DAY AT THE MUSEUM ....
I am in the mood today to visit a very ancient historic modern place- the Asian Civilisation Museum (ACM). I was very happy the moment I stepped foot into the place, I quickly got into the queue to get a ticket in- cost S$8. Starting 13Mar Fri, Singapore will be the first S.E.A. country to host this prestigious historic display items showcasing Emperor Kangxi and the treasures from the Forbidden City of China. It will be a moment of experiencing the life of a man that had been halt one of the greatest rulers of the great empire of China.
A brief understanding about Emperor Kangxi:
- Reign from 1662-1722, unprecedented 61 good years
- Qing Dynasty
- Became emperor at the age of eight
- Took over the reigns of power at 14
- Ruled over multi-ethnic empire that included Han Chinese, Manchus and Mongols
- His grandmother was named Xiaozhuang Wen
- Apart from being a just and benevolent ruler, Kangxi was also known for his military prowess. He was the only Qing emperor to have personally led his troops in battle. His Manchu heritage made him an excellent rider, archer and huntsman.
- As patron of the arts, he promoted the production of exquisite onjects of art in the imperial workshops of the Forbidden City
This is a potrait of Emperor Kangxi, also known as 'Aixinjueluo Xuanye'
This is his glamoerous golden robe. I took a close look and was very surprised how well it was maintained and the workmanship of every thread that went into the making of the robe was exqusitely hand sewed.
This is a wine cup. I guessed it must be at least 200ml. Bigger than those shown on TVB show.
According to the description, this page talked about the life of a women in the 18th century. Parents made marriage decision of who their daughter was to married to. I was looking at one of the pictoric drawing of the booklet and there was one woman, her mother-in-law was sickly and she cut her finger off and used the blood of that finger to mix into a bowl of medicine in order for her mother-in-law to get well. Well, I don't know if that will really heal the mother-in-law, but I do know which daughter-in-law will sacrificed to that extend for their mother-in-law?
Isn't it colourful? Doesn't it looked modern and that it is something we can buy off the shelves at Daiso? The 18th century porcelain bowls were so much nicer than the one we have today! It goes to show how Kangxi was a man that appreciate arts and colours. I pressed my face against the display and realized how fine and defined all the brush strokes are!
All these antique plates and vases could easily reached S$millions of dollars. All the vases and bowls of the 18th century seems to have drawing of pavillion park where a scholar will be sitting there, glacing at the beautiful flowers and trees while making poems.
This is one of the broken pieces of a vase I guess. The rest of the broken pieces are also being showcased but it is still incomplete. Not sure where the rest of the broken pieces are now.
This was one of the tomb guardian of the Tang dynasty. I read that this tomb guardian was supposed to hold a wolden stick as a weapon in his hands but somehow the weapon was destroyed hence he had been using powers from his eye instead. See below image for description.
Look at the right hand side porcelain bowl. How modern looking it is.
This is the imperial stamp.
This is the ink container for brush.
Paper Puppet. Thank God for HD television, cable channels and manga!
Once entering the main hall, I was not allowed to take any photos. One security was following and spying on me behind my back like I am going to take any photos.... Anyway, I was greeted by a majestic portrait of Kangxi. He looked like an average Chinese man but his eyes gave people a sense of his determination, wisdom and charisma.
Turning left to the hall, I saw the golden robe of Kamgxi where he wore to his court sessions. And there was a folded imperial chair! Can you imagine they have folded chairs at that time!!!! It was totally jaw-dropping. It was made from a precious wood.
It read that Kangxi's first wife married to him when she was 13, a few months younger than Kangxi. Initally they have no love but it said that they managed to feelings for each other shortly after. She gave birth to two sons and died on the birth of the second son, leaving Kangxi devasted. Hence, the second wife was named the Empress at the age of 25!!! Can you imagine merely 25 years old, you have the world under your feet, what a responsibility! But the second Empress passed away a few months after she was up the throne. How tragic.
Next I saw something really interesting- the imperial edict! I only saw it in those TVB drama show when the imperial edict will be passed down and everyone that was in the place was to kneel down immediately as a shown of respect. The imperial edict represented the Emperor himself. Anyone who show disrespect to the imperial edict is akin to showing disrespect to the Emperor. But it wasn't as small as those shown in the show, it was actually almost 1m in height and 2m in width, all the words were handwritten onto the edict itself.
The imperial exams questions!!! Well, I read a few paragraph but I am not sure what the questions are asking though.... The imperial exams were meant to pick up talents to work in the imperial courthouse. After the exams, the emperor will have in his hand, a list of who was the first runner up, etc and from the list, he will picked people to work for him.
There was also this really looooong portrait that show the daily life of the chinese people, the people drawn was really small but accurate, not a hair stroke was missed!- I suppose it to be at least 5m long but they only showcased a portion of it due to space restriction.
There was also a map of Beijing, hand drawn too. It said that as the emperor was the heart of the China, hence his palace was also located at the centre of Beijing. Even the trees on the map were painted nicely in green! I was surprised at the effort the painter put in.
As I was about to exit the gallery, there was a portrait of Kangxi in his fifties, showing radiant on his face, with energy and strength. But when Kangxi reached his sixties, he was totally worn out due to the politics that arised from his decision of the heir that will take over the throne. Poor man, even to these days, men and women are still fighting over inheritance and my sister read to me yesterday that a man in China even digged out his grandfather tomb ash and demanded money from his dad! How absurd has the world become.
To pen off, it was a excursion that I enjoyed. All the things and objects that I saw in the museum can be closely related to my times now. How real and tangible it felt.
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We are trying to catch the LIFT shoe at the game machine! But not successful!
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