“Open Sesame!”

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the establish- ment of the Palace Museum in the famous Forbidden City in Beijing. To celebrate its 90th birthday， the museum recently opened four zones that had not been opened to the public before， and presented eight masterpiece exhibitions. With that move， not only has the ratio of the open space in the Forbidden City increased from 52 to 65 percent， but also some 5，000 cultural relics that had never before been revealed to the public are now exhibited. Besides， the Palace Museum has presented 18 exhibitions throughout the year. It’s “Open Sesame”allows a close look at former imperial treasures.

Royal “Harem”

The area around the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility， consisting of the Palace of Longevity and Health， the Palace of the Compassion and Tranquility， and a garden， used to be the most mysterious of the four newly-opened zones in the Forbidden City. The area integrates palaces， Buddhist shrines， and gardens， where Qing Dynasty （1644-1911） empress dowagers and imperial concubines lived and worshipped the Buddha. It had never been open to the public in the past 90 years since the Palace Museum was established.

The Palace of Longevity and Health was constructed by Emperor Qianlong in 1735 as a dwelling place for his mother Empress Dowager Chongqing. It now houses the exhibition titled “Auspicious Prosperity， Reverent Service： The Life of Empress Dowager Chongqing.” The exhibition represents the lavish scene of the birthday party held by Emperor Qianlong for his mother.

According to Lin Shu， curator of the exhibition， she spent six years preparing for the exhibition， including four years for textual research， in order to make sure that every small ornament is placed at its original location. Except for calligraphy， paintings and replicas exhibited here， all furniture and cultural relics retain their original look. On display are two pairs of wardrobes made of fragrant rosewood， each 2.9 meters tall. When the Palace Museum was first established， archeologists discovered more than 100 relics in drawers hidden in the wardrobes. Among the exhibits is also Five Generations under One Roof， a painting depicting the celebration of the 80th birthday of Empress Dowager Chongqing.

The Palace of Compassion and Tranquility used to be the museum’s warehouse for storing cultural relics. It has now been renovated as an exhibition hall for sculpture. In the center of the palace stand stone statues of a Buddha and two Bodhisattvas. Carved with white marble， the statues demonstrate the style of Buddhist sculpture in Hebei area during the Northern Qi Dynasty （550-577）. The statue of Buddha in the middle was with a private collector in the 1930s and came later to the Palace Museum’s collection. “When the stone Buddha was lying in the warehouse， it looked as though he was weeping，” recalled Shan Jixiang， curator of the Palace Museum. After the statue was erected， people looked up at it and， surprisingly， found that the Buddha is actually smiling.

To enable visitors to have a really close encounter， the colossal statue isn’t sealed in a glass display case. For purposes of preservation， it has been coated with a layer of transparent protective paint. The protective layer is not airtight； so， it won’t prevent the moisture inside the statue from escaping.

The sculpture exhibition in the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility features 400 ancient sculptures dating from the Qin （221-206 B.C.） through the Qing Dynasty. Housed in the main hall of the palace are 45 sculpture masterpieces， including a stone sheep of the Eastern Han Dynasty （25-220）， the stone Buddha and Bodhisattvas of the Northern Qi Dynasty， a pottery figurine of the Tang Dynasty（618-907）， a gilded wooden statue of the Goddess of Mercy dating back to the Northern Song Dynasty （960-1127）， and a gilded silver statue of the 6th Panchen Lama of the Qing Dynasty.

Imperial Birthday Celebrations

The first exhibition held at the Meridian Gate and its east and west wings after a recent renovation， “The World Rejoices as One： Celebrating Imperial Birthdays in the Qing Dynasty” reveals scenes of birthday celebrations for Qing Dynasty emperors and empresses.

The Meridian Gate and its east and west wings， known as the“Wild Goose Wing Towers，” have been converted into the largest and highest-level display area in the Palace Museum， with a total floor space of 2，800 square meters， which Curator Shan Jixiang calls “Celestial Palace on Earth.”

The exhibition held here features more than 500 cultural relics， including calligraphy， painting， jade ware， ceramics， lacquer ware， enamel ware， embroidery， and furniture. The most eye-catching exhibits are screens bearing poems by descendants of Emperor Kangxi to celebrate his 60th birthday and the gigantic painting Emperor Kangxi’s Birthday Celebration.

The painting consists of two parts， depicting the scenes on Emperor Kangxi’s way from the Garden of Everlasting Spring to the Gate of Divine Prowess， the north entrance to the Forbidden City. Besides roadside decorations used to celebrate the emperor’s birthday， it also vividly showcases crowds waiting for the arrival of the emperor. Altogether， the painting portrays 18，000 persons with different gestures and facial expressions.

The second part of Emperor Kangxi’s Birthday Celebration extends for nearly 40 meters， about eight times the length of the famous scroll Along the River During the Qingming Festival， and depicts the scenes along the road from Xizhimen Gate to the Gate of Divine Prowess. The area was the most bustling part of old Beijing. The painting depicts all major landmarks of Beijing at that time， including the Xisi Archway that has disappeared， the White Pagoda in the Yong’an Temple， and the Round City in Beihai Park.

According to the exhibition’s curator， the introduction of multimedia technology has brought the painting “alive.” “For example， the painting depicts a roadside stage on which the Kunqu opera The Dream of Handan is performed，” explains the curator. “When visitors approach this section of the painting， recorded singing of the opera will play， so they can not only see what the painting shows but also listen to what the painting depicts.” Also， some figures in the painting can move with the aid of animation technology. Thus， visitors can vividly experience the magnificent birthday celebration for Emperor Kangxi.

Antique Warehouse

The Hall of Embodied Treasures is the only building from the Republic of China period （1912-1949） in the Forbidden City. It was constructed by the Beiyang government at the site of the Palace of Universal Peace to store the 230，000 pieces of antiques transported to Beijing from the Shenyang Imperial Palace and the Chengde Mountain Resort in 1913. Those cultural relics are priceless national treasures， hence the building’s name.

The unique European architectural style of the building makes it stand out amidst the surrounding ancient structures. As witness to the ups and downs that the Palace Museum had undergone， the Hall of Embodied Treasures is a suitable place to host the exhibition “Earlier History of the Palace Museum （1925-1949）.”

The exhibition recounts the museum’s vicissitudes from 1925 to 1949. Exhibits include cases used to transport relics to southern China during World War II and photos showcasing the burnt Jianfu Palace Garden after a fire. The exhibition reveals the milestones in the early history of the Palace Museum， including the surrender ceremony of the Japanese troops in North China held in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in 1945 and the acquisition of the Museum of Antiquities in 1948， as well as the takeover of the Palace Museum by the Peking Military Control Committee of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in 1949 after the peaceful liberation of Peking （now Beijing）.

An exhibition marking the 90th birthday of the Palace Museum， “Pure Elegance： A Special Exhibition of Ru Ware in the Palace Museum” is held at the Palace of Prolonging Happiness， which will continue until August 31， 2016. The exhibition features porcelain ware produced in the Ru Kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty and Ming and Qing ceramic relics modeled after the Ru Kiln porcelain， as well as porcelain fragments， restored ware and kiln tools unearthed from the site of the Ru Kiln. Also exhibited are three pieces of Ru Kiln ware from the British Museum， of which the blue-glazed pear-shaped vase is the only one of its kind in the world.

Curator Shan Jixiang believes that exhibition is the best way to protect cultural heritage. It is the ongoing and upcoming exhibitions that make the former imperial palace a museum rather than a mere tourist attraction. “More cultural relics are supposed to be exhibited for visitors to enjoy and appreciate，” he remarks. “In this way， they can be integrated in the cultural lives of people today and at the same time， be better preserved.”