Listen to red memories and follow in the footsteps of a century. The 100-episode audio column "Collection has Something to Say", jointly produced by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Cultural Heritage, the Palace Museum, the Beijing Museum Society and the Xinhua network client, has been officially launched recently. The column selects more than 100 pieces of collections from nearly 60 museums, compiles collection stories and makes them into audio programs, and reviews the century-old struggle of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese nation by telling the stories of patriotic party and patriotic collections of museums, science and technology museums, art galleries and memorial halls in Beijing.
Episode 62 - What does the legendary "National Treasure" radio look like?
Today, we invite Li Yuanhao from the Media Museum of the Communication University of China to introduce you to a collection of cultural relics in the museum.
There is a legendary national treasure radio on display in the Media Museum of the Communication University of China, do you know why it is said to be "national treasure"? What's so special about this radio? Today's "Collection has Something to Say" will bring you the story of the Media Museum National Treasure Radio Panda 1501.
Radios were the most convenient and effective way for people to learn about outside information in the 1950s and 1960s. At that time, the state also carried out a "seniority ranking" on radio, and the rating was generally divided into five levels, special, first, second, third, and fourth, and there were many under these that could not be graded. In the Media Museum of the Communication University of China, there is a special radio, Panda 1501.
Panda 1501 has a unique shape, bold design, and auspicious meaning: one side is square, the other side is round, and the traditional concept of the heavenly circle place is vividly reflected in the appearance. On the front panel of the radio, it adopts the shape of a high step, and there are two small bumps on both sides, imitating the high steps of the three major halls of the Forbidden City and the sacred beasts placed outside the palace gate.
The cat's eye of the radio adopts the classical palace lamp shape. On the decorative pattern of the left panel, there are four bronze bat patterns, and in the middle is a bottomed shou character pattern, implying the traditional idea of "Fu Shou Man Tang". I have to say that this is a national treasure-level radio that perfectly combines traditional Chinese culture and aesthetics.
Panda 1501 radio
Courtesy of the Media Center of the Media Museum of the Communication University of China
Back in the 1950s, people's deep patriotism made people want to prove in all walks of life that socialist China is no worse than capitalism. At that time, the mainstream radio was Germany's German delu fenggen, the United States RCA and other brands, these radio manufacturers began to produce radios in the 1920s, accumulated a lot of experience, and China in the Republic of China era, has been buying foreign components, their own assembly and processing, did not master the core technology of radio.
Later, the party and the state realized the importance of radios to the lives of the people, organized people to overcome difficulties, and it was not until 1953 that the Nanjing Radio Factory, which was strong at that time, produced the first radio with all parts made by itself - Red Star 502-A.
In 1959, in the important year of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Tenth Bureau of the First Machine Department in charge of industrial production issued a task to the Nanjing Radio Factory to develop a high-grade electronic audio product that reflects a new level of development in the past ten years.
At this time, it was only 6 years since the birth of the first radio made in China with all parts. At that time, the chief designer who presided over this work was Gong Jianquan, and the appearance designer was Ha Chongnan. The two were only in their thirties at the time, but already had many years of experience in the industry. In 1953, Gong Jianquan also presided over the design and production of the Red Star 502 radio, the first nationally produced radio in New China.
The production of radios involves a variety of cooperation such as mold development and component production, and it is not achieved overnight. The production history of new Chinese radios is less than ten years, so this task is extremely difficult to complete. However, under the inspiration of presenting gifts to the mother of the motherland, the employees of Nanjing Radio Factory overcame many difficulties, and they actively thought of ways and deep processing to design and produce the Panda 1501 special radio in one year.
What does 1501 mean? 15 represents that the radio uses 15 tubes, and the more tubes there are, the higher the sensitivity of the product and the more expensive the device. 01 and 02 represent the production sequence of radios, such as 1501 for the first machine with 15 tubes, and 1502 for the second batch of machines, which produced a total of three batches and about 400 units. Among them, the 1502 and 1501 have exactly the same shape, and the 1501 has one more record playback function than the 1502.
According to the archives of 1963, the price of panda 1501 is 4000 yuan. According to the wages of ordinary people at that time for more than a dozen yuan a month, this price was enough to buy a set of courtyards at that time. At the same time, because it is a gift machine specially made to celebrate the tenth birthday of the mother of the motherland, it is limited production, and there are four main places: first, it is used for national ceremonies; second, it is decorated in the Great Hall of the People, the Working People's Cultural Palace, and other places that the people like to hear; as a display of China's achievements in electronic audio-visual products; third, it is distributed to embassies abroad; and fourth, it is given to foreign heads of state as a gift that embodies Chinese style.
Panda 1501 has a strong national style in terms of styling, and in terms of comprehensive electroacoustic performance, it has caught up with the advanced level of similar international products at that time, and is a high-level product of domestic civil electronic audio at that time. The birth of Panda 1501 is one of the embodiments of socialist China's concentration on major events. The self-respecting and self-reliant national character of the Chinese nation is precisely the root and source of strength that allows us to achieve great things and make good products.
Communication Museum of Communication University of China
The Media Museum of the Communication University of China was completed on October 26, 2012 and opened to the public free of charge, the whole library is divided into four branches of radio hall, television hall, film hall and transmission hall, with an exhibition area of 5,300 square meters and more than 12,000 pieces of collections, forming a display pattern of "four halls, seven halls and one media corridor", focusing on the important historical process of radio and television film industry at home and abroad from birth, development to rise, highlighting the characteristics of "historical inheritance, profound heritage, detailed historical materials, and changes in the times" and " The concept of building a museum with ideas"
Source: The Palace Museum, Beijing Museum Society, Xinhuanet client