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Emperor Kang Xi's seal sells for record price in France
A seal of the Qing emperor Kangxi sold at auction in France for 4.7 million euros (7.2 million dollars).
Read: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ja9ZheUI4ab6DwoCwlNgr-FyddOw
Guo Bochuan's Forbidden City
Forbidden City by Guo Bochuan sold for US$3.5 million at Sotherby's Hong Kong Auction in April. For details of the sale see:
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/art/2008/04/10/151312/Forbidden-City.htm
Guo's work can be viewed at:
http://www.artnet.com/artist/644603/guo-bochuan.html
Newly-open area in the outer court to be finished before August this year
Feng Nai'en, a spokesman of the Palace Museum, recently told reporters that a newly-opened area in the outer court of the Forbidden City will be completed before August this year. The area will be located outside the Gate of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian) and the Hall of Literary Splendour (Wenyuange) located to the east of the Gate of Supreme Harmony. Feng also said that a medical station will be set up in the Palace, no doubt to accommodate the expected sea of tourists in the coming months and Beijing's hot summer heat (Source: Xinhua, April 9)
Hengdian world studios and a forbidden city replica
The Hengdian World Studios located in Zhejiang province is one of the largest 'artificial' film studios in China. It is run by the privately-owned Hengdian Group. There are a number of theme parks at the Studio including the Emperor Qin's Palace, and replica of imperial palaces of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
For images of these two large studios visit:
http://www.hengdianworld.com/english/park/qwg/
Zhang Yimou had a replica Forbidden City built at the studios when he made the film Curse of the Golden Flower (Mancheng jin gua huangjin jia) in 2006. Zhang also shot his epic film Hero (Yingxiong) at Hengdian in 2002.
For more information on the Hengdian World Studios visit:
http://shanghaiist.com/2007/10/07/hengdian_world.php
Dutch restore clocks
From 2007 to 2010, the Dutch National Museum will assist the Palace Museum in restoring fifteen of their most prized mechanical clocks in the imperial collection. These pieces will be exhibited in Utrecht, the Netherlands in 2009 or 2010. The Dutch Museum is also planning to hold an exhibition of its musical clocks in Beijing in 2009.
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The Museum in Utrecht has organized several exhibitions in Japan and China. An exhibition "From Musical Clocks to Street Organs" was held in Guangzhou from September to November 2007. Some fifty mechanical clocks dating from 1480 to 1920 were on display, including the famous Jaquemart Clock, one of the oldest playable mechanical instruments in the world.
During the 18th century, Guangzhou (Canton) was the only place outside Europe to have a branch of the famous London-based musical automatons-builders firm James Cox. Later it became one of the main production centres of mechanical music instruments in China.
Forbidden City Treasures Showcased in Rome
ROME -- The masterpieces from China's Forbidden City on display in Rome have received about 5,000 visitors from its opening day, one of the exhibit organizers Chiara Perazzoli said on Monday."Now, the museum received about 5,000 visitors from Italy and other countries' tourists for the Chinese 18th-century attractive treasures," Perazzoli, an official of Museum of Corso said.The exhibition, which opened on November 20, features over 300 items from the Emperor Qianlong's court, including art, jewelery and weapons.
While many of the items reflect the general splendor of the court in the Forbidden City, the majority are linked to the figure of Qianlong himself, she explained.These include a decorated table created to celebrate his 80th birthday, a massive gold throne, and his personal armour.The exhibit also recreated his private study and spiritual room, while a number of the artworks are by the emperor himself, a keen artist, poet, musician and calligrapher.Other artworks include pieces by the Italian Jesuit missionary and painter Giuseppe Castiglione, who traveled to China in 1715.
Castiglione remained there until his death 50 years later, working as a court painter for Qianlong and designing, among other things, a summer palace for the emperor.Considered one of the greatest court painters of all time in China, Castiglione played a key role in teaching local artists Western techniques relating to color, perspective and human anatomy.
Qianlong, the fourth emperor in the Qing Dynasty, took over the throne in 1735 and reigned until 1796, when he officially retired but continued to run the show behind the scenes.In addition to his military conquests, Qianlong was a major patron of the arts, a prolific poet and a collector of ceramics.
Entitled "Masterpieces from the Forbidden City. Qianlong and his Court," the exhibit was organized by the Chinese Imperial Palace's Museum and the Italian Foundation of Rome, Museum of Corso.The showcase will remain in Rome's "Museo del Corso" (Museum of Corso) until March 20, 2008, Perazzoli said.(Xinhua News Agency).
Green Mesh and Scaffolding
The Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian), the setting for New Year imperial celebrations, royal birthdays and state receptions, presently covered in green mesh and scaffolding was closed to the public in January 2006. The Hall is expected to reopen by May next year.
Starbucks closes shop in the Forbidden City
Starbucks closed its store in Beijing's Forbidden City July 13 after months of controversy over the U.S. coffee-shop chain doing business there. Wang Jinlong, president of Starbucks Greater China, said in a written statement:" We fully respect the decision of Forbidden City to transition to a new mode of concessions service to its museum visitors." A ma nager of the Forbidden City, known in China as the Palace Museum, said its management had offered to continue serving Starbucks coffee alongside other brands at a planned beverage store that will also sell domestic coffee.
Forbidden City resorts to e-ticketing
An e-ticketing system is under development inside China's Forbidden City to cope with the large number of visitors. "The initial e-ticketing plan has been formed," said Feng Nai'en, office director of the Forbidden City, also known in China as the Palace Museum. Feng said the Museum had decided to make the switch because manual selling of tickets failed to monitor visitor numbers accurately. "Once adopted, the museum will stop selling tickets if it reaches full capacity."
According to Feng, the museum can hold a maximum of 50,000 visitors a day, Tuesday's Beijing Morning Post reported. The number of tourists visiting the Forbidden City exceeded its maximum capacity for four days of the seven-day National Day holiday. "The floor was worn down with the excess of visitors," said Feng, "and the vermillion walls have faded due to exposure to a great amount of carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors." (October 10, 2007, Xinhua)