On April 9th, Wang Xudong, President of the Palace Museum, and Zhao Guoying, Vice President of the Palace Museum, led the heads of relevant departments to visit Peking University, and held a discussion with Hao Ping, President of Peking University, Wang Bo, Vice President, Sun Qingwei, Assistant to the President, and leaders and responsible persons of relevant departments at Linhuxuan. After the talks, Wang Xudong gave a lecture on the theme of "Dunhuang and the Forbidden City" to the masters and students of The North.
Hao Ping welcomed the arrival of Wang Xudong and his entourage. He pointed out that since Peking University and the Palace Museum signed a strategic cooperation agreement, the two sides have actively implemented and promoted the intention of cooperation, and the cooperation has made certain progress, hoping that more comprehensive and all-round cooperation can be carried out in the future. Peking University very much hopes to receive strong support from the Palace Museum in chinese civilization and history education, academic exchanges and talent training.
Wang Xudong expressed his gratitude to Peking University for its support in implementing and promoting bilateral cooperation. He pointed out that the Palace Museum sincerely hopes to cooperate with Peking University in academic research, cultural heritage protection and dissemination, and get the support and help of Peking University to attract the younger generation of students to devote themselves to the cause of cultural and cultural museums. In recent years, many experts and scholars of the cultural and museum system have entered colleges and universities, realizing the circulation of talents between universities and museums. The Palace Museum hopes to unite with Peking University, support each other, jointly cultivate academic talents, and strive to achieve the mission entrusted by the times.
Group photo
After the discussion, Wang Xudong, accompanied by Wang Bo, went to the underground lecture hall of the two-body and brought an academic lecture entitled "Dunhuang and the Forbidden City - The Crystallization of Inclusive mutual learning of Chinese culture" to the masters and students of The North. The lecture is the fifth lecture in the series of lectures on "The Forbidden City and the Forbidden City" jointly organized by the Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences of Peking University (hereinafter referred to as the Academy of Arts and Social Sciences) and the Palace Museum, and the first lecture since the new semester. More than 300 North masters and students listened at the scene. The lecture was presided over by Deng Xiaonan, Dean of the Academy of Arts and Culture and Liberal Arts Chair Professor of the Department of History of Peking University.
Lecture site
In the lecture, Wang Xudong profoundly explained the connection and differences between Dunhuang and the Forbidden City from the aspects of the artistic value, formation source, development process, inheritance history and protection work of Dunhuang and the Forbidden City culture, and exchanged views with the audience on the importance of cultural exchanges and integration between different ethnic groups embodied by Dunhuang and the Forbidden City in culture.
The lecture started from the background and historical evolution of the two major cultural heritages of Dunhuang and the Forbidden City. Wang Xudong believes that Dunhuang retains the art form of "agility" and "change", and the exquisite grotto painted sculptures and rich mural content depict all aspects of people's lives in different periods, profoundly reflecting the aesthetic characteristics of a specific period. The painted sculptures and murals together show the artistic value of Dunhuang culture, and continue to expand the great influence of the silk road extension process Chinese exchanges and dissemination. The culture of the Forbidden City reflects the "sense of heaviness" everywhere, which reflects not only the accumulation of the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation over the past 5,000 years, but also fully reveals the diversified colors after the collision of Chinese and Western cultural exchanges.
Wang Xudong gave a lecture
When comparing the similarities and differences between Dunhuang and the Forbidden City in the cultural sense, Wang Xudong pointed out that the two major cultural halls of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes and the Forbidden City are the result of the joint promotion of folk beliefs and state support, the integration of Chinese and foreign cultural exchanges with different ethnic groups within China, and the interaction between state forces and non-governmental forces can be clearly seen.
Wang Xudong used rich pictures and historical information to tell the basic situation and long course of the protection of cultural relics in Dunhuang and the Forbidden City. From Zhang Daqian, Yu Youren and other people of insight actively running for the protection of murals, to Chang Shuhong and other predecessors who gave up a good life to take root in the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, and then after the founding of New China, with the support of the state and all sectors of society, the caves were continuously carried out, and generations of cultural relics workers went forward to succeed each other, working hard for the protection of Dunhuang and devoting their lives to the protection. With the improvement of protection ideas and restoration methods, Dunhuang has gradually taken on a new look. Since the opening of the Palace Museum, whether it is the continuous collation and repair of cultural relics or the difficult process of the southward relocation of cultural relics in the War of Resistance Against Japan, it reflects the great importance and vigorous investment in the protection of cultural relics led by national forces. After the founding of New China, the repair of the Forbidden City and the inventory of cultural relics have been carried out in an orderly manner. The Forbidden City is synchronized with the times, in the cultural relics repair, cultural relics safety, cultural relics display and other aspects of the continuous innovation, in recent years is the use of scientific and technological means, management means to create "Peaceful Forbidden City", "Academic Forbidden City", "Digital Forbidden City" and "Vitality Forbidden City", so that cultural relics truly "come alive", practice the original intention of "completely protecting and responsibly inheriting and carrying forward the excellent Chinese traditional culture carried by the Forbidden City". Wang Xudong hoped that Peking University and the Forbidden City would further improve the mutual visit mechanism, disseminate the culture of the Forbidden City during visits to the Forbidden City, and truly shoulder the social responsibility of protecting the culture of the Forbidden City.
Teachers and students listened carefully
At the end of the lecture, Wang Xudong stressed that the protection and development of Dunhuang and the Forbidden City after the founding of New China enlightened us to strengthen cultural self-confidence, absorb the achievements of human civilization with a broader mind and a more open and inclusive mind, build a cultural power, and practice the great concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
In the interactive exchange session, Wang Xudong exchanged views with everyone on the issues raised by the audience, such as "how can the cultural lovers of the Forbidden City contribute to the cultural dissemination of the Forbidden City" and "how to return the lost cultural relics".
When presiding over the lecture, Deng Xiaonan said that Wang Xudong's lecture was detailed, had a grand vision and a unique perspective, and the vivid narration deepened the cultural experience of teachers and students at the scene. Together with the Forbidden City, the Institute of Culture and Research will explore new ways and development models for cooperation between the two sides, and jointly contribute to promoting the innovative development of the outstanding culture of the Chinese nation.
At the same time that Peking University launched the "Forbidden City and Forbidden City Studies" series of lectures, the Palace Museum also launched the "Peking University Series of Academic Lectures", and the two sides invited well-known experts and scholars to open forums in key areas such as Forbidden City Studies, Qing Dynasty Court History, History, and Ancient Calligraphy and Painting. In the spring semester of 2020, the Forbidden City cooperated with Peking University to open a cultural research course "Identification and Collection of Ancient Chinese Calligraphy and Painting" and "Ming and Qing Court Architecture and Palace Furnishings". Experts from the Forbidden City introduced academic research on the characteristics of the Forbidden City into the classroom to realize the academic entry of the Forbidden City into Peking University. With the joint efforts of Peking University and the Forbidden City, the academic exchanges and cooperation between the two sides have been deepening and gradually stepping onto a new level.
Next, the series of lectures on "Forbidden City and Forbidden City Studies" will continue. Relevant experts and scholars from Peking University and the Palace Museum will give wonderful lectures on museology, ancient philology, ancient calligraphy and painting, Song Dynasty literature, and Qing Palace ceremonies. The specific lecture information will be released on the public account of the Institute of Culture and Research and the public account of the "Forbidden City Research Institute".
Source: Financial Media Center, Peking University