The rare treasures in the Old Summer Palace include the bronze statues of the twelve zodiac animal heads in the Old Summer Palace, the hexagonal bottle set, the female history's admonitions, the Forty Scenes, the Kangxi Jade Ruyi, etc. The specific introduction is as follows:
1. The bronze statue of the twelve zodiac animal heads in Yuanmingyuan
The bronze statue of the twelve zodiac animal heads in Yuanmingyuan was originally part of the fountain outside Haiyan Hall in Yuanmingyuan. A red bronze statue from the Qianlong period. In 1860, the British and French forces invaded China and burned the Old Summer Palace, and the bronze statues of animal heads began to be lost overseas.
2. A hexagonal vase from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty with an outer surface painted with gold and anemone pattern and hollowed out with three more melons and fruits, and an inner surface painted with blue and white intertwining branches and floral patterns.
This vase is a Qing Dynasty governor pottery The new variety created by Guan Tangying is also the transitional period for the invention of the "rotating bottle", which is very high in terms of craftsmanship and technological content. In particular, the outer layer is not round and spherical, but has a hexagonal hollow shape, which adds another level of manufacturing difficulty in terms of shaping, billet making, hollowing, and sandwiching.
3. The Picture of Admonitions of Female History
The Picture of Admonitions of Female History is a silk painting created by Gu Kaizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in China. The original work has been lost, but there is a copy from the Tang Dynasty. It originally had 12 sections, but due to its age, only 9 sections are left, which were inked on silk.
4. Forty Scenes
The "Forty Scenes" of the Old Summer Palace were created by the court painter around the ninth year of Qianlong (1744) according to the decree of Emperor Qianlong Hongli. , 40 separate scenes drawn by Ci Chen. According to their different painting methods, they are divided into two categories. The first category is meticulous painting with only one set, which was originally preserved in the Old Summer Palace.
The second category is ink line and white drawings, which have three versions: one is the accompanying drawings of Qianlong's "Imperial Poems on Forty Scenes of the Old Summer Palace" compiled by the Ci Minister under the order of Emperor Qianlong, including those published by the Imperial Palace in the ten years of Qianlong's reign. The second is the lithographic reprint of "Ode to the Old Summer Palace" in the 13th year of Guangxu's reign, which was originally painted by Sun Hu and Shen Yuan. The third is the forty scenes painted by Zhang Ruoai.
5. Kangxi Ruyi Jade
Kangxi Ruyi Jade is carved from a piece of precious white jade, nearly half a meter long, white and green in color, and carved into the shape of a porous fungus. The shape of Ruyi is like a long-handled hook, with a Ganoderma-shaped or cloud-shaped hook head and a slightly curved handle. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the name Ruyi was used to express good luck and happiness, and it was an auspicious object for appreciation.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Bronze Statues of the Twelve Zodiac Animal Heads in Yuanmingyuan
Baidu Encyclopedia - Qianlong Period of the Qing Dynasty, with gold anemone pattern on the outside and green anemone glaze on the outside, with pastel hollows and three more melons and fruits, and the inside is painted with blue and white flowers. Hexagonal vase with branches and flowers
Baidu Encyclopedia - Women's History Proverbs
Baidu Encyclopedia - Forty Scenes
Baidu Encyclopedia - Kangxi Jade Ruyi