Originally published in the 5th issue of "China Youth" magazine in 2024, Li Ji: From the Forbidden City Culture to Integrity and Innovation
Text-Reporter Wang Leizheng
What is Chinese culture? It may be a mystical totem, a fascinating legend, or a breathtaking architecture...... Perhaps it is a turbulent history, like ten thousand rivers flowing into the sea, rushing and converging, blending and coexisting. The waves of civilization have been rolled upside down, and the cultures of different periods, ethnic groups, and regions have been inherited through integration, and innovation has been relayed in the inheritance. At the symposium on cultural inheritance and development, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that it is our new cultural mission in the new era to continue to promote cultural prosperity, build a cultural power, and build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation at a new starting point. It is necessary to strengthen cultural self-confidence, take on the mission, work hard, and work together to create a new culture that belongs to our era and build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. As a world cultural heritage, the Forbidden City is the bearer of more than 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, the gathering place of excellent traditional Chinese culture, and the witness of multicultural exchanges and integration. How to better continue the Chinese cultural context? How to continue to promote cultural prosperity, build a cultural power, and build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation from a new starting point? How to understand the "new cultural mission" mentioned by General Secretary Xi Jinping? Mr. Li Ji, former executive vice president of the Palace Museum and former director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Palace Museum, told the reporter of "Chinese Youth" about his experience of working in the Forbidden City and shared his views on the above issues. The following is compiled from Mr. Li Ji's self-description - the characteristics of Chinese civilization Chinese civilization has outstanding continuity, innovation, unity, inclusiveness and peace. For example, this year is the Year of the Dragon, and Chinese people have a special affection for the totem of "dragon". Archaeologists in mainland China have found dragon images made with different materials and different processes in different eras, different places, and different media. From the Liao River, the Yellow River to the Yangtze River Basin, different regions, different cultures, different dynasties and time and space, the recognition and respect for the image of the dragon are surprisingly consistent. As a sacred totem that carries the most yearning and imagination, it is also fresh and popular. It can not only be a symbol of the supreme royal status of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, but also can carry the prayers for a better life such as folk dragon dances and dragon boats. Like a firefly in the Neolithic Age, it burns and gathers all the way, condensing into the yearning of the entire ethnic group. Compared with other ancient civilizations, the biggest feature of Chinese civilization is continuity. A foreign scholar once said with envy: "You Chinese are really too happy! Most people can basically read most ancient books with a little training, which is completely impossible in other civilizations." "From oracle bone inscriptions, golden inscriptions, seal scripts, official scripts to italics, even after thousands of years of evolution, our writing still retains the characteristics of the hieroglyphs, which makes our civilization continue to have the most solid foundation and context. Let's talk about the inclusiveness of Chinese civilization. Cloisonné is a good example, as a representative of China's famous special metal craft, it has been a royal treasure in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and it is still an important diplomatic state gift choice today. But many people don't think that its source is also a foreign product. According to the analysis of historical data, the "copper tire cloisonné enamel" was introduced to China by Arab countries at the end of the 13th century. At the beginning of its introduction, it was called "Daishoku Kiln", "Onikoku Kiln", and "Buddha Lang Mosaic". However, on the broad and profound artistic soil of the Chinese nation, it soon integrated the traditional style of the Chinese nation, combined with Chinese aesthetics in technical innovation, and became a bright pearl in the history of Chinese arts and crafts. This kind of copper tire type, with soft flat copper wire, pinched into a variety of patterns and welded, and then the enamel glaze filled in the pattern to fire the utensils, because it prevailed in the Ming Dynasty Jingtai years, the production skills are more mature, the enamel glaze used is mostly blue, so it is named "cloisonne". After the Qing Dynasty Kang Yongqian meticulous research and development and improvement, modern more Chinese arts and crafts masters inherited and promoted, as if become the Chinese "national weapon", not only the Chinese collection and appreciation of the treasure, but also by overseas friends heartfelt love and admiration.
The cloisonné elephant in the Huangji Hall of the Palace Museum in Beijing gives another example of blue and white porcelain. Like cloisonné, blue and white porcelain is also one of the business cards of Chinese culture today, not only as a national gift, but also the elements of blue and white patterns are also admired by the world in Chinese style. In the younger generation, the popular song "Blue and White Porcelain" was once widely sung. However, the raw material of blue and white is still a foreign product, and the beautiful and charming blue color on this white porcelain is derived from an imported dye called "Su Ma Liqing", the main ingredient is cobalt oxide, which is native to Persia. The earliest archaeological discovery of blue and white porcelain fragments is from the Tang Dynasty, and by the Yuan Dynasty, blue and white porcelain has been unique and spectacular. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, not only did domestic blue and white pigments gradually replace "Su Ma Liqing", but also moved towards the peak of blue and white porcelain quality and output. Among the cultural relics in the collection of the Palace Museum, there are quite a lot of blue and white porcelain from the official kiln, and the archaeological team of the Palace Museum has found a large number of fragments of Jingdezhen blue and white porcelain products in the port sites of India, the United Arab Emirates and Kenya on the Maritime Silk Road.
The exhibits of the Ceramics Hall of the Palace Museum in Beijing, the blue and white glaze in the Yuan Dynasty, the red carving of strange stones, flowers, and flower picture lid jars, the Forbidden City witnesses not the solitary self-appreciation of a single cultural form, but the mutual learning of civilizations and cultural exchanges and integrations of countries around the world. These two examples are a good example of the inclusiveness and peacefulness of Chinese culture. In 1978, I went to Jilin University to study archaeology, and since 1982, I have worked in the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Chinese History Museum, and the National Museum of China, and finally came to the Palace Museum in 2003. So, I often think about things from different dimensions of archaeology, museums, and society. In the past, people have always believed that Chinese civilization is a relatively independent and almost closed civilization, but recent archaeological discoveries have proved that we have far more connections with world civilizations than imagined. The origin of corn and even rice points to China, but there is evidence that wheat, sheep, and horses were introduced from the west. In the core areas of Chinese civilization, such as the Yinxu in Anyang, cultural factors can be found that spread from afar. Recently, the new archaeological discovery of the sacrificial pit at Sanxingdui site has attracted widespread attention. Located in the northwest of Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, the Sanxingdui site, has a history of 3000 to 5000 years, is the largest range, the longest duration, the richest cultural connotation found in the southwest region of the ancient city, ancient country, ancient Shu cultural sites, showing that the Yangtze River basin and the Yellow River basin are the same, the same belongs to the mother of Chinese civilization, such as the Sanxingdui sacrificial pit unearthed a number of bronze statues, and the Yangtze River basin in the same period is almost exactly the same. Because among the cultural relics unearthed in Sanxingdui, there are 2.62 meters high bronze Da Liren, 1.38 meters wide bronze mask, and 3.95 meters high bronze sacred tree, etc., all of which are unprecedented and can be called unique gods. The gold objects represented by the golden scepter, the jade zhang decorated with patterns, and the huge number of seashells and ivory show that there was a smooth exchange with the surrounding ancient culture. Thousands of years ago, Sanxingdui was located in one of the pivotal points of the ancient civilization channel in Eurasia, and many puzzles to be solved may be the result of the convergence of multiple civilizations. History proves to us that since the dawn of civilization, the world has never stopped communicating. Thick and loaded, the elephant is invisible. "The sun and the moon change, the stars circulate, the Forbidden City bears the solemnity with stability, and absorbs the qi veins with tenacity. As the culmination of ancient Chinese palace architecture and the wisdom of the ancient Chinese working people, the Forbidden City also contains the way of "the mean" and the mind of the family and the country. In recent years, the latest archaeological excavations have proved that as early as the late Neolithic Age, the construction of the city site gradually formed a certain regulation, and by the Erlitou cultural period, it had a relatively mature prototype. "Zhou Li: Examination of the Work" is the product of continuous summarization and rise to theory. It has developed until the construction plan of the Forbidden City, the culmination of ancient Chinese civilization, which shows the principles of capital construction that have been inherited since ancient times. In the planning structure stipulated in the "Examination of the Work Record", the core point is to take the "palace" as the center of the city, so the planning of Beijing city revolves around the "palace", that is, the Forbidden City. After the construction of the Ming and Qing dynasties, Beijing city takes the Forbidden City as the center, the palace city, the inner city, and the outer city are surrounded by three city walls, and the square is strictly organized, and the Forbidden City shows the magnificent momentum of "in the country" under the background of the city wall. The Forbidden City not only inherits the traditional three-fold city system, but also highlights the ancient system layout such as "Left Ancestor Right Society", "Front Dynasty and Back Bed", "Five Gates and Three Dynasties", etc., reflecting the ideal pursuit of Confucianism, and becoming the highest existing model in the history of the development of ancient palace cities in the mainland.
The design concept of the Forbidden City's architecture reflects the idea of "neutrality" pursued by the ancient Chinese. The Forbidden City building is straight from north to south, symmetrical to the left and right, the straight central axis runs through the meridian, and the first three halls and the last three palaces are evenly arranged on the central axis. The first three halls "Taihe Palace", "Zhonghe Palace" and "Baohe Palace" all have a "harmony" in their names, which reflects the connotation of traditional Chinese culture is harmony between heaven and man, social harmony, and physical and mental harmony. Whether it is the first three palaces of the outer court set up with the theme of "Baohe Taihe" and "Zhizhonghe", or the three palaces of the inner court that advocate the harmony of the world and the cultivation of all things, the way of neutralization of "keeping the middle and achieving peace" is the highest pursuit contained in it. In addition, from the plaques of "Yun Zhi Ji Zhong" and "Zhong Zheng Renhe" to the Zhonghe Shao music played in important ceremonies, from form to name, the Forbidden City carries and carries forward the idea of neutrality that was formed as early as the pre-Qin period and has been continuously passed down in later generations in a unique way and special language of the Chinese nation. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Upholding integrity is the fundamental system of Marxism's guiding position in the ideological field, the fundamental requirement of 'two combinations', the cultural leadership of the Communist Party of China and the cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation." "Chinese civilization should be upright and innovative, and the essence of national culture should be clear. How to "innovate"? Once we have made it clear what is "right," the next step to explore is how to innovate. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Innovation, the creation of new ideas, new discourse, new mechanisms, new forms, under the guidance of Marxism, to truly achieve the ancient for the present, the foreign for the Chinese, dialectical trade-offs, through the old to bring forth the new, to achieve the organic connection between tradition and modernity." Cultural workers in the new era must continue the historical context and write a contemporary chapter with the righteousness and vigor of uprightness and innovation. When receiving foreign guests in the Forbidden City, they often ask a common question after admiring the diversity of Chinese culture: "Is this thing still made now?" Lacquerware, jade, porcelain, cloisonné enamel, these intangible cultural heritage techniques need to be inherited, and with the development of science and technology, higher requirements are put forward for the current inheritors. Nowadays, young people can participate in the protection of cultural relics with the help of scientific and technological means, such as analyzing the composition of the surface decoration of a cultural relic, modeling to understand the structure of the artifact, 3D printing the model of the damaged part for trial and error, etc., with the help of scientific and technological means, to explore new paths for cultural relics protection. At the same time, the Palace Museum is digitizing the cultural relics in its collection at a digital collection rate of 70,000 to 80,000 cultural relics per year, and so far, the basic image shooting of more than 900,000 cultural relics has been completed. With the progress of the times and the rapid development of science and technology, the types of products that people love have broadened their boundaries with technology and have more forms of expression. In the 2015 special exhibition of "Treasures of the Stone Canal" at the Palace Museum, many audiences flocked to the Palace Museum to see the true face of "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival", which once extended the cultural phenomenon of "Forbidden City Run". At that time, the Forbidden City took a lot of diversion measures, and even opened up a queuing channel and visiting space for the "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" alone, but even so, there were still audiences who waited in line until 4 o'clock in the morning in order to see it, and the Forbidden City made an exception to extend the closing time to the early morning.
How to extract the right elements from important collections, find the right context, and bring cultural relics to life has always been an important research direction in the field of cultural and creative research and development of museums. In order to adapt to the changes of the times, museums should actively "embrace" the wave of digitalization and informatization, and strive to explore a new model of "culture + technology". The masterpieces of calligraphy and painting collected by the museum carry many times information such as art, thought, and culture, and play an important role in promoting culture and improving aesthetics. With the development and wide application of digital media technology, the display of these masterpieces of calligraphy and painting is no longer completely limited to the authentic works themselves, but with the assistance of digital technology, the form, space and means of their display have been expanded. For example, the use of dynamic images, the combination of virtual and real means, through the research and extraction of the content of masterpieces of calligraphy and painting, to create an immersive space, to maximize the audience's sensory experience. In addition to exhibitions, the innovation of cultural and creative products has also made the Forbidden City repeatedly "break the circle". How to shorten the distance between traditional culture and modern life? The Palace Museum team has thought of countless ways to change from didactic indoctrination to infectious dialogue, which is a prudent but firm step taken by the Palace Museum. In order to develop a cultural and creative product, R&D personnel need to invite cultural relics experts to conduct special guidance, in-depth combing and interpretation of the connotation of cultural relics collections, and select the cultural relics elements with the most distinctive characteristics and both cultural value, artistic value and emotional value, so as to find the right direction for cultural and creative research and development. The R&D department will introduce the selected elements of the cultural relics collection to the design team in detail, including the historical origin, cultural meaning, past users and the stories behind the cultural relics, so that the design team can fully understand the heritage contained in the cultural relics collection, understand the close relationship between the research and development objects and traditional culture, and effectively combine the temperament of the cultural relics collection with the temperament of cultural and creative products. In this way, this cultural and creative product has a unique character of the Forbidden City culture. In addition to the blessing of technology, how to better express it, so that young people like to listen and understand? I think how to "speak" is very important. I often joke that when old experts get together to discuss a certain artifact, they often unconsciously get caught up in analyzing its dynasty, material, shape, etc., but young people often have different perspectives. They often ask directly, "What is this for, and can we still use it now?" and these questions often surprise me, but they are also very interesting.
One of China's top 10 masterpieces, A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains, was unveiled in the Forbidden City, so it is particularly important to change the way it is expressed to young people. As a result, we are no longer from "one concept" to "another", but are replaced by witty, interesting, and interactive expressions, which have gained the love of some young people, and also attracted some young people who really love traditional culture to join in. I have followed a lot of public accounts that do science popularization in the Forbidden City, and I am often moved by them and happy for them. The cultural relics experts of the Forbidden City all said that we are under a lot of pressure now, and we are walking on thin ice when explaining, and we must not make a mistake or be ambiguous. Because our audience is not here to see the excitement, they really know the doorway, and they can't tolerate a little sloppiness. In addition to adding fun, we also strive to express it in layman's terms. No matter how serious the history is, no matter how profound and mysterious the artifacts, I firmly believe that it is possible to tell them clearly in the simplest words. If you can only be difficult and profound, it must be because you don't know it thoroughly enough. There is a voice that says that cultural relics carry a sense of history and should not be used as a "joke". I very much agree that you can't joke about cultural relics. However, on the premise of awe, on the basis of academic research, it is essential to express it in an easy-to-understand and even relaxed and lively way. It can be said that behind every "joke" of the Forbidden City's popular science is a prudent, responsible, and painstaking choice. It seems to be witty and funny, but the cultural content it conveys is extremely serious. Our peers often say that whether it is archaeology or a museum, the most indispensable thing is a "heart of awe". First and foremost, what should be taken seriously should not be blasphemed. Second, no matter what form it takes, it must never deviate from the basic historical facts, and there must be no bruises. With reverence for history, for the ancients, and for the inheritance of civilization, we make a prudent choice, whether it is a joke or a serious one, but it is just a way of expression that we choose after careful consideration. Interested young people should have observed that most of the articles published by the new media of the Forbidden City are now also open. Even when holding an exhibition, if the age and purpose of a certain artifact cannot be determined by the existing technical means and clues, then we will organize a huge team of experts to screen and list several mainstream and relatively more historically logical theories, so that the audience can participate in the interaction and find the answer that best meets their own cognition. In the past, when I went out to give lectures, there were always young scholars who asked about a certain proposition in the archaeology major, but in recent years, young people often asked: "Mr. Li, is the Forbidden City haunted?" I would always share with them some of the daily life of the people in the Forbidden City: "First of all, I have not encountered ghosts in the Forbidden City. The history of the Forbidden City is 600 years, but in fact, it has not been opened to the public for 500 years, so the palace has only lived in two families surnamed Zhu and Aixin Jueluo, and the Palace Museum is also open to the public in turn. Therefore, it is common for small animals to live in the utility rooms and palace walls in many closed areas. Every time our staff enters a room that is not often occupied, they will shout twice, clap their hands, and knock on the door, so as not to startle the creatures, and not to frighten themselves, but also the harmony between humans and small animals. Such an interesting story naturally drew laughter. I often say that we need to respect young people. Generations of talented people have come out of different eras, which has created their own unique perspective on things. At the same time, we must also face up to our own limitations, not only to reflect on ourselves, but also to accept the changes in the industry itself. Although the times have put forward higher requirements for our work, the fact that teaching and learning and striving for excellence in traditional culture are also of great benefit to cultural workers themselves. In conclusion, I would like to say that the progress of technology is certainly gratifying, but I believe that its relationship with traditional exhibitions is complementary, not replaceable. Song Dynasty scrolls often had to be dimly lit because of the delicate silk books, but I still remember the shock of standing in front of "The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" and "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" for the first time. Even if the power of science and technology can magnify every detail to the screen, once you stand in front of the authentic ancient masterpieces that have gone through the vicissitudes of life, the kind of aura interaction and mental communication that is thousands of years away, and the high recognition and admiration of aesthetics, cannot be replaced by any scientific and technological means. For the broad and profound heritage of traditional culture, we have not explored enough today. With the development of the times, we should also be able to tap more value and open up a broader scene of promotion and utilization. To be upright is to move forward in perseverance. And innovation is to adhere to the "positive" platform higher and newer.
Li Ji is the Honorary Chairman and Director of the Expert Committee of the Beijing Palace Museum Cultural Relics Conservation Foundation, the Honorary Director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Palace Museum, the Research Librarian of the Palace Museum, and the co-supervisor of the Postdoctoral Workstation
Producer: Pi Jun
Final review: Chen Min
Reviewer: Liu Xiao, Liu Bowen
Editor: Wang Hanjin (intern)