The Bronze Statue of the Twelve Zodiac Animal Heads in the Old Summer Palace

The bronze statue of the animal heads in the Old Summer Palace is a red bronze statue cast during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. It was originally part of the fountain in front of the Haiyan Hall in the Old Summer Palace. The bronze statue of an animal head in the Old Summer Palace has become a symbol of the cultural relics lost overseas in the Old Summer Palace.

The bronze statues of the twelve zodiac animal heads are in the shape of a figure eight and are arranged on the human stone platforms on both sides of the fountain. Each animal is a fountain mechanism. Every hour, the corresponding animal's mouth will spray water for two hours. Because in ancient times, one hour was equal to two hours, and twelve hours were exactly twenty-four hours. But at noon, they will spray water together, and the scene is spectacular.

Where is the bronze statue of the twelve zodiac animal heads in Yuanmingyuan now? The whereabouts of the twelve animal heads in the Old Summer Palace?

In October 1860, the British and French forces robbed the Old Summer Palace, and the bronze statue of the animal head was lost overseas. As of 2014, 7 animal heads—ox head, monkey head, tiger head, pig head, horse head, rat head, and rabbit head—have returned to China; it is said that the dragon head is currently in Taiwan, but will not appear in the short term; The whereabouts of four animal heads including a snake head, a chicken head, a dog head, and a sheep head are still unknown.

1. History

Haiyan Hall, a historic site in the Old Summer Palace, was built in 1759 (the 24th year of Qianlong's reign). The word "Haiyan" means "the river is clear and the sea is clear, the country is peaceful and the people are safe". "Wenyuan Yinghua" Tang Zhengxi's "The King of Japan and China": "The river is clear and the sea is Yan, the time is good and the year is prosperous". The river is the Yellow River; Yan is calm. "Heqing Haiyan" is also called "Haiyan Heqing", which means that the water flow of the Yellow River is clear and the sea is calm. This term is used to describe peace in the world and has an auspicious connotation of praising world peace. This is also where the name of the ornamental and practical building "Haiyan Hall" in the Yuanmingyuan, the Chinese royal garden, comes from. The highlight of this architectural complex is the twelve zodiac bronze statues that tell the time with water, which is world-famous.

The animal head was designed by Castiglione, a Jesuit priest stationed in China. He used the twelve zodiac signs of the animal head and human body to represent the twenty-four hours of the day. Each bronze statue takes turns to spray water, which is a spectacle. In 1860, the animal heads of the twelve zodiac animals were plundered by the British and French forces and then scattered everywhere. Among them, the bronze statues of the cow, monkey, tiger and pig heads have been returned to China and are collected in the Poly Art Museum; the bronze statue of the horse head was purchased by Macau businessman Stanley Ho in 2007. After purchasing, the heads were donated to the country; the rat heads and rabbit heads were donated to China free of charge by the French Pinault family and were included in the National Museum; as of May 2013, according to reliable information, the dragon heads were collected in Taiwan; snake heads, chicken heads, dog heads, and sheep heads The whereabouts are unknown.

In 1860, the British and French allied forces burned down the Old Summer Palace, and the twelve zodiac bronze statues in the Old Summer Palace were lost overseas since then, becoming a microcosm of the loss of cultural relics in China? In the more than a hundred years after the Opium War, due to wars, looting, theft and chiseling, etc. As many as one million pieces of Chinese cultural relics have been lost overseas. Among all well-known foreign museums, there are more than 1.6 million Chinese cultural relics in collections. Including other Chinese cultural relics collected by private citizens, the total number of Chinese cultural relics scattered overseas is more than 17 million, which is a number that greatly exceeds that of domestic museums in China. and private collections.

2. Designer

The bronze statue of the animal head in the Old Summer Palace was cast during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. It was designed by the Italian Lang Shining, a palace Western painter, supervised by the French Chiang Youren, and produced by the palace craftsmen.

Castiglione originally wanted to build a nude female sculpture with Western characteristics, but Emperor Qianlong felt that this was against Chinese ethics and morals, so he ordered a redesign. So Castiglione took into account Chinese folk culture and replaced the human body sculptures commonly used in Western fountain designs with seated figures of the twelve zodiac animals.

3. Features

The body of the zodiac bronze statue is shaped like a stone carving wearing a robe, and the head is shaped in a realistic style. The casting is fine, and there are details such as wrinkles and down on the animal head. , all clear and lifelike. The material used to cast the animal head was red copper refined by the Qing Dynasty at that time. It has a deep color on the outside and a polished interior. It has not rusted after hundreds of years, which is a unique feat. According to research, at that time, the twelve zodiac bronze statues were arranged in a figure-eight shape on both sides of a pool in front of Haiyan Hall in Yuanmingyuan. They were called "water clocks" by people at the time. Every day, the twelve zodiac bronze statues will spray water in turn, representing different times of the day. At noon, the twelve statues will spray water at the same time. The Haiyantang Twelve Zodiac Fountain is a fountain clock designed according to the twelve Chinese zodiac signs. Every hour, the zodiac clock belonging to that hour will automatically spray water. At twelve o'clock at noon, the twelve zodiac signs spray water at the same time, and the design is extremely exquisite. The main building of Haiyan Hall faces west, with eleven rooms at the top and bottom. There are stacked fountains on the left and right of the door. There is a large fountain under the steps. On the left and right of the pool, there are bronze statues of human bodies and animal heads of the twelve zodiac animals arranged in an "eight" shape. At twelve hours every day and night, the twelve zodiac signs take turns spraying water, commonly known as the "water clock".

Reference for scene restoration

The portraits of the Twelve Lives were originally on the 12 stone platforms on the north and south sides of the fan-shaped pool in front of Haiyan Hall in the Western Building of Yuanmingyuan. of. On the south bank are the rat, tiger, dragon, horse, monkey, and dog; on the north bank are the ox, the rabbit, the snake, the sheep, the rooster, and the pig.

These portraits all have animal heads and human bodies. The head is made of copper and the body is made of stone. The hollow is connected to a water spray pipe. Every other hour (two hours), the portrait representing that hour will spray water from its mouth; at noon, ten The two portraits have fountains gushing out of their mouths at the same time, creating a spectacle. These bronze zodiac statues are 50 centimeters high and are exquisitely carved. They are the finest bronzes of the Qing Dynasty.

In the middle of the pool is a stone clam sculpture about two meters high. There are 6 stone seats arranged in a figure of eight on both sides of the pool. Each stone is carved with an animal-headed human figure wearing a robe. The animal head is made of copper and the human body is made of stone. They are arranged according to the rules of the Chinese zodiac. Every other hour (two hours today), the animal head representing that hour sprays water from its mouth, and the water pours into the pool in a parabola shape, that is, Zi hour (23 o'clock to 1 o'clock the next day). At Chou hour (1 to 3 o'clock), a bronze statue with a rat head sprays water from its mouth; at Chou hour (1 to 3 o'clock), a bronze statue with an ox head sprays water from its mouth. At 12 o'clock at noon, in addition to the horse's head continuing to spray water, the mouths of the other eleven animal bronze statues also sprayed water jets together, and the scene was extremely spectacular in an instant. Therefore, people can know the time as long as they see the water jet coming from the mouth of the zodiac avatar. This group of fountains is a huge and unique water-powered clock.

IV. Significance

Why are the bronze statues of animal heads in the Old Summer Palace precious? During the prosperous period of Qianlong, the Qing Dynasty had strong national power and its craftsmanship was at its peak. This is reflected in the bronze statues of the twelve zodiac animal heads in the Old Summer Palace. Particularly sufficient.

First of all, the copper it uses is alloy copper specially refined for the palace. It contains many precious metals. It is the same as the copper used in the bronze cranes displayed in the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace in Beijing. It has a deep color and contains a lot of precious metals. It is extremely polished and has withstood the wind and rain without rusting.

Secondly, it was carefully crafted by craftsmen from the palace manufacturing office who specialized in serving the emperor. The casters were finely crafted, and the surface was carved with fine chiseling, with details such as animal velvet on it. It is forged one by one and is clear and lifelike. Key parts such as the nose, eyes, ears, and the wrinkles on the nose and neck are all very delicate, without any sloppiness, showing a very high level of craftsmanship.

What’s interesting is that the bronze statues of the twelve zodiac animal heads were made by Chinese palace craftsmen, and the designers were Castiglione and other European artists; therefore, the bronze statues not only have strong traditional Chinese aesthetic taste, but also integrate It reflects the characteristics of Western plastic arts.

More importantly, they are the cultural inheritance of our Chinese nation for thousands of years, and they also symbolize the prosperity of our motherland.

5. Value

In July 2008, the French Christie’s auction house issued a communiqué announcing that it would hold the Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bell auction in February 2009. Hot collection? Special auction, including the rat head and rabbit head bronze statues of lost cultural relics from China's Yuanmingyuan that were looted by the British and French forces during the war and lost overseas for many years. After this news reached China, it caused a strong response.

At 8 pm on February 25, 2009, at the special auction of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé Collection held at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, the rat head numbered 677 Bidding starts at 9 million euros. No one raised a sign at the 1,200-seat venue, and only three phone buyers were vying to bid. The auctioneer calls the telephone agent "Doma". After bidding of 10 million, 11 million, 12 million, and 13 million, the rat head was finally sold for 14 million euros. After that, the rabbit head numbered 678 started bidding at 10 million, and was finally sold for 14 million euros. Buyers also participate in the auction by phone.

Faced with this auction result, Zheng Xinyao, deputy secretary-general of the China Auction Industry Association, said in an interview with reporters that from the $1,500 price of a bronze horse head statue in 1985 to the price of a bronze statue of a rat head and a rabbit head this time, The statues sold for 14 million euros each, and the bronze animal head statue in the Old Summer Palace increased 12,000 times in 24 years. From a pure art auction market perspective, today's prices are far greater than the intrinsic value of these two cultural relics. Therefore, he called on the Chinese people to be wary of people taking advantage of our national sentiments for malicious commercial hype.

According to Zheng Xinyao, the bronze animal head statue in Old Summer Palace is also known as the Old Summer Palace bronze animal head with twelve zodiac animals, and the Old Summer Palace bronze animal head bronze statue with twelve zodiac animals. The bronze animal head statue in the Old Summer Palace was originally part of the fountain outside the Haiyan Hall of the Old Summer Palace. It was a red bronze statue made during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. It was also the nozzle of the "hydraulic clock" in the original fountain of the Old Summer Palace. The full name of this water-powered clock is "Twelve Zodiac Signs Time Fountain". The bronze statues of the twelve zodiac animal heads are in the shape of a figure eight and are arranged on the human stone platforms on both sides of the fountain. Each animal is a fountain mechanism. Every hour, the corresponding animal's mouth will spray water for two hours.

Only US$1,500 in the 1980s

Zheng Xinyao said that in 1985, an American antique dealer accidentally discovered the bronze statue of the horse head of the Yuanmingyuan in a private residence in California. , along with it are bronze statues of cow heads and tiger heads. The antique dealer bought these three bronze heads at a low price of US$1,500 each. From 1987 to 1989, these three bronze animal heads and monkey heads from the Old Summer Palace appeared at auctions in New York and London. The highest price at that time was a horse head, which was only US$250,000.

The Hong Kong auction introduced the animal heads of the Old Summer Palace to the Chinese people

At the end of April and early May 2000, at the auctions of Christie’s Hong Kong and Sotheby’s Hong Kong, cow heads, monkey heads and tiger heads were sold. The first bronze statue appeared. At that time, the two auction companies' practices of auctioning lost cultural relics aroused great indignation from all walks of life in Hong Kong and mainland China. In the end, China Poly Group Company resolutely participated in the auction and bought the cow head for HKD 7.745 million, the monkey head for HKD 8.185 million, and the tiger head for HKD 15.44475 million (both prices included the auction company's commission).

In early September 2007, Sotheby's auction company announced that it would auction a bronze statue of a horse head under the name of "Relics of the Eight-Nation Allied Forces - Old Summer Palace". When the news came out, people from all walks of life were in an uproar. The China Special Fund to Rescue Lost Overseas Cultural Relics took the lead in issuing a statement firmly opposing the public auction of bronze horse head statues, and proposed that the return of the horse head should be achieved in a public welfare manner. At a critical moment, Dr. Stanley Ho, a patriotic entrepreneur from Hong Kong and Macao and a consultant on the national treasure project, purchased the horse head bronze statue for HKD 69.1 million before the auction on September 20 and announced that he would donate it to the country. The only one that did not involve the auction company and returned as a charity was the pig head bronze statue, but it was also related to Stanley Ho. The American collector agreed to transfer the bronze pig head statue to the special fund. In September 2003, Stanley Ho donated more than 6 million yuan to the special fund to buy back the bronze pig head statue.

14 million euros is far greater than the true value of the cultural relics

Zheng Xinyao said that the price of 14 million euros for the rat-head and rabbit-head bronze statues in Paris was completely different from a commercial point of view. Unbelievable. Xie Chensheng, a well-known cultural relic expert and honorary president of the Chinese Cultural Relics Society, said yesterday that the rat and rabbit head bronze statues are just architectural components. If they are not connected to the Old Summer Palace and the invasion of the British and French coalition forces, their value cannot be very high. of. Because of this connection, it has new value, and this value is a witness to national humiliation.

Li Xiaodong, vice president of the Chinese Cultural Relics Society, also believed yesterday that the price of the animal heads in the Old Summer Palace was completely hyped. As building components, their value will be greatly reduced if they leave the building. Therefore, they do not have independent value like a famous painting from the Song Dynasty or a complete bronze from the Shang Dynasty. The current hype has fueled businessmen’s need to make profits. Therefore, in the first auction, the three bronze statues were only about 30 million Hong Kong dollars. By 2007, one horse head was worth 69.1 million Hong Kong dollars, and it was all speculated in this way. From a commercial perspective, this Paris auction is naturally higher than the price of HK$69.1 million. Therefore, the whole process is a kind of commercial hype and does not reflect the true value of these two cultural relics.

6. Current Situation

Five bronze animal heads of ox, tiger, monkey, pig and horse have been collected in the Poly Art Museum, while rat and rabbit are collected in the National Museum of China. Among them, the cow, tiger, monkey, pig, and horse were rescued and returned to China by patriots in 2000, 2003, and 2007 respectively, and are collected in the Poly Art Museum.

On April 26, 2013, the Rat Head and Rabbit Head were established by the chairman of the French PPR Group (the former name before May 18, 2005 was the Bino-Spring-Leido Group, also known as the Kering Group) Fran?ois-Henri Pinault donated it to be sent back to China. The dragon's head is in Taiwan and is well preserved, but it won't be seen anytime soon. The whereabouts of four pieces including snake heads, sheep heads, chicken heads, and dog heads are still unknown.

Rat head

In 1860, after the Old Summer Palace was robbed and burned by the British and French forces, the rat head has been living overseas. It once appeared in a French museum together with the rabbit head for a brief exhibition. The rat head originally belonged to the bronze statue of the Great Water Method in front of the Haiyan Hall of the Western Building in Yuanmingyuan. After the Old Summer Palace was burned down in 1860, it was plundered and lost overseas. In 2009, he appeared at the special auction of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé held by the French Christie's auction company. At 3:07 on February 26, 2009, Beijing time, the rat head was auctioned for 14 million euros. The buyer is Cai Mingchao, chairman and general manager of Xiamen Xinhe Art Auction Co., Ltd. and collection consultant of the China Special Fund to Rescue Lost Overseas Cultural Relics. However, he later stated that he would not pay, causing the rat head to fail to auction.

In the end, these two animal heads were bought by the French Pinault family. The Pinault family announced in Beijing on April 26, 2013 that they would donate the bronze rat heads of the Old Summer Palace that were lost overseas to China free of charge. On June 28, 2013, the French Pinault family officially donated the rat head bronze statue to China, which is currently collected in the National Museum of China.

Ugly Cow

After the Old Summer Palace was robbed and burned by the British and French forces in 1860, the cow's head has been living overseas and has appeared in American houses as a garden decoration.

In the 1980s, Taiwanese entrepreneur Cai Chennan purchased a bronze bull head statue at a Sotheby's auction. On April 30, 2000, China Poly Group purchased the cow head at Christie's auction house in Hong Kong for HK$7.745 million, and it is now stored in the Poly Art Museum.

Yin Hu

After the Old Summer Palace was robbed and burned by the British and French forces in 1860, the tiger head has been living overseas and has appeared in American houses as a garden decoration.

In the 1980s, Taiwanese entrepreneur Cai Chennan purchased it at a Sotheby's auction. On May 2, 2000, China Poly Group purchased it at Sotheby's auction house for HK$15.44475 million, and it is now stored in the Poly Art Museum.

Rabbit

After the Old Summer Palace was robbed and burned by the British and French forces in 1860, the rabbit head has been living overseas. It once appeared in a French museum together with the rat head for a brief exhibition.

In 2009, he appeared at the Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé special auction held by the French Christie's auction company. At 3:07 on February 26, 2009, Beijing time, the rabbit head sold for 1,400 It was auctioned at a price of 10,000 euros. The buyer was Cai Mingchao, chairman and general manager of Xiamen Xinhe Art Auction Co., Ltd. and collection consultant of the China Special Fund to Rescue Lost Overseas Cultural Relics. However, he later stated that he would not pay, causing the rabbit head to fail to auction.

In the end, these two animal heads were bought by the French Pinault family. The Pinault family announced in Beijing on April 26, 2013, that they would donate the bronze rabbit heads from the Old Summer Palace to China free of charge. On June 28, 2013, the French Pinault family officially donated the rabbit head bronze statue to China, which is currently collected in the National Museum of China.

Chen Long

In 1860, after the Old Summer Palace was robbed and burned by the British and French forces, the dragon head has been living overseas and has never appeared. The dragon head was originally one of the bronze sculptures of the Great Water Method in front of the Haiyan Hall of the Western Building in Yuanmingyuan.

According to a report by Shenzhen Satellite TV in March 2009, Wang Du, a collector from Taiwan, China, said in an interview that the missing dragon head among the animal heads from the Old Summer Palace is in Taiwan. Wang Du said that Taiwan Dragon Head was in good condition in the 1980s. At that time, the value was NT$4 to 5 million. The collector originally planned to have the dragon head appear at the auction, but in view of the turmoil encountered by the rat head and rabbit head, the collector does not expect the dragon head and other unaccounted Old Summer Palace animal heads to appear in the short term.

Si Snake

In 1860, after the Old Summer Palace was robbed and burned by the British and French forces, the snake head has been living overseas and has never appeared again. Its current whereabouts are unknown.

Wuma

After the Old Summer Palace was robbed and burned by the British and French forces in 1860, the horse's head has been living overseas, and was finally auctioned by Sotheby's in 2007.

The Wu Horse Beast Head was built in the 24th year of Qianlong’s reign in the Qing Dynasty. It is the most unique one among the twelve zodiac beast heads. The cloud-like shape and curly hair on the top of the head show that it is a typical European style. Prince Charming. Perhaps the Italian designer Castiglione expressed his incomparable envy for the amorous emperor with 3,000 beauties in this work. What's even more coincidental is that the Chinese zodiac also represents these twelve animal hours, and the horse represents exactly noon. Therefore, when the horse's head sprays water, all the animals will spray water together.

In October 2007, Stanley Ho spent a huge sum of money to buy it back for HK$69.1 million and donated it to the country, causing a sensation around the world. The bronze horse head statue is currently on a long-term exhibition at the Grand Lisboa Casino in Macau and will return to the Old Summer Palace when the time is right.

Weiyang

In 1860, after the Old Summer Palace was robbed and burned by the British and French forces, the sheep head has been living overseas and has never appeared again. Its current whereabouts are unknown.

Shen Monkey

After the Old Summer Palace was robbed and burned by the British and French forces in 1860, the monkey head has been living overseas.

In the 1980s, China Poly Group purchased it at Christie’s auction house for HK$8.185 million, and it is now stored in the Poly Art Museum.

United Chicken

In 1860, after the Old Summer Palace was robbed and burned by the British and French forces, the chicken head has been living overseas and has never been seen again. Its current whereabouts are unknown.

He recently bought a bronze dog-headed statue at a thrift store for US$1,000. Judging from its appearance, material and size, he believed it was most likely the dog-headed bronze statue among the 12 animal-headed bronze statues. The bronze statue of a dog is about 40 centimeters high and has a base of about 18 centimeters x 18 centimeters. This bronze statue weighs about 9.5 kilograms and is pitch black. The dog's head is engraved with fine hair patterns, except for a crack of less than half a centimeter below the left ear. , the bronze statue is generally intact. The water diversion hole is still visible under the base, but the water outlet at the mouth of the dog's head is not obvious. The thrift store owner claimed that the bronze statue was consigned by others and its origin was unknown. The seller offered a price of US$1,000, and nothing less would be enough. Andy Zheng decided to buy it after careful consideration. Andy Zheng said that it would be a good thing if the national treasures lost overseas could return to the motherland, but he has neither the financial resources nor the opportunity to authenticate the bronze dog-head statue. He hopes to attract the attention of cultural relic appreciators and collectors.

Haizhu

After the Old Summer Palace was robbed and burned by the British and French forces in 1860, the pig head has been living overseas.

In 1987, it was purchased by a museum in the United States.

In 2003, the famous entrepreneur Dr. Stanley Ho invested in the acquisition and donated it to the Poly Art Museum for collection, finally returning to the motherland. As for the amount of funds paid, Poly did not disclose it, but it is said to be less than HK$7 million. Currently collected in the Poly Art Museum.