Chongwenmen price change: The emperor of the Qing Dynasty also engaged in second-hand trading?

Songlan Book Society

2024-08-08 17:40Posted in Jiangsu cultural field creators

Chongwenmen price change refers to a model in which the "useless" things that the emperor considers to be of little value are sold every year when the Ministry of Internal Affairs clears the inventory. That is, the ancient cultural relics are realized, similar to the offline trading of second-hand items.

In the imperial palace, the most indispensable thing in the hands of the emperor is all kinds of rare treasures, not only the office will produce new products every year, but also the envoys of various countries and the ministers of the court will also dedicate the treasures in their hands to the imperial court. In this way, there are more and more treasures in the palace, and in order to maximize the value of the treasures, those items that have not been loved by the emperor will be exchanged for real money and silver to enrich the treasury.

White set of green glass, open light floral pattern bottle, Qing Palace Office Glass Factory products, picture source: the official website of the Palace Museum

Why did the place of change choose Chongwenmen? That's because Chongwenmen was one of the nine gates in the inner city of Beijing during the Qing Dynasty, and the nine gates were also set up in the Ming Dynasty, which was a place for the state to collect commodity taxes and government monopolies. After the change of the Qing Dynasty, the tax of the original nine gates was changed to Chongwenmen, and in addition, Chongwenmen also had the responsibility of selling objects assigned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, that is, "Chongwenmen Change".

For example, in the sixth year of Yongzheng, there is such a fold in the "Treasury Storage File" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: "It is said that the family of Nian Qianyao copied the objects and wrote the fold. Order: Ninety catties of natural copper are handed over to the Yangxin Palace Office for useful use, or useless, it is better to hand it over to the Chongwenmen superintendent for price. Chin this. ”

Guo Qixing's book Qingyu lotus plate poem scroll is printed with "Nian Qianyao character Lianggong alias Shuangfeng" Image source: The official website of the Palace Museum

In the compromise, it is defined as "useless", so what kind of object is considered useless? Do you need to change the price?

First of all, it is a relatively long time or damaged items, during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, gradually towards the prosperous era, the treasury is also relatively complex, every year the Ministry of Internal Affairs will send a special person to screen, screen a batch of items, present to the emperor for a look.

After viewing, some are reused, or viewed or used, while others are repriced, and valuable materials are removed from the item before the price is changed. Due to the heavy workload of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the inventory mission has been set every five years.

Greenland phoenix wears peony pattern library gold satin Qianlong period Jiangning Weaving Bureau tribute Image source: The official website of the Palace Museum

There is also a more interesting detail here, that is, the emperor has absolute control over the items, that is to say, when the emperor walks around the palace, if he sees an object that needs to be changed, he can skip the inventory procedure and directly order the price.

Secondly, there are tributes and booty. If the emperor is not interested, the tributes from various countries and ministers of the court and the central government will be disposed of.

Copper-plated warp and weft equatorial sundialQianlong early tribute from United Kingdom Image source: Palace Museum official website

For example, after the Qianlong Emperor pacified Jinchuan, when the Ministry of Internal Affairs asked how to deal with the seized objects, the reply was that some items were changed, and finally the order: "The gold bars, clothes and other items are all kept inside, and 100 items are sold for something, 37 items are retained, and the rest of the 63 items are changed for value." ”

Xu Yang's "Atlas of Pacifying Jinchuan" "Suburban Labor Soldiers" Image source: The official website of the Palace Museum

Finally, there is also a part of the income from the seizure of the family. During the Qing Dynasty, there were many incidents of copying homes, among which Yongzheng sent the things obtained by the general Nian Qianyao to Chongwenmen for sale in the sixth year of Yongzheng.

After the relevant officials have searched the house, they will compile the copied things into a book, and the real estate, fields, livestock and other property that cannot be taken away will be valued and sold on the spot; Gold, silver, jewelry, and jade toys were brought back to the palace and handed over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Military Aircraft Department, and Chongwenmen.

To sum up, the "Chongwenmen price change" is one of the relatively cumbersome economic activities of the Qing Dynasty Internal Affairs Bureau. Turning old objects, war booty, and looted items into silver to fill the treasury not only solves the situation of lower-value items occupying the treasury, but also enhances financial resources, and also allows some of the objects in the palace to flow into the people, increasing the knowledge of the people.

Note: The content of this article is based on official materials, and some associations and creations have been appropriately exerted in the creation of details.

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