"The old toad does not lock the Mingyue Palace and flies down the White Rabbit Gong of the West River." Rabbits have been beasts in traditional Chinese culture since ancient times. In the imagination and poetry of the ancients, Yuxue's cute rabbit, as the little friend and "pet" of the fairy Chang'e, walks in the moon "Toad Palace" every day, plays under the laurel tree, and worships blessings in the clear light.
In the Year of the Rabbit in the lunar calendar, a Yuan Dynasty crystal rabbit from the underground palace appeared in the special exhibition of the Year of the Rabbit at the Shanghai Museum. Although this ancient rabbit is not from the Toad Palace, it is very delicate and cute, especially the material is very rare.
This Yuan Dynasty crystal rabbit was excavated in 1994 in the Yuanying Pagoda Underground Palace in Songjiang District, Shanghai, and is now in the collection of the Shanghai Museum. The reporter saw that the crystal rabbit was about 6 centimeters long, more than 4 centimeters wide, and only 2.6 centimeters high, small and exquisite. The rabbit's body is lying down, limbs are bent, the back is arched and the buttocks are full, the short tail is drooping, and the long ears are tightly pressed against the back of the neck, the whole body is round and full, well-behaved and cute.
The picture shows the Yuan Dynasty crystal rabbit in the collection of the Shanghai Museum
"The artistic shape of this Yuan Dynasty crystal rabbit simulates rabbit foraging. It has a vertical hole on the back of its abdomen, which can be tied and admired, and its shape is simple and down-to-earth, and it is very Tang and Song dynasty. Chu Xin, deputy director of the exhibition department of the Shanghai Museum, said.
Yuanying Pagoda is located in Xilin Temple, Songjiang District, Shanghai, also known as Chong'en Pagoda and Yan'en Pagoda, and was built during the Ming Hongwu period. From 1993 to 1994, when the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Cultural Relics carried out a comprehensive renovation of the Yuanying Pagoda, more than 1,000 cultural relics were found in the top vase of the pagoda and in the Heavenly and Underground Palaces, including this crystal rabbit. Cultural relics experts pointed out that the crystal rabbit found and handed down in mainland archaeology is quite rare, so this crystal rabbit of the Yuan Dynasty in Shanghai is quite precious.
"Rabbits have a gentle temperament and have always been regarded as beasts by the Chinese people. The Rui Ying Tu recorded: 'The red rabbit is the beast, and the king Shengde is the to.' It means 'there are rabbits in the prosperous era', which shows that rabbits were auspicious things in ancient times. Chu Xin said that in the New Year of the Rabbit, this Yuan Dynasty crystal rabbit was exhibited at the Shanghai Museum along with several other rabbit-shaped cultural relics, allowing the audience to feel the vitality and vitality of the Year of the Rabbit.
Source: People's Daily
Editor: Xu Yu
