On 10 May, the Philanthropy Research Institute, jointly established by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and its Charities Trust, signed a cooperation framework agreement and launched the "Palace Museum-Hong Kong Cultural Exchange Base" at the Palace Museum. The Institute of Philanthropy will provide funding of approximately RMB371 million to support the Palace Museum's "Spreading Chinese Civilization and Cultivating Cultural and Technological Talents" program. An important project involved in the plan is the renovation of the Chengqian Palace, one of the six eastern palaces of the Forbidden City.
At the launching ceremony, Zhao Peng, Director of the Department of Ancient Architecture of the Palace Museum, gave a speech entitled "Architectural Protection and Inheritance and Utilization", and reported on the cultural preservation tasks completed by the ancient building protection project team for the Chengqian Palace in the Forbidden City and how to strengthen the rational use of the work plan in the future.
The renovation and renovation of the Chengqian Palace will be completed in 2027
According to reports, the Chengqian Palace is located on the east side of the central axis of the Forbidden City, and the area is a typical two-entry courtyard, with a total of 12 buildings. The courtyard is about 50 meters long from north to south, almost a square, the largest main hall has an indoor area of 222 square meters, and the smallest transept is 28.5 square meters.
Chengqian Palace was built in 1420, formerly known as Yongning Palace, in the Ming Dynasty, there are few records of repair. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen was renamed Chengqian Palace for five years. In the 36th year of Kangxi, that is, in 1697, the Chengqian Palace was rebuilt, and this year was very crucial. "The current situation of the Chengqian Palace seen today should be basically what Kangxi looked like after the reconstruction in 36 years, and if this repair and renovation is completed in 2027, it will be exactly 330 years after its reconstruction." Zhao Peng said.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the owner of the Chengqian Palace was more well-known as Emperor Shunzhi's favorite concubine, Concubine Dong E, and Emperor Xianfeng's mother. Since its establishment, the Palace Museum has been used as an exhibition hall, and has been used as a museum of historical history, ceramics and bronzes.
"After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Chengqian Palace was further repaired. In particular, the maintenance and renovation project in 1973, but at the same time, it also changed a lot of the appearance at that time, including the change of the rear eaves wall, doors and windows, and the style of the Chengqian Palace seen today is the result of the renovation in 1973. Zhao Peng said that in the next 50 years, the Chengqian Palace has also been continuously maintained, and 2019 is the latest comprehensive maintenance, but it basically only involves the façade of the building, not the interior.
The soft ceiling of the Luan Feng in the Chengqian Palace is an isolated case in the Forbidden City
What are the important value carriers of Chengqian Palace that deserve the attention of the ancient building protection team? Zhao Peng said that the most prominent point of Chengqian Palace is the Luanfeng soft ceiling painting in the main hall. There are mainly soft and hard ceilings in the Forbidden City, soft ceilings, also known as Haiyuan ceilings, are framed with paper or silk paintings and pasted on the bottom paper of the white grate (ceiling), the soft ceiling is less than one-fifth of the hard ceiling, and is mainly concentrated in the east and west six palaces.
"At present, there is no complete soft ceiling of the Ming Dynasty, only the Chengqian Palace and Yongshou Palace have completely preserved the soft ceiling of the early Qing Dynasty, which is the longest preserved soft ceiling in the Forbidden City. The ceiling of Yongshou Palace is a lifting dragon style, and the Luanfeng soft ceiling of Chengqian Palace is a solitary example of the Forbidden City, which is extremely valuable. Zhao Peng said that these precious cultural relics are in the main hall of the Chengqian Palace, and the ceiling with different styles on both sides was painted in 1929. From the point of view of artwork, the painting style of Luanfeng soft ceiling is fine and vivid. There is even a technique for fainting in the whites of the eyes. The overall composition is full and well proportioned. The diameter of the center of the circle is half the length of the outer edge of the entire square branch.
In addition to the surface style, what are the other processes that are worth digging into? With the in-depth research in the past few months, the ancient building conservation team has continued to decipher. First of all, from the back of the ceiling, that is, the construction method on the ceiling, the simple reed mat can retain the soil, which plays a vital role in the structural stability of the whole ceiling. In addition, the ceiling, which looks very thin, contains a layer of silk and eight layers of paper under the pigment, and includes three types: leather paper, ramie paper and bamboo paper. "This is the combination of posting and pressing ingots for each group, and we have made detailed records of each nail." Zhao Peng pointed to the corresponding content of the PPT courseware and said.
He also revealed that the site investigation of the ancient building protection team combined with the microscopic analysis of the section to judge the results of the soft ceiling painting process. It lays the foundation of scientific cognition for the later process restoration. "Because it is an isolated case, the scientific nature of the process is very important, and not letting go of every detail is our attitude towards soft ceiling."
Draw up a statistical chart of the disease for investigation and research
So how do you ensure that soft smallpox prolongs life? Zhao Peng said that the first thing to do is to do a disease investigation, for which the team drew a chart of disease statistics, carried out laboratory experiments, and conducted comparative research on different measures. Then formulate a set of plans, and fully consider the value display after the restoration, which will be discussed with colleagues from the exhibition department and related business departments of the Forbidden City.
"Regarding the protection of the Chengqian Palace, we walk on two legs, one leg is the exploration of the unknown territory, and gradually improve the plan. The other leg is the traditional and assured approach to get the job done efficiently. At present, the protection plan of the civil part of the Chengqian Palace has been formulated and completed, and the Ministry of Ancient Construction has submitted it to the Engineering Management Office to prepare for the convening of an expert demonstration meeting. Zhao Peng said that the next work is still very arduous, and he will do his best to achieve the set goals and complete the plan with quality and quantity in accordance with the promised timetable. Refer to international standards to create a model for the protection of world cultural heritage.
(Author: Zhang Enjie, source: Beijing Youth Daily)