Palace in batches.
In mid-June 1936, Puyi sent an edict ordering Pu Xiu, a clan member who remained in the Qing office in Tianjin, to escort the first batch of national treasures to "Xinjing". Pu Xiu was instructed to pack 40 pieces of hand scrolls into 2 boxes and transport them to the pseudo-imperial palace under the protection of the Japanese.
The delivery process of these national treasures is quite strict, and every detail is arranged very securely. First of all, Cun Qi, a personal bodyguard sent by Puyi to Tianjin, and Pu Xiu, a member of the Tianjin Qing office, received the signatures and seals in person according to the detailed books of items, box by piece, and then the Japanese Red Hat Society in Tianjin "added devices to load and unload completely along the road." The transportation was directly responsible for the Japanese secret service in Tianjin, and the railway command was directly responsible for the trailer, and the Japanese gendarmes were sent along the way to protect the puppet imperial palace directly to "Shinjing".
Changchun Puppet Manchu Imperial Palace
Puyi's collection, loss and transfer of famous paintings of the Qing Palace during his stay in Tianjin
In China's history, there have been several tragic disappearances and catastrophes of famous Paintings of French Calligraphy. On the surface, the causes of this are closely related to the chaos, war, or decline of dynasties. But if we examine those historical phenomena a little, we will find that the "selfishness" of the original supreme ruler is the most powerful "pusher". During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Liangyuan Emperor Xiao Xuan, who gathered 240,000 volumes of painting books and classics and burned them to the ground, was even worse than puyi, the last feudal dynasty in Chinese history——- the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Puyi's "small imperial court" in the Forbidden City of Beijing stole the treasures of the Qing Palace and secretly transported them to Tianjin, as well as the wanton sale and mortgage of the Treasures of the Qing Palace that he regarded as his own during his time in Tianjin to satisfy his own profligacy and the vast expenses of the "Small Imperial Court" in the Japanese Concession.
Speaking of puyi's storage, loss and transfer of treasures in the tianjin period, it is impossible not to mention building 166, No. 13 Road, No. 13 Road, The British Concession of Tianjin at that time. Three years before he fled to Tianjin, around 1922, when the "Little Imperial Court" in Beijing was in place, he transported a steady stream of paintings and ancient books stolen in the name of rewarding Pujie to Tianjin and existed in this building for more than half a year.
Why did Puyi buy a house in Tianjin to store the treasures of the Inner House that were stolen and shipped? One is because of the geographical location. Tianjin is the gateway to Beijing, and it is only more than 100 kilometers away from Beijing. What happened in Beijing can be seen and touched almost in Tianjin. Moreover, it is also very convenient to "write a script" in Tianjin and go to Beijing to "sing opera" (in this case, Puyi wants to use the power of Japanese imperialism to carry out restoration). This is also an important reason why many politicians and warlords in Modern Chinese History have served as Yugong in Tianjin.
Another factor is the safety of the treasures smuggled out of the palace, Tianjin is the city with the largest number of national concessions at home and abroad, at that time there were nine concessions of Britain, the United States, Germany, Japan, Russia, and Italy. Among them, the British Concession was the most powerful. At that time, Puyi and his "small court" may not have had substantial contact with the Japanese. Therefore, Zaitao was ordered to buy a house in Tianjin and chose Tianjin Gordon Road, which was formerly part of the British Concession, that is, Building 166, No. 13 Road, relying on the British Empire forces to be his bodyguard. The buildings in Tianjin were properly purchased, and the preparations for stealing the treasures were completed. Therefore, Puyi, who was afraid of being late and changing, officially began to "reward" in 1922, taking advantage of the opportunity of Pujie and Pujia to accompany Puyi to read every morning, one baggage after another was transported out of the Forbidden City, and after accumulating to seventy or eighty boxes, Pujia ran out of the horse, all the way through unimpeded, safely transported to the building built by the British Concession in Tianjin, and secretly hidden.
The storage and transfer of treasures after Puyi absconded to Tianjin
The Qing Dynasty was the last feudal dynasty in China, and the Guǐ collection of QingneiFu was a large collection of famous paintings of the fashu in the past dynasties, basically listing the famous relics that had been handed down throughout the ages, with a total of more than 10,000 pieces, nearly 2,000 famous paintings of the Tang and Song dynasties, and about 2,000 works of the Ming Dynasty.
The treasures stored by Puyi during his time in Tianjin are roughly divided into three parts: famous paintings of French books, rare books and jewelry jade. The famous paintings of the Law Books and rare books are not conspicuous in size, which is convenient for Pu Jie and Pu Jia to carry out with school bags or bags without attracting the attention of the guards. Among them, the theft of the famous paintings of the French book is first selected by hand scrolls and albums, followed by those smaller, hand-scrolled and hand-scrolled hanging scrolls (strips) with shaft heads. The specific number of these two parts is difficult to estimate accurately.
From the "list" compiled and printed by the so-called "Qing Room Aftermath Committee" to "reward" Puyi, a pamphlet entitled "Four Kinds of Books and Paintings in the Forbidden City", it can be seen that from September 28, 1924 to December 12, 1924, in more than two and a half months, Puyi stole 1285 calligraphy and painting hand scrolls and 68 albums through "rewards" Pu Jie and Pu Jia. The total is 1353 pieces, which is nearly half of the 4000 famous paintings of the Qing Dynasty, Jin, Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties (Guǐ) in the Qing Dynasty. Such statistics may not be in line with the true number of calligraphy and painting hand-scrolled albums that Puyi stole outside the palace at that time. Because in addition to the "reward" list, there are many national treasures of the Sui, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties that are not registered on the list at all. This situation was only gradually learned during the later clean-up process.
The "Rules for The Investigation of Items in the Qing Palace" contained in the "Rules for the Investigation of Items in the Qing Palace by the Committee for the Rehabilitation of the Qing Room"
At that time, when the "Qingmu Aftermath Committee" inspected the Yangxin Hall to Luzi No. 524 on July 31, the fourteenth year of the Republic of China (1925), the "Reward Pu Jie List" and the "Receipt List" were each a bunch, believing that the two were "roughly in line with" the view that there was a big gap between the number of Legal Book title paintings on the "Reward Pu Jie List" and the "Receipt List" and the actual number of Legal Book Paintings that were stolen by means of "reward" and not included in the list. The reason for this speculation is that the members of the "Qing Room Rehabilitation Committee" are all Puyi's old ministers after all. When they found Puyi's list of "rewards," they neither reported to the republican government to denounce them, nor did they begin a thorough clean-up to find out how much the "rewards" were. Maybe they knew about Puyi's theft of calligraphy and paintings after a little inventory, but they preferred to "believe" a list of papers and go through routines. Otherwise why don't they come to the conclusion that the two are "perfectly compatible"?
"General conformity" is a rather interesting view, and it is even more interesting to contact the person who gave it. "General conformity" here may contain two meanings: one is that the quantity is indeed equal, and the difference is not much; the other is that the quantity is extremely inconsistent, and the difference may be tens or hundreds. The difference of tens of hundreds of pieces may not be much in the vast sea of famous calligraphy and painting works handed down through the generations in China. However, in terms of the number of guǐ (庋) collections of about 4,000 famous paintings of the Fa shu in The Qingnei Province, it is a staggering number. Puyi's "reward" was originally a long-planned secret theft, the means must be multi-faceted, "reward" is only one of the main ways, therefore, I think that in the current situation and situation at that time, at the level of the era and atmosphere at that time, the old ministers of the "Qing Room Aftermath Committee" gave the four words "generally in line with" is helpless and routine; for history, for future generations, it is undoubtedly a deceptive lie.
According to Puyi's "First Half of My Life", the number of Song edition books stolen out of the palace should be two hundred kinds of Song edition books, which may be about two hundred or so, or slightly larger than this number. As for the number of pieces of jewelry jade, it may be much more.
Puyi and his "small imperial court" ministers wanted to steal far more than these inner treasures. The outbreak of the Zhifeng War hampered his ongoing plans. In November 1924, General Feng Yuxiang, who was in the direct army, marched into Beijing, imprisoned the "Great President" Cao Kun, reorganized the "Inner City Garrison" outside the Forbidden City, and ordered his subordinates to suddenly break into the Forbidden City on November 5, 1924, the thirteenth year of the Republic of China (1924), and Puyi was taken away, and the "Small Imperial Court" in the Forbidden City no longer existed, and the "Conditions for Preferential Treatment of the Qing Room" was also abolished. Puyi's plan to steal the famous paintings of the palace was thus interrupted. More than 20 days later, he fled to a Japanese barracks from his father's Prince Of Alcohol palace, asked for "refuge", and then openly moved to the Japanese legation. A few months later, under the "protection" of the Japanese police, he absconded to Tianjin, and then settled down in Zhang Biao's private residence zhang yuan in the Japanese concession, as the "new palace" of the abdicated emperor, and also established the so-called "Qing Office".
The treasures in the palace, which were originally stored in Building 166, No. 13 Road (Gordon Road) in the British Concession of Tianjin, were moved to Zhang Garden. The total number of boxes and treasures transferred this time should be the number of original storage in the No. 13 road building of the British Concession, which will not be reduced, and the reaction will increase some jewelry and jade that Puyi carried with him when he absconded to Tianjin. However, how much the number decreased when Zhang Yuan moved to Jingyuan is still unknown. The treasures of the Qing Palace, which had been stored in Jingyuan for nearly seven years, were transported in 1932 by Lieutenant General Yasushi Yoshioka of the Japanese Kwantung Army Command to the Changchun Puppet Imperial Palace, but there were less than 70 boxes. The sale and mortgage of "dozens of" famous paintings of legal books, the sale, mortgage or reward of Song and Yuan rare books, and the sale and mortgage of some jewelry and jade objects and the transfer of Qing Palace treasures to Changchun naturally decreased. But the catastrophe of the real Treasures of the Qing Palace is still to come, and this is only the prelude to another catastrophe of the famous paintings of the laws of the mainland dynasties.
Puyi in Tianjin Zhangyuan
Jingyuan is located at No. 70 Anshan Road, Heping District, Tianjin, and was founded in 1921.
Interior view of Jingyuan
The sale, mortgage and loss of treasures during Puyi's stay in Tianjin
After Puyi absconded to Tianjin, he still lived a life of honor and luxury under the egg wings of Japanese militarism. The huge source of wealth still could not meet the huge expenses of the "small imperial court" and his unbridled profligacy, so he began to sell valuable calligraphy and paintings as his personal property as commodities to colonists and antique dealers through Chen Baochen and other people around him or Baoxi, Zheng Xiaoxu and other former ministers, in exchange for a large amount of money.
In Puyi's several years in Tianjin, how many famous paintings of legal books and paintings were sold and mortgaged, there is no case to be documented, and it is difficult to find out the details. But during the Tianjin period, the probable ones sold were:
(1) Wang Xianzhi's "Mid-Autumn Festival", (2) Wang Ke's "Boyuan Thesis". These two black marks are the "two Xi" in the "Three Xi Hall" of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. According to Zhang Boju in the "Spring Tour Trivia", these two legal books were sold by Puyi when he was in Tianjin, and he did not know when he was originally a antique merchant in Liulichang, who had served as the general affairs director of Yuan Shikai, and later engaged in banking business, and on the eve of the founding of New China, he was once owned by the chaebol Song Ziwen, and later returned to Guo.
(3) Northern Song Dynasty Li Gonglin's "Five Horse Diagrams". For Li Gonglin's masterpiece, each paragraph has a poem inscribed by Huang Tingjian, one of the "Four Houses of Song". It has been circulated and has been repeatedly collected and bibliographed by famous masters. It has great historical value and artistic value, and at the same time has a great historical and artistic status in the history of Chinese painting. After being sold in Tianjin, it has been kept in private Hands in Japan.
Li Gonglin's "Five Horse Diagrams"
(4) It is said to be Li Gonglin's "Xiaoxiang Lying Tour Map" of the Northern Song Dynasty. It is housed in the Japanese Kikuchi Temple.
(5) Southern Song Dynasty Zhao Lingyong "Huzhuang Qingxia Map". Originally exported to Japan, it may have been purchased for the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, USA after World War II.
(6) Southern Song Dynasty Zheng Sixiao's "Mo lan tu". This volume has many poems of the Yuan Ming people. Entering the Ming Dynasty was handed over by the families, and in the early Qing Dynasty, it was treasured by the Song Dynasty (luò). Zheng Sixiao opened the flowers of the Yuanming Dynasty, and there are very few works passed down from generation to generation, this volume of poetry and painting is gathered in one volume, benefiting from the poetry titles of famous artists of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, which is extremely precious. It was acquired by the Japanese Abe Fumijiro.
(7) Southern Song Dynasty Li Song's "West Lake Map". This volume is outside the Anon. The original collector is Shanghai Pang Laichen, which is now in the Shanghai Museum.
(8) Jin Ren Wang Tingjun's "Youzhu Withered Maple Map" volume. This is the only book passed down from generation to generation by Wang Tingjun. Stylistically inheriting the brush strokes of Su Shi and Mi Fu ink plays, and the precursor of the literati painting of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, it has epoch-making significance in the history of Chinese painting art.
(9) Yuan Zhao Mengfu's "Luan Ju Tu". Zhao Mengfu's works of people, horses, and landscapes are more common, but there are very few flowers, especially those who write chrysanthemums. This diagram is of great significance for a comprehensive study of Zhao's techniques and how Zhao's flowers inherit and carry forward traditions.
(10) Yuan Zhangwo's "Nine Song Diagram". Bibliography of the Three Editions of Shiqu Baodi.
(11) Yuan Huang Zijiu's "Scenic Map of Jiangshan".
(12) Yuan Wang's crown "Plum Blossom Diagram".
(13) Yuan Zhao Yishu "Plum Blossom Poems". Bibliography of the Ishigu Treasure Book, held by Thirō Yamamoto.
Emperor Xuantong was given to the Viscount of Okabe (Oka Changjing), and the Viscount asked for it."
(14) Yuan Ma Wan's "Secluded Map". There are many records in the Qing Dynasty, and at the end of the volume there is the Japanese Naito Tiger inscription "In recent years, emperor Xuan Tongsun was returned to the Viscount of Okabe (Oka Changjing), and the viscount asked for it." ”
According to the manuscript of Hu Siyao's "Zhilu Diary" (in the collection of the Liaoning Provincial Library), it is learned that the Americans bought three pieces at that time, and did not record the era, author and name of the picture. In the process of purchasing the paintings, the American conspired with the British teachers to deceive Li Cheng's "Hanlin Tu", "Maolin Yuanxiu Tu" and Yan Wengui's "Xi Feng Tu", which were later returned under the intervention of the Japanese Embassy.
Tianjin Museum now has nearly 30 works of calligraphy and paintings in the Qing Palace's Inner House: Fan Kuan's "Snow Scene Cold Forest Map" of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Mengjian's "Narcissus" volume of the Southern Song Dynasty, and Ming Xiang Shengmo's "And Listen to the Cold Sound" volume. Some of the nearly 30 pieces of Qing Palace inner palace calligraphy and paintings may have been sold by Puyi when he was in Tianjin, and some of them were later returned to Tianjin and purchased by Tianjin collectors. Some of them may also have been purchased by Tianjin collectors through antique shops in Beijing's Liulichang.
During his stay in Tianjin, Puyi sold and mortgaged not only the famous paintings of the French books, but also jewelry jade and porcelain. But many of the collateral was related to his mortgage to the Beijing Salt Industry Bank at the "small imperial court" in Beijing, and some of the collateral was not stolen from the palace. Before and after Puyi's wedding in 1922, in order to raise funds for the big wedding and plan to travel to Europe, and even to help the Japanese earthquake victims, the Qing Dynasty mortgaged the calligraphy, paintings, porcelain, and jade treasured by the Qing Palace to the Salt Industry Bank.
On May 31, 1924, Puyi's father-in-law Rongyuan and the ministers of the Interior Shaoying and Qí Ling mortgaged 800,000 silver dollars with the Beijing Salt Industry Bank. The first batch of 16 gold chimes cast in the fifty-fifth year of Qianlong, and the second batch of mortgages were gold treasures, gold books, golden pagodas and other gold objects, with a term of one year. Puyi was unable to repay after leaving the palace, part of the gold artifacts had been melted down, and the golden chimes were transported to the Tianjin Salt Industry Bank in 1932. Other collateral jade and porcelain are also kept by Yunjin Bank. Tianjin Salt Industry Bank and Beijing Salt Industry Bank have a close relationship, in 1928 the head office of salt industry bank was once located in Tianjin, so Puyi deposited collateral in salt industry bank, after expiration, it may be sold or disposed of. A pair of jasper beam halogens (about 40 centimeters high and 20 centimeters wide) in the tianjin museum are very exquisite and precious, and it is very likely that Puyi placed collateral in Tianjin Salt Industry Bank during his time in Tianjin.
The treasures that Puyi lost during his time in Tianjin also included some things he gave to his close attendants. For example, he rewarded Liu Junye with tang Yan Liben's "Portrait Scroll of Emperors of Past Dynasties" (this piece belonged to Liu Hongzhi, the leader of the puppet regime in North China, shortly after Liu Shi, in return to Liang Hongzhi, the leader of the puppet regime in North China. It was then resold to the Japanese. After World War II, it was obtained by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, USA) and the "Step Scroll", and the five generations of Ruan Gao's orphan copy of the "Langyuan Fairy Picture Scroll" in three volumes. At that time, there was also a volume of Song Tuo's "Dingwu Lanting Preface to the Expansion" and so on. Judging from the historical and artistic nature of the above works, they are undoubtedly valuable treasures. Of course, Puyi's reward was so "rich" that he may not have understood this at the time. Fortunately, the owner of the "Foot Scroll" and the "Langyuan Female Fairy Scroll" was not resold to outsiders, and after liberation, it was donated to the people's government, and later returned to the Collection of the Palace Museum. This is also a blessing in disguise!