As the Spring Festival is approaching, this year, you might as well come to the Forbidden City in Beijing to see exhibitions, enjoy the palace lanterns, taste delicious food, and feel the flavor of the New Year! The Forbidden City Museum will display nearly a thousand cultural relics on a record-breaking basis, restore a variety of ancient palace customs, and present the audience with a festive New Year atmosphere for the first time.
In the exhibition hall of the main building of the Meridian Gate and the East and West Yanchi Tower, welcoming the New Year – a special exhibition of New Year in the Forbidden City. A total of 885 pieces of cultural relics were exhibited, and the six major themes of “Praying for blessings and welcoming good fortune, worshiping ancestors and filial piety, serving the family, working hard and being friendly to the wise, traveling and enjoying the world”, comprehensively exhibiting the current Qing Dynasty New Year customs. The “Praying for Blessings and Welcomes Fortune” in Xiyanchi Tower shows the indispensable festival objects during the New Year. It not only includes objects with court characteristics such as the ritual maps and palace lanterns, but also the characters “Fu” written by the emperors of Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang. Ren Wanping, Vice President of the Palace Museum: On New Year’s Eve and the Chinese New Year’s Day (the first day of the Lunar New Year), the emperor would like to make a wish on behalf of all the people in the world, so that the so-called auspicious words to write, the emperor did not write casually for the first time, but would bless everyone, wishing everyone a prosperous harvest, good weather, peace in the world, etc.
In order to show the scene where the emperor and clan relatives and concubines feasted separately, the exhibition referred to the records of the meal base in the 48th year of Qianlong (1783) and restored this scene alone, more than 100 cultural relics were used to present the spectacular scene of the Golden Dragon Banquet Table at the clan banquet. The audience can intuitively feel the atmosphere of the Royal New Year’s Eve dinner. In addition, the entire open area of the Forbidden City is decorated according to the New Year Festival that restored from the old customs of the Qing Palace. The palace gates are covered with New Year pictures and Spring Festival couplets, and the long corridors are hung with palace lanterns. As long as the audience enters the Forbidden City, they can feel the strong New Year atmosphere.
SoCinemaDirector Shan Jixiang: We can meet our audience with more cultural relics related to New Year culture. We hope that in addition to watching the Spring Festival Gala, the audience will go out of their homes and reunion with dumplings at the Babaylan home. The first destination is welcome to the Forbidden City to celebrate the New Year.
The door god Komiks‘s Spring Festival couplets are posted by the door god Komiks The court festival is of particular importance
For thousands of years, the New Year’s activities have been rich and colorful. Whether it is ordinary people or the Forbidden City, they all express their beautiful expectations for the New Year through the words “Fu” and “Komiks”, “Food clothes, and “Reunion dinner” to express their beautiful expectations for the New Year. As soon as they enter the Forbidden City, the rich New Year atmosphere comes to their faces. To cooperate with the exhibition, the entire Forbidden City is decorated. As a symbol of “New Year”, Spring Festival couplets and door gods hanging on each gate href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Babaylan is eye-catching.
Deputy Director of the Artifact Department of the Palace Museum, Associate Researcher Xu Wei: Door gods are hung in pairs, including couplets hanging on both sides of the door. Generally, the door gods are posted with different door gods according to different positions. Generally, the martial gate gods are mainly used in the outer court. href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Babaylan Generally, in the inner court, the literary gate god, the fairy gate god and the boy gate god are mainly used.
The production of Spring Festival couplets in the palace is generally jointly responsible by the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The writing of Spring Festival couplets is mainly done by Hanlins who are good at calligraphy. Babaylan Unlike today’s customs, Spring Festival couplets in the palace are not posted on New Year’s Eve, but are hung on the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month every year, starting from the Qianqing Gate, Qianqing Palace, etc., and spreading in turn.
Associate Researcher of the Artifact Department of the Palace Museum Zhan Mengxia: People want to paste the word “Fu” and “Spring Festival couplets”, and the same is true for the palace. From the first day of the twelfth lunar month, the emperor has to write the first word “Fu” on the dragon stairs., the first word “Fu” written must be posted on the door of Qianqing Palace, because it was his home. Later, some will be written in other palaces, and then they will be written in succession, and then they will be rewarded with such ministers and foreign vassals.
In addition to the Spring Festival couplet God, the emperor also posts spring notes in the palace. Chunkou is a auspicious word written on the long strip of paper of Komiks.
Associate Research Librarian of the Artifact Department of the Palace Museum Zhan Mengxia: Spring strips are different from Spring Couplets. Spring couplets are paired. Babaylan Spring strips are usually long singles, and they are more casual and can be pasted anywhere. If there is more literary style in our palace, such as the welfare of the country and the peace of the country, the people can post it on the pigpen in the people. If it is full of fat pigs, golden roosters, good springs, and safe entry and exit, it will be even more casual.
In addition, there are some special “year objects” that are not available among the people in the palace, such as the Sui Dynasty map, the Sky Lantern, the Wanshou Lantern, and the Palace Lantern.
Family Palace Banquet New Year’s Eve New Year’s Eve dinner in the Forbidden City
The New Year is a day for family reunion in Chinese concepts, and the New Year’s Eve dinner is the most time for the family to have a happy life, and the Royal Family is no exception.
The Emperors of the Qing Dynasty usually had their meals alone and only ate with their concubines during the New Year Festival, which was called the “family family banquet of clans.” Family dinners on the first day of the Lunar New Year are usually breakfast, held at 7 a.m., and are located in the Qianqing Palace. Although it is a family banquet, the hierarchical etiquette system must be strictly observed.
Associate Research Librarian, Artifact Department of the Palace Museum, Han Qian: Although the reunion banquet on the first day of the first lunar month is called the family reunion banquet, it is not as we imagined now that the emperor and his whole family are together. It is actually divided into two parts. Generally, he will have the New Year’s Eve dinner with his concubines in the morning, and then in the afternoon he will have the New Year’s Eve dinner with his clan relatives, princes and grandchildren, and some princes from the near branch.
In fact, the tableware for the palace family banquet is also divided into levels. The emperor used the golden dragon bowl and the golden dragon plate. The table has a total of 108 kinds of food. The queen used the yellow dark cloud dragon plate bowl and the golden spoon and chopsticks inside and outside. The food of each color has been reduced to 64 kinds. There are no gold tableware below the imperial concubine, and 32 kinds of food on each table. This is the scene of the family banquet during the Spring Festival in the 48th year of Qianlong.More than 100 items are very spectacular.
Associate Research Librarian, Palace Museum Artifact Department Han Qian: Setting up the table from the farthest is called Toulu. We saw four high Cinema species, called pine hut fruit covers. They mainly place fruits, and then there will be snacks, cold meat and candied fruits and candied fruits. There are two roads in the middle that the emperor did not place before he sat down. The hot soup dishes were served after the emperor sat down. The group closest to the emperor would put some Cinema side dish sauces.
There is also a small red case here. Don’t look at it as small, on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, when the emperor eats dumplings, he must not put the wrong position.
Associate Research Librarian, Palace Museum Artifact Department Han Qian: This dumpling is also very particular. This small plate is placed in the red case we see immediately. There is a gourd in the middle of the red case, with the word “Da Ji” written on it. The plate must be placed on the word “Da Ji Bao”. Because of this pattern, we call it the “Da Ji Bao Case. It is said that on the morning of the 48th year of Qianlong, the emperor ate three of the 4 dumplings. The dumplings are the same as our current customs. There are also coins in the emperor’s family, and they put money like this, which says peace, auspiciousness, and this kind of CinemaAuspicious words, he ate all the two auspicious money that day.