Many people have been to the Palace Museum in Beijing. The Palace Museum has more than 70 large and small palaces and more than 9,000 large and small rooms. Most of these palaces and rooms are huge. What few people know is that in these palaces and rooms, there is also a study with an area of only 4.8 square meters, which is estimated to be no larger than your kitchen or bathroom.
More importantly, it was not the room of the palace maids and eunuchs, but the study of the Qianlong Emperor.
This study is called Sanxitang.
Sanxi Hall
Sanxi Hall is located in the Xinuan Pavilion of the Yangxin Hall of the Palace Museum. Its original name was called "Greenhouse", which was later changed to "Sanxitang". To this end, the Qianlong Emperor also personally inscribed the "Sanxitang" plaque and the "Record of Sanxitang". On both sides of the plaque, there is a couplet, the upper link is "Embracing the Ancient and Modern", and the lower link is "Deep Heart Tohaosu", both of which are the ink treasures of the Qianlong Emperor.
Why is it called Sanxitang? There are two ways to say it.
One theory comes from Zhou Dunyi, the originator of Confucian thought in the Northern Song Dynasty, "Shi Xi Xian, Xian Xi Sheng, Sheng Xi Tian". This means that the sages want to be sages, the sages want to be saints, and the saints want to be knowers of heaven. In order to achieve the goal, we must work diligently and constantly pursue progress in learning and insight.
Zhou Dunyi
One theory is that there are three rare treasures in the Sanxi Hall, namely the Great Calligrapher of the Jin Dynasty, Wang Xizhi's "Qing Ti in the Fast Snow", Wang Xianzhi's "Mid-Autumn Festival", and Wang Xun's "Boyuan Ti". The Qianlong Emperor treasured them here, admiring, playing, and speculating at any time.
The Qianlong Emperor had an almost obsessive love for the culture of the Central Plains, and was involved in piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and song. The Qianlong Emperor loved calligraphy, practicing calligraphy from Zhao Mengfu, writing calligraphy with rounded hair, and his inkblots were not only found in the court, but also appeared in scenic spots and monuments throughout the country. The Qianlong Emperor was keen to collect the works of famous calligraphers of past generations, and "Qingti", "Mid-Autumn Festival" and "Boyuan Ti" were the masterpieces of calligraphy he collected.
The Qianlong Emperor
Of course, there are not only three rare treasures in sanxi hall: "Qingti when the Snow Is Fast", "Mid-Autumn Festival", and "Boyuan Ti". According to archival records, by 1750, Sanxitang had collected 134 famous artists from the Jin Dynasty, 340 pieces of ink, and 495 kinds of takumotos. In addition, there are many well-made and elegant handicrafts and study utensils. According to the narrow area of sanxi hall, it was basically full, and there was no extra space.
Sanxitang was the qianlong emperor's private bookstore, and he did not lock it up and not see the light of day, but tried to make it a public cultural product.
In 1747, the Qianlong Emperor ordered the officials Shangshu Liang Shizheng, Hubu Shangshu Jiang Pu and others to take the lead in selecting the famous calligraphy works collected in sanxitang and engraving them into a "Sanxitang Shiqu Baodi Fa Ti", referred to as "Sanxi Tang Fa Ti". The Qianlong Emperor carefully printed dozens of copies of the Sanxitang Fa Ti and gave them to his close princes and ministers, which were passed down from the inner court of the deep palace.
With the passage of time, with the change of dynasties, the precious calligraphy works of famous artists in Sanxi Hall, especially the three rare treasures of "Qingti when the Snow Is Fast", "Mid-Autumn Festival" and "Boyuan Ti", are still intact, right?
"Qing Ti when the snow is fast" is one of Wang Xizhi's masterpieces, the full text is 4 lines, a total of 28 words, the content is that there is a year of heavy snow at the beginning of the sun, Wang Xizhi is in a happy mood, a letter to relatives and friends. Although there are only 28 characters, the characters are pearls, known as the "Twenty-Eight Li Zhu", known as "the first in the world's law book". During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, "Qingti in the Fast Snow" once made its home in Anshun, Guizhou, Nanjing, Jiangsu and other places, flowed to Taiwan in 1949, and is now treasured in the National Palace Museum in Taipei.
Sunny when the snow is fast
"Mid-Autumn Festival" is one of Wang Xianzhi's cursive masterpieces, the full text was originally 5 lines and 32 words, and then 2 lines were cut off, and now only 3 lines and 22 words remain. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912, the Mid-Autumn Festival Thesis flowed into the folk. In 1951, the state spent a lot of money to recover the "Mid-Autumn Festival" and now it is treasured in the Palace Museum.
Mid-Autumn Festival
"Boyuan Ti" is one of Wang Xun's masterpieces, which is a correspondence written by the author to his relatives and friends Bo yuan. Wang Xun was the grandson of the Eastern Jin Dynasty calligrapher Wang Dao and a distant nephew of Wang Xizhi, and his calligraphy level was very high. Among the three rare treasures of Sanxi Hall, the Boyuan Thesis was first taken out of Sanxi Hall. In 1911, Emperor Yu's concubine of the Tongzhi Emperor took the Boyuan Ti out of Sanxi Hall and collected it in the Shoukang Palace where he lived. In 1924, when the last emperor Puyi left the Forbidden City, Emperor Yu's concubines also took the "Boyuan Thesis" out of the Forbidden City, which has been circulated in the folk since then. In 1950, "Boyuan Ti" was acquired by the state and is now treasured in the Palace Museum.
Boyuan Thesis
In a few words, it has been 110 years since the days of separation of "Qingti" and "Mid-Autumn Festival" and "Boyuan Ti". "Mid-Autumn Festival" and "Boyuan Thesis" have long returned home, and only "Qingti when the Snow Is Fast" is still "wandering". When will "QingTi" "Mid-Autumn Festival" and "Boyuan Ti" be reunited in Sanxi Hall? Let's wait and see.