Qianlong pavilion under renovation
By Cara Anna |
August 1, 2010, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
DEEP in a forgotten corner of the Forbidden City and up a twisting stairway are four sets of twin doors, shut for more than eight decades. They reveal rare sweeping views to the north, south, east and west above the golden-tiled rooftops of the imperial palace.
The surrounding walls silence the passing tour groups. On the horizon, modern high-rises are softened by the Beijing smog. The view from this private corner has hardly changed since the Chinese emperor Qianlong designed this courtyard for his retirement more than 200 years ago.
"In my 80s, exhausted from diligent service, I will cultivate myself, rejecting worldly noise," Qianlong wrote of the pavilion, where the floors have been stripped to packed earth and straw as part of a major restoration.
Few people have entered Qianlong's courtyards since China's last emperor was forced out of the Forbidden City in 1924, and it will take more years of work until the public can come inside. The restoration of the pavilion where Qianlong enjoyed the view over the Forbidden City rooftops is to be finished sometime in 2012. Bringing the entire complex back to life will take until at least 2019.
But now a collection of thrones, large-scale paintings and decor of one of China's most powerful leaders is leaving the country for the first time. In September, the US$1.5 million exhibition arrives in the United States for a tour that will show a more intimate side of the world's most populous country.
"This garden is completely different from the rest of the Forbidden City. The rest is formal, rigid, symbolic. This flows like walking up a mountain flows," said Nancy Berliner, curator of Chinese art at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, where the exhibit of items from the pavilion and courtyards will begin. "You're always finding surprises."
The exhibit will also travel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Qianlong, one of the longest-serving Chinese emperors, stepped aside only after six decades. He is famous for his encounter with the visiting Lord George Macartney, the British emissary who came seeking better trade relations but was refused.
The surrounding walls silence the passing tour groups. On the horizon, modern high-rises are softened by the Beijing smog. The view from this private corner has hardly changed since the Chinese emperor Qianlong designed this courtyard for his retirement more than 200 years ago.
"In my 80s, exhausted from diligent service, I will cultivate myself, rejecting worldly noise," Qianlong wrote of the pavilion, where the floors have been stripped to packed earth and straw as part of a major restoration.
Few people have entered Qianlong's courtyards since China's last emperor was forced out of the Forbidden City in 1924, and it will take more years of work until the public can come inside. The restoration of the pavilion where Qianlong enjoyed the view over the Forbidden City rooftops is to be finished sometime in 2012. Bringing the entire complex back to life will take until at least 2019.
But now a collection of thrones, large-scale paintings and decor of one of China's most powerful leaders is leaving the country for the first time. In September, the US$1.5 million exhibition arrives in the United States for a tour that will show a more intimate side of the world's most populous country.
"This garden is completely different from the rest of the Forbidden City. The rest is formal, rigid, symbolic. This flows like walking up a mountain flows," said Nancy Berliner, curator of Chinese art at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, where the exhibit of items from the pavilion and courtyards will begin. "You're always finding surprises."
The exhibit will also travel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Qianlong, one of the longest-serving Chinese emperors, stepped aside only after six decades. He is famous for his encounter with the visiting Lord George Macartney, the British emissary who came seeking better trade relations but was refused.
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