According to experts from the Forbidden City, the Forbidden City was the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and its collections are unparalleled. In addition to inheriting the collection from the previous dynasty, the collection of the Qing Palace also received tribute from all directions and was produced by the inner court. At present, the Palace Museum's movable collection, the cultural relics in the collection, mainly originates from the remains of the Qing Palace, and is supplemented by cultural relics collected through acquisition, donation, allocation, etc. over decades. The total number is nearly 1.5 million, of which newly acquired There are about 240,000 pieces in the collection.
The millions of collections come from primitive society, the Shang, Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties, as well as the Ming, Qing, and even modern times.
The remains of the Qing Palace are mainly composed of three parts: first, the historical remains of the Qing Dynasty and the Qing royal family in terms of politics, economy, culture, life, religion, etc., that is, the historical relics of the palace; second, the hundreds of palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties Ancient art treasures such as calligraphy and paintings collected during the 19th century; the third is the books and archives collected by the Qing Palace.
Palace historical relics and ancient art treasures are divided into 23 categories
Palace historical relics and ancient art treasures are further divided into paintings according to their different textures, forms and management needs. , Dharma books, inscriptions, sculptures, bronzes, ceramics, embroidery, jade, gold and silverware, treasures, lacquerware, enamel, carving techniques, other crafts, stationery, daily utensils, watches and clocks, food, imperial seals, religious relics , military equipment, foreign cultural relics and other cultural relics, etc. ***Fifty or sixty items in 23 major categories.
Palace historical relics can be roughly divided into the following three categories according to their functions.
Legal cultural relics: Cultural relics that reflect the legal system, court affairs, and military equipment for hunting, such as thrones, seals, seals, talismans, memorials, weapons, etc.
Life cultural relics: cultural relics that reflect the daily life, food, study, entertainment and other life of the emperor and the royal family, as well as the palace culture and customs, such as beds, mats, tables, stools, crowns, clothes and accessories, the four treasures of the study, and dowry Mince etc.
Religious cultural relics: cultural relics that reflect religious activities, such as Buddha statues, magical instruments, scriptures, etc.
The comprehensive collection series determines that the display of cultural relics in the Palace Museum is also multi-dimensional. The display of cultural relics in the hospital can be divided into two categories according to the length of time: regular display and temporary exhibition.
Regular displays include the Ceramics Hall, the Bronze Hall, the Jade Hall, the Treasure Hall, the Watch Hall, etc. Temporary exhibitions include "Ming and Qing Painting Exhibition", "Qing Dynasty Emperors and Empress Clothing Exhibition", "Wine Set Exhibition", etc.
The existing Qing palace collection contains nearly 400,000 volumes
The Qing palace collection is extremely rich, containing many classics handed down from the six dynasties from the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty and spread over 900 years.
The collection of books in the Qing Palace was mainly gathered from the above five sources. The most glorious period for the collection of books was during the Kang, Yong, and Qian dynasties, especially during the Qianlong and even the early Jiaqing years. After Jiaqing and the five dynasties of Daoguang and other dynasties for more than 90 years, the Qing Dynasty society declined. The British, French and Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded one after another, and a large number of books were lost or destroyed. After the Revolution of 1911, the Xunqing imperial family headed by Puyi temporarily resided in the inner court. The eunuchs' thefts, fires, and Puyi's rewards caused the collection of books to be burned and lost a lot.
By the time the Palace Museum was established, after a comprehensive inventory, it was discovered that there were 520,000 volumes in the Qing palace collection. After the relocation of cultural relics to the south, more than 150,000 rare and rare books are now stored in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. After years of re-inventory at the National Palace Museum in Beijing, nearly 400,000 volumes of Qing palace books, accounting for about four-fifths of the library's books, have been re-selected into the rare book library. There are more than 190,000 volumes, many of which are rare and unique.
The major items in the collection of books in the Qing palace are new books copied and printed by the imperial government during the Ming and Qing dynasties, which are called imperial manuscripts (copies) and engravings. There are many manuscripts in the collection of the Qing palace, including remnants of previous dynasties and suicide notes recovered from searches, but the largest number are the manuscripts of the imperial palace. In the Ming Dynasty, the imperial manuscripts were first represented by the majestic "Yongle Dadian", while in the Qing Dynasty, "Sikuquanshu" and "Sikuquanshu Collection" were represented, as well as various rare and secret books compiled and copied by the Qing Dynasty.