by+Nancy+Gong

On October 10， 2015， the Palace Museum established on the basis of the Forbidden City， an old imperial palace， celebrated its 90th anniversary. The fact is， this palace has weathered 595 years. The Forbidden City is a cultural heritage site featuring the worlds biggest and most complete ancient building complex. As one of the worlds mostvisited museums with the greatest collection， the Palace Museum houses 1，807，558 pieces （or sets） of art works or other cultural relics， and receives more than 10 million visitors annually.

In the eyes of Shan Jixiang， curator of the Palace Museum， the museum “should find its place among the worlds five most prestigious museums， alongside the British Museum （the UK）， the Louvre Museum （France）， the State Hermitage Museum （Russia）， and the Metropolitan Museum of Art （the US）.”

From Palace to Museum

The Forbidden City was completed in 1420 and in the nearly 600 years since then， it has served as the home of 24 emperors（from Zhu Di， an emperor of Ming， to Puyi， the last emperor of Qing） in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

“Every courtyard， building， vermillion gate， bridge， greygreen brick， yellow tile， piece of the furnishings， and painted beam embodies the beauty of ancient Chinese architecture and reflects Chinese history and culture，” says Curator Shan.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony （Taihe Dian） is the largest and the most dignified building in the Forbidden City. So elaborately was it built and decorated that it overshadows any other ancient building in China. Few know， however， that the unique symbol of this grand palace is represented by 10 mythical animal sculptures resting at each of its roof corners . The tenth animal， named Hang Shi， features a human body with a monkey-like face， with wings and a Vajra pestle （a kind of indestructible and irresistible weapon） in hand.

“The animals decorating the drooping ridge have a rigid hierarchy. Among all the ancient buildings， the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the only one with 10 animal decorations which signify the supremacy of the emperor， ” says Wang Zilin， a researcher with the Palace Museum.

Although the Forbidden City was the home of emperors in both the Ming and Qing dynasties， the cultural relics and collections housed in it not only bear witness to the 5，000-year history of Chinese civilization， including the essence of different dynasties， regions， and ethnic groups， but also encompass foreign cultural relics， such as scientific and technological apparatuses and Occidental clocks， from the UK， France， Germany， Switzerland， etc.

On the morning of October 10， 1925， the name of the Forbidden City was changed officially to “Palace Museum” when a board inscribed with the new name was hung out on its gate. It was on that day that this patch of ground， ever exclusive to imperial families， was first opened to the public； and people in Beijing “poured into the palace， to figure out the mysterious legacy of thousands of years.”

After the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949， the government began renovation of the imperial palace for reopening to the public. The war-torn palace was a ruin； it was said that the debris cleared out of the palace was 250，000 cubic meters and mire from the Inner Golden Water River about 5，000 cubic meters.

Construction and Expansion

From 2004 to the end of December 2010， the museum took stock of its collections—the fifth and the most thorough since its establishment—and， for the first time， arrived at an accurate number of its collections： 1，807，558 pieces （or sets） in 25 categories， among which 1，684，490 are treasured cultural relics， 115，491 average relics， and 7，577 specimens.

Most of the collections are cultural relics passed down from ancient times or exquisite art works. According to the statistics of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage， the Palace Museum houses 41.98 percent of precious relics （in categories I， II， III） preserved in organizations founded for this purpose.

Expanding the exhibition area to display more cultural relics and provide the public with a richer cultural experience is the plan put forward by Shan for development of the museum. Since he became the curator on January 10， 2012， Shan has made and urged moves， envisaging a grand future for the museum， in a clear， stepby-step way.

On October 10， 2015， in honor of the 90th anniversary of the museum， the Hall of Embodied Treasures （Baoyun Lou）， the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility （Cining Gong）， Meridian Gate （Wu Men）—Wild Goose Wing Towers （Yanchi Lou）， and East Prosperity Gate （Donghua Men） were opened to the public， increasing the palaces open area from 52 to 65 percent； and， the museum plans to further expand the area to 80 percent by 2020. On the same day as the first opening of the Meridian Gate， Wild Goose Wing Tower exhibition hall became the largest modern exhibition area with the most diverse and advanced functions. Besides， this exhibition hall forms a “Golden Triangle” museum group in the southern part of the palace， along with the Hall of Martial Valor （Wuying Dian） to the west and the Hall of Literary Brilliance （Wenhua Dian） to the east， capable of exhibiting hundreds of relics a year.

In addition to the expansion of areas and items exhibited， the museum is making various cultural and creative products， transforming its classical and solemn image into a modern and fashionable one. By August 2014， the museum had created and released 6，746 cultural products， including cultural product series of high quality， for example， copper fix oxen decorations based on Five Oxen， a famous traditional painting， and portable cultural product series with good quality and reasonable price， and the family of palace dolls inspired by the idea of “meng” （adorable）. Besides these physical products， the museum also explored new areas such as new media and digitalization， and has launched seven apps， including Twelve Beauties of Prince Yong and Auspicious Symbols in the Forbidden City. All these creative cultural products bring the culture of the Palace Museum into peoples daily life.

Development of a digital museum for the palaces displays and exhibitions is also on its agenda. At present， in the western part of the palace is located the Digital Application and Research Exhibition Hall. In the south， the Digital Museum Exhibition Hall at the Gate of Correct Deportment Tower （Duan Men） will receive visitors by the end of this year， and the Digital Museum Exhibition Hall in the Hall of Superior Primordial （Dagaoxuan Dian） will be situated in the north. The opening of these digital museums will be a turning point.

Five years from now， the Forbidden City will celebrate its 600th anniversary. By then， two new projects—Renovation and Protection of Historical Buildings and a Safe Palace Museum—to protect cultural heritage would have been completed； thus ensuring a safer and more stable museum with better management and improved service marching into the ranks of the worlds leading museums.

“I hope to hand over to the generations of the next 600 years an undamaged Forbidden City of unforgettable grandeur，”beams Curator Shan.