The museum is a cultural landmark of the city. Dongcheng District is the core bearing area of the national cultural center, and it is also a veritable "city of museums". In recent years, Dongcheng District has focused on the construction of a cultural development pattern of "one axis, two districts, five belts, and five cities", fully excavated the museum resources in the region, and is committed to transforming the advantages of cultural heritage resources, and constantly showing a richer, more diverse and wonderful urban cultural charm. Relying on the abundant cultural and museum resources in the area, "Dongcheng Financial Media" specially planned and launched the cultural and museum science popularization column "2024 Cultural and Museum Weekly Calendar - How to Talk About This "Thing"", which will take you to know a cultural relic every week.
Taihe Temple Spine Beast
In 1977, in order to promote the healthy development of the global museum industry and attract the public to understand, participate and pay attention to the museum industry, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) declared May 18, 1977 as the first International Museum Day, and the Chinese Museum Society officially joined the International Council of Museums in 1983. Every year on this day, museums around the world hold various publicity and commemorative activities to let more people know about museums and better play the social functions of museums.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "A museum is a big school. "We must do a good job in the museum business. The construction of museums should be more complete and systematic, and at the same time, the educational function of museums should be brought into full play. The theme of International Museum Day 2024 is "Museums for Education and Research", highlighting the critical role of cultural institutions in providing a holistic educational experience. In recent years, with the continuous development of museums in mainland China, the educational and research functions of museums have been further exerted, and their positive role in promoting the all-round development of people and the all-round progress of society has become increasingly prominent.
As the largest museum of ancient culture and art in China, the Palace Museum has been committed to the integration and utilization of museum resources in recent years, establishing an education center, carrying out research activities, editing and publishing popular science books, recording online classes, etc., which has played a very important role in promoting and inheriting the excellent traditional Chinese culture among young people. This week's recommendation for you is the Forbidden City Taihe Palace, these inconspicuous little monsters that used to squat on the roof, are now one of the images of various fairy tale books and popular science knowledge with the theme of the Forbidden City, and have also derived children's dramas and cultural and creative products with them as the protagonists.
In ancient architecture, the function of the building is always in the first place. After satisfying the specific function, the artistic effect is another need for use, that is, the pursuit of architectural beauty. The architectural structure of the Forbidden City Palace is not only solid, but also neat and exquisite, and full of artistic charm. The palace pavilions and pavilions in the Forbidden City are mostly glazed tile roofs.
Most of the palace area is decorated with yellow, and the gardens and other places are decorated with various colored glass. The roof is equipped with kissing beasts, kiss locks, hat nails, and the eaves have grooves and drips, all of which are determined according to the use function of the building, the environment and the difference in grade. The little monster on the roof, also known as the spine beast, is a traditional sculpture used to decorate and protect the ridge of the roof. The number of eaves corners is selected according to the building level, and is arranged in odd numbers of three, five, seven, and nine, with a maximum of nine. The Taihe Hall is the largest and highest level building in the Forbidden City, also known as the Jinluan Palace, which is a place of sacrifice and major ceremonies, and its roof is added with an extra line, a total of ten, which has become the most unique form in the entire ancient Chinese architecture.
The ten spine beasts are, in order: dragon, phoenix, lion, seahorse, pegasus, fish, hedgehog, fox, bullfight, and xingshi. Everyone should be more familiar with dragons, phoenixes and lions, so what is the origin of the other spine beasts? Let's take a look:
Seahorse: In ancient Chinese legends, the beast of the sea can run like a fly in the waves, often with flames on its body, and is a symbol of driving away evil and showing good luck.
Pegasus: A horse that travels thousands of miles a day in ancient Chinese legends.
Oshiyu: An auspicious animal that is a mixture of fish and beasts in ancient Chinese legends, it can pray for rain and extinguish fires and prevent disasters.
Hedgehog: a legendary animal, like a cow, a horn; Or the goat, who can distinguish between righteousness and evil. In the "Chronicles of Foreign Bodies": There are beasts in the Northeast Wilderness, famous pigs, horns, in the sex, those who can't touch the straight when they see people fighting, and those who bite incorrectly when they hear people's opinions. In ancient times, the hat of the magistrate was called the crown of the hedgehog, which meant that there was a clear distinction between right and wrong like a hedgehog.
Fox: Originally the ancient name of the lion in Chinese, it later became a mythical character in the Ming Dynasty, one of the nine sons of the dragon, shaped like a lion, like smoke and easy to sit, so it generally appears on the incense burner, and then swallows clouds and spits fog.
Bullfighting: A mythical beast in ancient Chinese legends, it belongs to the class of cockroaches, with a bull's head and dragon scales on its body. It is recorded in the "Chenyuan Strategy": "There are bullfights in the western inner sea, that is, the cockroach and the like, which make clouds and mist when it rains, and often winds beside the road, and above the Jinao Jade Frog Workshop. "The Ming Dynasty had a bullfighting pattern.
Xingshi: The spine beast on the ancient Chinese building, which can only be seen on the ridge of the Taihe Palace. Because it is ranked tenth, it is called "Xingshi". It holds a vajra pestle in his hand, can subdue demons, has wings, and is the incarnation of the legendary Lei Zhenzi.
From the roof of the Taihe Palace, we see that there is endless history and culture hidden in it: the location of the spine beast, at the lower end of the vertical ridge and the ridge, is the confluence point of the upper end of several slopes and tiles. Because it is obliquely down, if there is no measure it will inevitably have the risk of sliding, so it needs to be reinforced with most iron nails on the beam, in order to cover up the traces of iron nails, so a series of small beast images are added on the nail cap, which plays the role of beautifying the building.
Although the original function of the spine beast was to protect the building, it has been endowed with more cultural connotations in the evolution of history, so that the modern society can feel and inherit the wisdom of the ancient Chinese people more. China has a million-year history of mankind, a history of 10,000 years of culture, and a history of more than 5,000 years of civilization. In response to the urgent needs of cultural relics value recognition, display and dissemination, we continue to deepen basic research, promote the creative transformation and innovative development of cultural resources, and enhance the people's sense of gain and happiness.
Text: Lu Lu, Zhao Chunfeng, Zhang Bing, Zhang Ruxian