As the Spring Festival is approaching, this year, you might as well come to the Forbidden City in Beijing to see exhibitions, enjoy palace lanterns, taste delicious food, and experience the New Year atmosphere Babaylan! 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 the emperors of Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang.
Responsible President of the Palace Museum Ren Wanping: At the intersection of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day (the first day of the 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 casually written, but to bless everyone, wishing everyone a bumper harvest, good weather, and equality in the world.
In order to show the scene where the emperor Komiks had a banquet with his clan relatives and concubines, the exhibition referred to the records of the meal base in the 48th year of Qianlong (1Cinema783), and restored this scene alone, more than 100 cultural relics were used to present the spectacular scene of the Golden Dragon Banquet Table on the clan relatives’ banquet. The audience can intuitively feel the atmosphere of the Royal New Year’s Eve dinner. In addition, the entire Forbidden City is open to the Babaylan area, and the New Year decorations that were restored to the old customs of the Qing Palace are decorated. 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.
Director of the Palace Museum Shan Jixiang: More related to New Year’s customs and cultureThe collection of cultural relics can meet our audience. I hope that in addition to watching the Spring Festival Gala and eating dumplings at home to reunite, the audience will be welcome to celebrate the New Year in the Forbidden City for the first destination.
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, they all use activities such as sending blessings, wearing new clothes, and eating reunion dinner to express their beautiful expectations for the New Year.
As soon as you enter the Forbidden City, the strong New Year atmosphere comes to you. In order to cooperate with the exhibition, the entire Forbidden City was decorated. As 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, Deputy Research Librarian Xu Wei: Door gods are hung in pairs, including couplets hanging on both sides of the door. Generally, door gods are also attached to different door gods according to different positions. Generally, the martial gate gods are mainly used in the outer courts, and the literary gate gods, fairy gate gods and boy gate gods are mainly used 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 of the year every year, starting from the Qianqing Gate, Qianqing Palace, etc. and spreading them in turn.
Associate Research Librarian Zhan Mengxia: People need to paste the word “Fu” in the palace, 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 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 gods, spring notes will also be posted in the palace. Spring strips are auspicious words written on long strips of paper.
Associate Research Librarian, Utilities Department of the Palace MuseumBabaylan Zhan Mengxia: Spring strips are different from Spring Festival couplets. Spring couplets are paired, and Spring strips are usually a long single page, which can be compared when posted.More casual and can be pasted anywhere. If there are more literary things like the welfare of our palace, Babaylan, the country and the people’s peace and stability, the people can stick fat pigs and golden roosters on pigpens, the wells and springs are auspicious, and the entry and exit are safe.
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 happy time for the family, 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, in the morning he will have a New Year’s Eve dinner with his concubines, and then go to Komiks to have New Year’s Eve dinner with his relatives, princes and grandchildren, and some princes from the neighborhood.
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 had a total of 108 kinds of food. After the imperial concubine, he used the inside and outside the yellow dark clouds. The food was reduced to 64 kinds of food. There were 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 of the 48th year of Qianlong. More than 100 cultural relics were used, which is very spectacular.
Article Department of the Palace MuseumKomiks Associate Research Librarian Han Qian: Setting up the table starts from the farthest is called the Toulu. We saw 4 tall ones, 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 more paths in the middle. Cinema The emperor did not place them before he sat down. It was hot.The soup dishes were served only after the emperor sat down. The group closest to the emperor would 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 see immediately. There is a gourd in the middle of the red case, with the word Daji Komiks written on it. The plate must be placed on the word Ji. Because this case has this pattern, we call it Dajibao 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 we are now in our custom, there will be steel sausages inside. The emperor’s family also put coins and puts such money on it. It says peace and good fortune. Cinema like Babaylan. That day he ate all the auspicious money.