Chapter 51 3. Jade cabbage

The Yonghe Palace has left a special memory of "one person, one thing" in history: "person" is Emperor Guangxu's concubine Jin, and "thing" is related to the concubine Jin and is known to the world as "Jade Cabbage". Let me talk about Concubine Jin of Guangxu first. "Qing History Draft Biography of Concubine" records: Duankang imperial concubine, Tatara, was selected as Jin concubine in the 14th year of Guangxu (1888).Twenty years (1894), she became the concubine Jin.He disobeyed the queen mother with his younger brother, concubine Zhen, and was demoted to nobles together.Twenty-one years (1895), she was still named Concubine Jin.At the beginning of Xuantong, she was honored as the noble concubine of Emperor Jianyou Kaojin, and after Xuantong abdicated, she was honored as the noble concubine of Emperor Duankang.

Which harem does Concubine Jin live in?According to the Qing palace archives, on the seventh day of the first month of the 15th year of Guangxu (1889), a yellow slip was handed over from within, stating that Concubine Jin lived in Yonghe Palace. ("The Red File of Guangxu Wedding Ceremony") Concubine Jin has also been brilliant.Before the wedding of Emperor Guangxu, on the 16th day of the first lunar month, the dowry was prepared by the minister in charge of the House of Internal Affairs according to the rank of the concubine, and delivered to the concubine Jin's natal family.The apricot-yellow-blue palanquins for concubines were also prepared by the Ministry of Industry.One day before the Jin concubine entered the palace, the Ministry of Internal Affairs sent the chief eunuch and others to send the hairpin and clothes to the concubine's home.Three days before the wedding, the dowry for Concubine Jin was taken care of by the Minister of Internal Affairs and others, entered the Shenwu Gate, passed through the Shunzhen Gate, and was placed in the Yonghe Palace, where it was received by the chief eunuch of the Yonghe Palace.When the concubine Jin enters the palace, she sends a general manager of the Qianqing palace, two chief eunuchs of the respect room, and the chief eunuch of the palace to greet the concubine at her home. ("Guangxu Wedding Ceremony Red File")

The wedding of Emperor Guangxu, the pavement for concubine Jin in the Yonghe Palace, records in the archives: The front bed in the Dongci Room, one Jinxi kang blanket with red felt and flowers embroidered, three mattresses, and one backrest.On the front bed of the East Jin Room, there is one red blanket embroidered with a hundred sons, three red satin embroidered flowers and Jin Shuangxi mattress, and one backrest.Arhat bed, big red embroidered flowers and golden Double Happiness mattress, and a tent.On the front bed of the Xici room, there is one Kang blanket embroidered with flowers and Jin Shuangxi on red felt, three mattresses on double happiness embroidered on red satin and flowers, and one on the backrest.Entering the west room, there is a hundred curtains embroidered with red satin.On the front bed, there is one Kang blanket embroidered with dragon and phoenix Double Happiness, three red satin embroidered flowers and Jin Shuangxi mattress, and one backrest.The bed in the palace, a Kang blanket embroidered with dragon and phoenix Double Happiness, and a red silk string embroidered with dragon and phoenix Double Happiness glass block eight.

When Emperor Guangxu got married, the front and rear halls of the Yonghe Palace and the buildings outside the hall were covered with red carpets and hung with lanterns.There are two kinds of plates, bowls, cups, and saucers used in the concubine's paving palace (for utensils), blue ground yellow dragon and colorful dragon and phoenix.After the concubine Jin enters the palace, she must go to the empress dowager, the emperor, and the empress, and perform six sues, three kneels and three salutes. Concubine Jin and her younger concubine Zhen were concubines in the same Jin Dynasty, and concubine Zhen disobeyed Empress Dowager Cixi and was demoted to nobleman.I introduced this matter when I talked about Concubine Zhen.Later, on the 60th birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi, Concubine Jin and Concubine Zhen were both promoted to Concubine Jin and Concubine Zhen.After Xuantong abdicated, he was honored as the imperial concubine Duankang.Concubine Jin lived in the Yonghe Palace for more than 20 years. She paid attention to food, entertained herself with calligraphy, painted paintings, and watched bonsai.For the 50th birthday of Concubine Jin, Mei Lanfang and other famous Peking Opera actors were specially invited to perform in the palace.Concubine Jin died of illness in Yonghe Palace in the thirteenth year of the Republic of China (1924) at the age of 51.Shortly after the death of Concubine Jin, Feng Yuxiang mutinied and Puyi left the palace. She was not frightened or suffered from bumps, and ended her life peacefully.

Concubine Jin also suffered from hardships.In the early morning of July 21st in the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), Cixi and others hurriedly set off due to the invasion of the Eight-Power Allied Forces.Emperor Guangxu wore a white silk singlet and rode in the car of Yingnian, the commander-in-chief of the left wing.The queen and elder brother Pu Jun ride in a civilian car.Concubine Jin heard that the police were late, so she walked out of the palace gate, met Gang Yi, and rented a car, and sent it to Prince Zhuang's mansion. Row. ("West Tour Memorabilia") The hardships along the way are hard to describe in a single word.After returning to Luan, he still lived in Yonghe Palace.

In the Yonghe Palace where Concubine Jin lives, there is a "Jade Jade Cabbage". Let's talk about "Jade Jade Cabbage".When talking about Emperor Guangxu's imperial concubine, you must talk about emerald jade cabbage. In 2011, the National Palace Museum in Taipei held an important cultural and cultural relic event, which was to select 100 fine cultural relics from its collection of 680,000 cultural relics according to the principles of "historicity, importance, rarity, artistry, and popularity". One of them is "Jade Jade Cabbage", which was included in the book "Wonderful 100" published by the National Palace Museum in Taipei.This "Jade Jade Cabbage" is also listed as one of the top ten treasures of the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

Jade jade cabbage is 18.7 cm high, 9.1 cm wide, and 5.07 cm thick. What artistic features does it have?The main features are clever selection of materials, clever use of materials, skillful carving, and clever meaning.This emerald jade cabbage is made of a half-green and half-white emerald jade as the raw material, with green carvings as the leaves and white carvings as the sides. The color is natural, just like cabbage; two katydids (zhong) are carved on the leaves. It is a locust-like insect - there are animals on plants, which are vivid and imply many children.The carvings on the emerald jade add to the cultural meaning of this emerald jade cabbage.But strictly speaking, the material of emerald jade is not the best choice, because there are cracks (wen, cracks) and plaques in the material. If it is used on bright and elegant bi, bracelets and other decorative jade wares, it is a kind of defect.However, the skillful craftsman wisely chose the subject of cabbage and used jade appropriately; the distribution of the natural color of the raw material allows the cracks to be hidden in the curved leaf margins and veins, and the cracks and plaques also become the difference. The elements of different water sense make the cabbage seem to have been frost-cold, and the natural imperfection of emerald jade presents the perfection of art.

In fact, carved bamboo utensils in the shape of cabbage appeared as early as the early Qing Dynasty.Emperor Qianlong once inscribed a poem on a Khotan (Tian) jade "Lou Shuang Si Flower Insert" which he owned. The Si here is cabbage.In his imperial poems, Emperor Qianlong reminded himself that jade craftsmen are admonished by materials and art, and those in power should be diligent in politics, so that "the people have no such color".Since then, cabbage has become an increasingly popular theme. In recent years, "cabbage" also means "putting money", giving it a new social meaning, and it is even more popular among the people.

So, is there any relationship between Guangxu Emperor Jinfei and Cuiyu Cabbage?Have. Some people say that green jade cabbage was a dowry gift from Jinpin's natal family when she married Emperor Guangxu.Is there evidence for this?Have.One of the evidences listed by someone is that this emerald jade cabbage was placed in the Yonghe Palace where Concubine Jin lived. Where was this emerald jade cabbage originally placed?From the original collection number, it is known that the green jade cabbage was originally a display object in the Yonghe Palace.According to Mr. Na Zhiliang who participated in the first exhibition of the Forbidden City, it turned out that jade cabbage and a clump of Ganoderma lucidum were planted in the same enamel flowerpot, which was part of the so-called "jewel bonsai". Deciding to dismantle it and adding a wooden seat, it has become the appearance of "Jade Cabbage" today.

Concubine Jin of Emperor Guangxu once lived in the Yonghe Palace, so people speculated that the emerald jade cabbage might be her dowry.Because it is a dowry, this emerald jade cabbage has multiple cultural meanings: first, the cabbage with green leaves and white stems symbolizes innocence, which symbolizes the purity of character; Many children; thirdly, later people used the homonym of "cabbage" as "putting wealth" to increase the concept of wealth.In short, the natural color, artificial carving, symbolic concept and rich meaning of green jade cabbage are widely loved by people, and it has become a rare treasure. ("Wonderful 100 Jade Cabbage")

However, Feng Mingzhu, deputy director of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, told me: "Jade jade cabbage" is not the best in the collection of the courtyard, and there is more than one jade cabbage in the courtyard, but because it is "popular" , and was placed in the Yonghe Palace where Concubine Jin lives, so it has received widespread attention and universal love, and has been listed as one of the "Wonderful 100". Yanxi Yonghe, seeking peace and jubilee.The fate of life is unpredictable.Fortune is always accompanied by misfortune, and misfortune is always accompanied by blessing.Emperor Guangxu's Concubine Zhen, who begged for love, was stuck in a well and died even though she got true love; , but did not enjoy true love.Fate often plays tricks on people, gaining one and losing the other, which has been difficult since ancient times.As the saying goes: Don't force it, just follow the fate.