Chapter 67 Lecture 65

Chinese national treasures are gathered in the imperial palace; cultural relics are collected forever in Tianfu.This lecture refers to Mr. Zheng Xinmiao's "Tianfu Yongzang", Mr. Ouyang Daoda's "The Forbidden City Cultural Relics to Avoid Bandits", and Mr. Na Zhiliang's "Guarding the National Treasures of the Forbidden City for Seventy Years" and other works.However, after the Revolution of 1911, the Qing Dynasty perished; the establishment of the Republic of China went through hardships.From the imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty to the Palace Museum, the treasures collected in the Forbidden City have become the collections of the museum, thus becoming truly national treasures belonging to the people.From "palace" to "courtyard", this road has gone for a hundred years.

The cultural relics of the Forbidden City of China have a historical inheritance.The Dadu Palace of the Yuan Dynasty inherited the cultural relics of the Jinzhongdu Palace and the Lin'an Palace of the Southern Song Dynasty.The Yuan Dynasty died and the Ming Dynasty prospered, the Ming Dynasty died and the Qing Dynasty prospered, and the palace cultural relics were continuous.After the Republic of China, the cultural relics of the Qing palace suffered three catastrophes.There were three major losses of cultural relics in the Qing Dynasty: the first was the 10th year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1860), when the British and French allied forces looted and burned the Old Summer Palace.The British Museum in London alone has a collection of more than 30,000 pieces of Chinese cultural relics, of which more than 20,000 pieces were looted directly from the Old Summer Palace, such as the "Admonitions of the Female History" copied by the famous Jin Dynasty painter Gu Kaizhi by the Tang Dynasty; the Chinese Pavilion of the Palace of Fontainebleau in France , with a collection of more than 30,000 cultural relics from the Old Summer Palace.The second time was the 26th year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1900), when the Eight-Power Allied Forces robbed and destroyed the royal treasures.After these two catastrophes, "China's savings since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties have been wiped out, from laws and cultural relics to national treasures" (Chai E's "Gengxin Jishi").The third time was before Emperor Xun Puyi left the palace.

The national treasure is lost.During the 13 years of Qingxun Emperor Puyi's inner court, the loss of cultural relics was serious.After the Revolution of 1911, according to the "Preferential Treatment Conditions after the Resignation of the Qing Emperor", Xundi Puyi was still "temporarily confined in the palace", that is, the outer court returned to the government of the Republic of China, and the inner court temporarily returned to Xundi Puyi.The cultural relics and treasures in the palace are still in the possession of the royal family.Therefore, "these treasures are being given away, sold or pledged, or even stolen every minute" (Johnston's "Twilight in the Forbidden City").From July 13, 1922 (the fourteenth year of "Xuantong") to December 12, in just five months, a large number of valuable calligraphy, paintings and antiques were shipped out of the palace, including the "Cao E Tablet" by Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi's father and son. ", etc., there are authentic works by Zhong Yao, Huai Su, Ouyang Xun, Song Gaozong Zhao Gou, Mi Fu, Zhao Mengfu, Dong Qichang, etc., Sima Guang's original manuscripts, Tang Wangwei's figure paintings, Song Zhang Zeduan's "Surfing the River During the Qingming Festival", etc. There are more than 1,000 calligraphy and paintings in total.They also transported away all the Song and Ming editions of Zhaoren Hall in Qianqing Palace, about 200 kinds.On both sides of Di'anmen Avenue, eunuchs and officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs opened one after another antique shop, selling antiques and secret books of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.Fortunately, things changed when Emperor Xun Puyi left the palace.

Puyi leaves the palace. On the night of October 22, 1924, Feng Yuxiang defected and secretly returned to Beijing to launch the "Beijing Coup".They amended the "Preferential Conditions for Cleaning the House", and decided that "the Qing room will be removed from the palace ban immediately", and Lu Zhonglin, the commander-in-chief of the Gyeonggi Security, will be responsible for the implementation. On the morning of November 5, Lu Zhonglin waited outside the Longzong Gate of the Forbidden City and negotiated with Shao Ying, the minister in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.When the two concubines heard that they would move out within 3 hours, they cried and made noises, resolutely refusing to leave.At this time, Prince Chun Zaifeng hurried into the palace, discussed with Puyi, and after weighing, made a decision to leave the palace immediately.Handed over Chuan Guoxi and palaces, and dismissed some eunuchs and court ladies.At 4:10 p.m., Puyi, his wives and concubines, Zaifeng, etc., followed by Shaoying, eunuchs, court ladies, etc., walked out of the Royal Garden, boarded five cars driven by the National Army to the gate of Shunzhen, and drove out of Shenwu Gate, arrived at Prince Chun's Mansion (now Soong Ching Ling's former residence) on the north shore of Houhai.

On November 7, the Provisional Executive Government issued an order: clean up the public and private property in the original palace, and make it known to the public.The aftermath committee is composed of people from both the government and the Qing Dynasty.Check the objects of the Qing palace, take the palace as the unit, number each item, and log in order.The palaces are numbered according to the "Thousand Characters", such as "Tian" for Qianqing Palace, "Di" for Kunning Palace, "Yuan" for South Study Room, and "Yellow" for Shang Study Room.After more than five years, the inventory of Qing palace items was completed, and then the "Qing Palace Items Check Report" was published, a total of 6 series and 28 volumes, recording the serial number, product name, number of pieces, and the names of the reference personnel and monitoring personnel of each cultural relic.There are as many as 1.17 million pieces of items left over from the Qing palace, leaving complete records.These cultural relics became the collection of the Palace Museum established in 1925. (Zheng Xinmiao's "Tian Fu Yong Zang")

The Palace Museum was established. On October 10, 1925, the Palace Museum was established, and a grand ceremony was held in front of the Qianqing Palace.On this day, a bluestone plaque with the words "Forbidden City Museum" in Li Yuying's handwritten script was inlaid on the gate of Shenwu.Officially opened that day.For the first time since the Yongle Palace was built more than 500 years ago, people can visit the three main halls on the middle road of the Forbidden City and the last three palaces, as well as the Sixth West Palace, the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Shouan Palace, Wenyuan Pavilion, and Le Shoutang.As many as 50,000 people came to visit in two days.At the same time, preparations are being made for the construction of one of the two museums of the Palace Museum - the Museum of Antiquities, the Library and the Department of Literature.

Of course, the establishment of the Palace Museum is not achieved in one step, but through three stages of transformation from "palace" to "court": One is the coexistence of palaces and places.After the Revolution of 1911, the former Forbidden City was divided into two, that is, the rear palace was still a royal forbidden area. On February 4, 1914, the former court established the National Antiquities Exhibition Center, which mainly collected cultural relics from the Shenyang Forbidden City and the Summer Resort, and used the Wuying Hall The West Side Hall is open.From November 1913 to October 1914, cultural relics such as the Summer Resort were transported by the Luanhe River to Luanzhou, and then transported to Beijing by train. They were transported 7 times, with a total of 1949 boxes and more than 117,700 pieces of cultural relics. Beginning in January 1914, the cultural relics of the Shenyang Imperial Palace were shipped, and ended on March 24. There were 6 shipments, totaling 1,201 boxes, and a total of more than 114,600 pieces of cultural relics.The above cultural relics are temporarily stored in the Hall of Martial Arts and other places.

The second is the coexistence of institutes and halls.After the establishment of the Palace Museum, the former Forbidden City was divided into three parts, that is, the rear palace part is the Palace Museum, the former part is the antiquities exhibition hall, and the two verandahs outside the Meridian Gate and the Duanmen are the National Museum of History.The cultural relics of the Summer Resort were handed over to the Palace Museum, and the cultural relics of the Shenyang Palace Museum were still handed over to the Shenyang Branch of the Palace Museum (now the Shenyang Palace Museum). The third is the coexistence of colleges and halls.The Forbidden City merged into one, that is, the Antiquities Exhibition Hall was merged into the Palace Museum, and the two verandahs outside the Meridian Gate and the Duanmen building were also handed over to the Palace Museum.In this way, the inside of Duanmen and the Forbidden City are unified under the Palace Museum.The Palace Museum and the History Museum coexist.This division and merger did not end until 2008.