In the upcoming year of 2023, Yu Xiang, a cultural enthusiast, visited more than 40 museum exhibitions and ancient buildings in total. But he said that this was not a "revenge" visit, and that he had basically maintained this density before the pandemic.
Yu Xiang, who has always loved archaeology and history, is also a travel enthusiast. The combination of these two hobbies is the "special forces" style museums and cultural relics and monuments that have been around the country for many years.
Yu Xiang said, "Whenever I travel to a place, the first thing I go to is a museum. By visiting the local museum, I can get a general understanding of the history and culture of the place, and then I can visit other local cultural relics or special attractions, and the understanding will be more profound. ”
I started from visiting the new Sichuan Museum in 2009
Yu Xiang's first trip to the museum had a very high "starting point" - he followed the adults to visit the Palace Museum. "Unfortunately, I was not in elementary school at the time, so I was not very impressed by the visit and did not remember many details. ”
His career as an "exhibition expert" officially began when he was in college. In 2009, after the completion of the new Sichuan Museum on the bank of Huanhua River, Yu Xiang visited it as soon as possible. "Because it is a new museum, the hardware facilities and exhibition methods are more advanced, and the environment and exhibits are very attractive to me. ”
The exquisite stone carvings of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple in the Sichuan Museum
He was most impressed by the stone carving hall of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple in the Sichuan Museum, where a statue of Buddha with soft lines that had been through vicissitudes of life was particularly "poked" at his aesthetics.
Yu Xiang, who has liked art since he was a child, has a hobby of painting. The method he chose was also suitable for him: copying ancient and modern Chinese and foreign art treasures, from Leonardo da Vinci's "Woman Holding a Silver Mouse" to the flying mural of Mogao Grottoes, the process of brush-stroke tracing was a pleasure for him.
Yu Xiang's copy of Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting "The Woman Holding the Silver Mouse"
"The cave temples in Sichuan, including the cliff statues, are quite rich in resources, and later I also went to Anyue, Dazu and other places to see the cave statues. Yu Xiang said, "I have seen the four major grottoes in China, except for the Yungang Grottoes." I have also been to the Bingling Temple Grottoes, which were affected by the earthquake in Jishi Mountain, Gansu. ”
Ganshu 炳灵寺石窟
Bingling Temple Grottoes is one of the longest continuing grotto temples in the mainland, and Mogao Grottoes, Maijishan Grottoes and called the three major grottoes in Gansu, there are murals and sculptures in various historical periods since the Western Qin Dynasty are preserved here, there is the reputation of "the encyclopedia of Chinese grottoes", but its popularity is not as good as Mogao Grottoes and Maijishan, and it is indeed a senior enthusiast who has visited here on a special trip.
In the past 2023, within the scope of Sichuan Province, Yu Xiang went to Mingyue Gorge, Huangze Temple and Thousand Buddha Cliffs in Guangyuan, and also went to see the Guangyuan City Museum; went to the Qingliang Cave and Jade Emperor Temple in Xuyong County, Luzhou, and admired the cliff statues and stone carvings of Danshan; in Yibin, he saw the famous Yibin Three Pagodas, overlooked the mysterious hanging coffin of the servant, and of course visited the Yibin Museum.
Yu Xiang's photograph of the hanging coffin of the servant
Outside Sichuan Province, he went to Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hebei, "saw all over China" at the Shenzhen Museum, admired the exquisite details of ancient southern buildings at the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall in Guangzhou, admired the two famous ancient towers of the Song Dynasty at the Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou, and the largest Taoist stone carving of the Song Dynasty at the foot of Qingyuan Mountain, the statue of Lao Tzu.
Collect tickets for your trip to the north of the Xiangbei River
In addition to the landscape of Guilin, Yu Xiang went to see the Jingjiang Palace of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the niche classic Guihai Stele Forest. In the Longxing Temple in Zhengding, Hebei Province, Yu Xiang saw the famous Ming Dynasty upside-down Guanyin hanging sculpture, praised its "incomprehensible beauty", the visual shock is indescribable, in the Hebei Museum, he admired the exquisite cultural relics of the Zhongshan Kingdom and the Mancheng Han Tomb...... And, of course, the famous Zhaozhou Bridge of the Sui Dynasty. But he regretted that all the components on the bridge had already been replaced during the reconstruction.
Yu Xiang's painted Sanle relief of the Hebei Museum
The ultimate experience of a lifetime
Looking back on his museum and monument check-in journey over the years, Yu Xiang has the most impressive "ultimate experience" several times.
One is the newly opened Shaanxi Archaeological Museum in 2022, which caused quite a stir in the circle of cultural and museum lovers, and Yu Xiang also went to see it for the first time. "In that museum, there is a Yuan Dynasty tomb that has been relocated as a whole, in the shape of a yurt, and the interior is full of beautiful murals, which is placed in the middle of the exhibition hall, and the tomb is deliberately raised, so that the audience can not only view the dome of the mural from the bottom, but also climb the stairs to the outer side of the tomb. ”
The murals of the dome of the Yuan Dynasty tomb in the Shaanxi Archaeological Museum
In addition, in order to more intuitively display the content of the mural and the process of on-site protection, the museum also animated the mural, using multi-camera projection display means to make the characters and life scenes in the mural "live". This kind of exhibition is not only very comfortable for Yu Xiang, but also very enjoyable to watch.
Yuan Dynasty tomb murals in the Shaanxi Archaeological Museum
Another time was at the National Museum of China, where Yu Xiang saw the gorgeous funeral goods of the famous "Li Xiaozi". This girl named Li Jingxun is the favorite granddaughter of Yang Lihua, the princess of Leping in the Sui Dynasty. And Yang Lihua's father is Yang Jian, the founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty.
Li Jingxun's most eye-catching pearl and gemstone gold necklace (collection of the National Museum)
Unfortunately, this much-loved little girl died of illness before she was 9 years old. In addition to grief, Yang Lihua not only buried her granddaughter with exquisite ornaments beyond specifications, but also put her favorite toys such as jade rabbits, jade fish, jade carving knives, etc. into the tomb, and also carved the words "those who open will die" on the stone hall to stop the black hands of tomb robbers.
Li Jingxun's Stone Museum (in the Forest of Steles Museum)
As she wished, Li Jingxun's sarcophagus was carefully opened by archaeologists after more than 1,000 years of undisturbed theft, and all the treasures have since been revealed. While admiring the gorgeous gemstone necklaces, pearl and jade crowns, gold bracelets, etc., Yu Xiang also clearly felt the noble grandmother's deep love for her little granddaughter. From ancient times to the present, no matter how rich and noble the characters are, it is equally difficult to escape the pain of losing their beloved forever.
If you look at it from an aesthetic point of view, Yu Xiang's most memorable thing is the mural of Yongle Palace that he saw in Ruicheng, Shaanxi.
Yongle Palace mural (detail)
The murals of Yongle Palace can be called the treasure of ancient painting art in the mainland, and the painting time is earlier than the European Renaissance, almost the same as the Yuan Dynasty. Nearly 1,000 square meters of murals, every inch of brushstrokes and colors are extremely exquisite, the gods and immortals in the painting, all of them are vivid, the expression is expressive, not only inherits the tradition of Wu Daozi "Wu with the wind" that prevailed after the Tang and Song dynasties, but also accurately expresses the relationship between the transformation of the clothing pattern and the movement of the body, the skill is superb and convincing.
"While admiring the murals, I also learned that this complex was originally located by the Yellow River, and at the end of the 50s of the last century, the Yongle Palace was relocated as a whole because of the construction of the Sanmenxia Reservoir. Yu Xiang said, "More than half a century ago, craftsmen sawed down the walls with murals one by one, transported them away, and then reassembled them, but I could hardly see the cuts on those murals at the Yongle Palace site, which is really unbelievable." ”
Yongle Palace mural (detail)
Every big and small holiday he was on the road
These profound and vivid sense of crossing and immersive aesthetic experience constitute the driving force for Yu Xiang to "check in" again and again every year. Since work, he has been on the road on almost every long or small vacation. Long holidays and annual holidays will go away from the province, and they will visit the province on weekends on weekdays.
Yu Xiang is at the foot of Qi'er Mountain in Sichuan at an altitude of more than 6,000 meters
In his daily spare time, Yu Xiang has nothing to do to see all kinds of historical and museum-related materials, including professional archaeological reports, even yearbooks, county chronicles, etc. Many of his friends like him like him like to visit museums and keep an eye out for new exhibitions.
He is in a WeChat group of several hundred people, and his friends are all enthusiasts who are keen to check in cultural relics and monuments, and from time to time someone will launch some related activities, or share check-in maps and so on. "We pay attention to the list of key cultural relics protection units all year round, various provinces and cities. Before you travel, you try to do your homework. ”
A hand-painted silk fan by Yu Xiang
As a veteran lover of culture and museums, Yu Xiang not only lamented the profound accumulation of China's 5,000-year-old civilization, but also often felt sorry for the damaged monuments that could not be better protected. "After many ancient buildings and grotto statues have been restored, some of the original subtle lines have been erased. There are also some relatively recent ancient buildings, after being classified as cultural preservation objects, the residents who originally lived in them were relocated, but they were not able to be reinforced and repaired in time for a while, because there was no one to maintain them, but the decay of the houses was accelerated......"
Yu Xiang photographed the upside-down Guanyin hanging sculpture of Longding Temple in Hebei Province
Any type of thing, after accumulating a certain level of experience in its observation, will naturally give rise to an appreciation of the relevant field. After hundreds of museums over the years, Yu Xiang certainly has his own judgments and thoughts.
The new Sanxingdui Museum opened this summer, and Yu Xiang also visited it as soon as possible. For this star museum, which can be called a super Internet celebrity, Yu Xiang also has his own personalized perception.
Sanxingdui Museum New Hall
"The newly unearthed artifacts themselves are certainly very eye-catching, but as a general viewer, I actually miss the old museum a little. He said, "In the past, it was divided into different exhibition areas, so that the crowd could be properly diverted, and the same exhibition hall would not be overcrowded." Now they are all gathered in one exhibition hall, and they are crowded and crowded at any time. Also, although the lights in the old building are not as bright as in the new building, they create a dark and mysterious atmosphere, which I personally like. ”
Shanxi's famous ancient building: Shakya Pagoda (Yingxian Wooden Tower) according to Visual China
In addition, after seeing more of the beauty of ancient buildings, when I look at modern buildings, my eyes become sharper and more critical. Yu Xiang will notice that many new buildings that look magnificent on the surface, many details are actually crude. "When I look at ancient buildings in Shanxi, I have a deep impression that even if it is old, even if it is covered with thick dust, it can still be seen that even a very small component is extremely exquisite, and the corner details that are not easy to see are also made with great care, which is both practical and beautiful. ”
Also, for artifacts whose originals are too fragile to be displayed for long-term display, many museums will make some reproductions to display. Most viewers will think: of course it's not fun, it's not as good as looking at the real thing. But Yu Xiang said that it is not necessarily the case, it depends on the situation.
The original imitation exhibition of Song Dynasty paintings in Kaifeng Museum
"For example, the Kaifeng City Museum has held an exhibition that focuses on a large number of reproductions of famous Song paintings, which I think is very good. "Because if you look at the real thing, a museum can see at most a few pieces, but the reproductions are not subject to this restriction, and when they are displayed in a concentrated manner, the aura of extreme elegance, the gathering of classical beauty, is very shocking." ”
Red Star News reporter Qiao Xueyang editor Jiang Qing
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