As the Spring Festival is approaching, this year’s Spring Festival, Komiks you might as well come to the Forbidden City in Beijing to see exhibitions, enjoy palace lanterns, taste delicious food, and feel the flavor of the New Year! The Palace Museum will display nearly a thousand cultural relics in a record-breaking manner, 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, being diligent in the family, being diligent in business with the virtuous, traveling and enjoying the world”, fully displaying the New Year customs of the Qing Dynasty court in the Qing Dynasty. 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 Emperor Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, CinemaThe Five Dynasties of Emperors of Jiaqing and Daoguang.
Responsible Dean of the Palace Museum Ren Wanping: At the intersection of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day (the first day of the Lunar New Year), the emperor must make a wish on behalf of the whole world. The so-called auspicious words to write, the emperor’s first writing is not written casually, but to bless everyone, wishing everyone a prosperous harvest, good weather, peace in the world, etc.
In order to show the scene where the emperor and his clan relatives and concubines feasted separately, the exhibition referred to the records of the meal base in the 48th year of Qianlong (1783). To restore this scene alone, more than 100 cultural relics were used to present the spectacular scene of the gold 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 restored by the old customs of the Qing Palace. The palace gates are covered with New Year’s paintings and Spring Festival couplets, and the long corridors are hung with palace lanterns. As long as the audience enters the purple Babaylan Forbidden City, they can feel the strong New Year’s atmosphere.
Director Shan Jixiang: We can meet our audience with more collections of cultural relics related to New Year culture. I hope that in addition to watching the Spring Festival Gala, the audience will not only eat dumplings at home to reunite with them, but also go out of the house.The first destination is welcome to the Forbidden City to celebrate the New Year.
Hanging the door god and pasting Spring Festival couplets, and the court festivals are of particular importance. For thousands of years, the activities of the New Year have been rich and colorful. Whether it is ordinary people or the Forbidden City, Komiks express the beauty of the New Year through activities such as sending blessings, wearing new clothes, and eating reunion dinners.
Cinema As soon as I walked into the Forbidden City, the strong New Year atmosphere came to my face. In order to cooperate with the exhibition, the entire Forbidden City was decorated. CinemaAs a symbol of “year”, the Spring Festival couplets and door gods hanging on each door are very eye-catching.
Deputy Director of the Artifact Department of the Palace Museum and Associate Researcher Xu Wei: Door gods are hung in pairs, including couplets hanging on both sides of the door. Generally, door gods are also posted with different door gods according to different positions. Generally, Cinema is mainly the martial gods in the outer court, and generally the literary gods, fairy gods and boys in the inner courts.
The production of Spring Festival couplets in the palace is generally jointly responsible by the Ministry of Works and the Office of the Internal Affairs. The writing of Spring Festival couplets was mainly done by Hanlins who were good at calligraphy. Unlike today’s customs, the 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 them in turn. Babaylan
Associate Research Librarian of the Artifact Department of the Palace Museum Zhan Mengxia: People need to paste the word “Fu” and paste the Spring Festival couplets, and the same is true for the palace. From the first day of the twelfth lunar month, the emperor had to write the first word “Fu” on the dragon stairs. The first word “Fu” must be posted on the door of the Qianqing Palace, because that was his home. Then Cinema will write some more in other palaces, and then write them one after another, and then reward such ministers and foreign vassals.
In addition to the Spring Festival couplet gods, spring notes will also be posted in the palace. Spring strips are auspicious words written on long strips of paper.
Associate Research Librarian of the Arts Department of the Palace MuseumZhan Mengxia: Spring strips are different from Spring Festival couplets. Spring couplets are paired. Spring strips are usually a long Babaylan sheets, which are more casual and can be posted anywhere. If there is a more civilized family in our palace to be blessed and peaceful, it is more casual to stick fat pigs on the pigpen, golden roosters on the shed, wells and 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 fun time for the family, and the Royal Family is no exception.
The Emperors of the Qing Dynasty usually had their meals alone, and only had dinner with their concubines during the New Year Festival, which was called the “Clan Family Banquet”. The home Komiks banquet on the first day of the Lunar New Year is usually breakfast, held at 7 a.m., and is 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 New Year’s Eve dinner with his concubines in the morning, and then in the afternoon he will have New Year’s Eve dinner with his relatives, princes and grandchildren, and some princes and princes from the neighbors.
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. There were 10 kinds of foods in various colors on the table. The queen used the yellow dark clouds inside and outside. The bowl and the golden spoon and chopsticks. The foods in various colors were reduced to 64 kinds. There were no gold tableware below the imperial concubine, and 32 kinds of foods on each table. This is the scene of the family banquet during the Spring Festival of the 48th year of Qianlong. More than 100 cultural relics were used, which is very spectacular.
Associate Research Librarian, Utility Department of the Palace Museum, Han Qian: The table setting starts from the farthest point, called the Toulu. We saw 4 tall ones, called the pine hut fruit cover. They mainly place fruits, and then there will be snacks, cold meat and candied fruits and candied fruits. There are two other ways in the middle that the emperor will not place before he sits down. The hot soup dishes will be served after the emperor sits down. The group closest to the emperor will put some side dishes and 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 Artifacts Department Han Qian: This dumpling is also very particular. This small plate should be placed in the red case we saw immediately. There is a gourd in the middle of the red case with the word “Da Ji”. The plate must be placed on the word “Da Ji”. 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, and the dumplings are in it. As our current custom, there will be steel sausages inside. The emperor’s family also put coins on it, and the money that was spent like this said, “Peace and auspiciousness,” said that day, he ate all the two auspicious money.