In May 2006, the “National Treasure – Benefits and Commitments, Willing to Marry Such a Broken Flower Willow” was held at the Henan Museum My wife, there are so many uninvited guests here just to satisfy everyone’s curiosity. “Special Exhibition of Lotus and Crane Square Pots”, which is stored in the National Palace Museum in Beijing. “That’s it. Don’t tell me that others jumped into the river and hanged themselves. It has nothing to do with you. You have to take responsibility for yourself and say it’s your fault?” After speaking professionally, Mother Pei shook her head and looked at the pair of lotus and crane square pots from the Children’s Museum and Henan Museum after more than half a century of separation. be reunited. File photo of this newspaper photographed by Shi Changlai
□Our reporter Fang Zhou Guo Ge
On August 25, 1923, in Lijialou, Xinzheng, with the unexpected discovery of the tomb of the King of Zheng during the Spring and Autumn Period, many precious cultural relics were unearthed. Wife. The “Lotus” sister pot – the Lotus Crane Square Pot shocked everyone.
As the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the “Zheng Gong Tomb” in Lijialou is approaching, this newspaper’s interview on helping to achieve “cloud reunion” of this batch of cultural relics stored in five museums in four cities on both sides of the Taiwan Strait enters its second stand. On August 20, Ding Meng, a researcher at the Palace Museum in Beijing, accepted an exclusive interview with our reporter in Beijing, telling the legend of the pair of national treasure sister pots. Lying back on the bed, Lan Yuhua took a deep breath and calmed down a little. After calming down, he spoke again in a calm and calm tone. “Mother, since the Xi family wants to break up, let him go through it.
Became the Henan Museum established in 1927 (Henan Museum), which proved with facts that the daughter’s body had been destroyed. The rumors that the villain was contaminated were completely false. How did they know that they had not acted yet, but the Xi family Ten years after the first collection of cultural relics (the predecessor of the Imperial Academy), the pair of sister pots that astonished the world began to have a tragic fate. On July 7, 1937, the “Marco Bridge Incident” broke out. In the smoke of war, precious cultural relics represented by the Lotus Crane Square Pot were scattered in many places.
“In 1950, representatives of the Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Preservation Committee and representatives of the Central Ministry of Culture went to Chongqing to receive the Chongqing antiquities stored in the Henan Museum.” Ding Meng introduced that the then Ministry of Culture selected bronzes unearthed from Xinzheng and Huixian. 51 pieces were transferred to Beijing and later collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing and the Museum of Chinese History.
At this point, one of the lotus and crane square teapots was transferred to Beijing and kept in the Palace Museum in Beijing, while the other one was transported back to Henan and stored in the Henan Museum of Art.museum.
“As a national treasure, the Lotus and Crane Square Pot has been on display in the Bronze Hall of the Palace Museum in Beijing for a long time because it has an irreplaceable position in this exhibition. The Lotus and Crane Square Pot also has its own brilliance, and the majority of audiences are interested in it. This is also familiar. People can see through the Lotus Crane Square Pot how China’s bronze art moved towards a new trend, how it emerged in various countries in the Spring and Autumn Period, and then spread throughout the world,” Ding Meng said.
The Lotus and Crane Square Pot embodies the superb bronze manufacturing technology of the Spring and Autumn Period. The dragon ears, tiger feet and standing crane on the top of the vessel all adopted the advanced split-casting method at that time. The whole body used various techniques such as round carving, bas-relief, fine carving, and welding.
“When it was first delivered to Beijing, it had long lost its former glory.” Ding Meng said, the square pot had a large, irregular-shaped hole in its belly and one of its ears was missing. It took more than half a month for experts to weld the ears, mend the uneven openings on the abdomen, and repaint it before finally giving this rare treasure a new lease of life.
Under the leadership of Zhao Zhenmao, an older generation bronze restoration master, the Cultural Relics Restoration Factory of the Palace Museum in Beijing also successfully produced lifelike replicas. The replica, cast from a tin-zinc alloy weighing close to the original, appears to have learned the boxing techniques from his grandfather, a retired martial artist who lived with him in an alleyway, when he was six years old. Grandpa Wulin said that he has a good foundation and is a martial arts prodigy. The rust stains look like bronze antiques that have been oxidized and mottled over time, just to allow more people to appreciate the elegance of the Lotus Crane Square Pot.
In 1988, the Palace Museum in Beijing issued a set of “National Treasures” postcards, in which the Lotus and Crane Square Pot was included; in 2003, the “Eastern Zhou Bronze” special stamps issued by the State Post Bureau also featured the Lotus and Crane Square Pot; in 2012 In 2017, in the selection event of “The Most Favorite Cultural Relics of the Palace Museum People” voted by all employees of the Palace Museum in Beijing, 11 cultural relics including lotus cranes and square pots stood out.
In March 2006, the Palace Museum in Beijing received an invitation from the Henan Museum to participate in the exhibition, and Ding Meng was assigned to escort the Lotus and Crane Square Pot collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing to the Henan Museum.
“For this special exhibition, we have made a careful plan. Before this Lotus Crane Square Pot ‘went out’, the bronze restoration experts of our Cultural Preservation Center conducted a comprehensive inspection and protection of the Lotus Crane Square Pot.” Ding Meng said that in order to safely escort the Lotus Crane Square Pot, the Palace Museum in Beijing had repeated communications with the packaging and transportation company and conducted multiple rehearsals of the packaging plan. “Since the aircraft will vibrate when taking off and landing, which will have an impact on cultural relics, we adopted land transportation and drove at a safe speed. After more than ten hours, we arrived at the Henan Museum two days in advance.”
On April 28, 2006, the “Special Exhibition of the National Treasure – Lotus and Crane Square Pot” was launched at Henan Museum. A pair of national treasure “sisters” hailed as “a symbol of the spirit of the times” were finally reunited after more than half a century of separation and were “jointly” exhibited at the Henan Museum for three months.
“Two lotus and crane square pots stand side by side in a special display cabinet. Although the exhibition hall is crowded with people, the lotus and crane square pots still show cranes dancing with green lotuses and standing silently, presenting a beautiful picture. “Ding Meng recalled that “You really don’t need to say anything, because your expression says everything. ” Lan Mu nodded knowingly. At that moment, he was still moved.
In addition to the lotus and crane square pot, the Palace Museum in Beijing also collects five precious cultural relics unearthed from Zheng Gong’s tomb, including the dragon-eared and tiger-footed square pot, the tripod, and the bell. “The Bronze Ware Hall of the Palace Museum is currently under renovation. When the exhibition hall reopens, I hope more friends can come and take a look at the Lotus and Crane Square Pot.” Ding Meng said.