October 14, 2000 through January 24, 2001

Secret World of the
Forbidden City
Splendors from
China's Imperial Palace
Great Hall

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Secret World of the Forbidden City: Splendors from China's Imperial Palace allows a rare glimpse of the opulence and historical heritage of the Chinese imperial court under the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911). This exhibition brings together a selection of precious objects, including formal and informal robes, arms and armor, accessories and jewelry, scepters and seals, portraits and paintings, and a complete throne room, from the Palace Museum in Beijing. Through this sumptuous visual material, the viewer will enter a world of ceremony and ritual, birth and deaths, banquets and processions, all revolving around the Emperor, who served as Supreme Authority in an unquestionable family hierarchy and sanctified power structure. The works on view represent the pinnacle of technical virtuosity and creative genius on the part of thousands of anonymous artisans who toiled solely to serve the Imperial Court.

The exhibition is divided into eight categories:

Affairs of State: The Throne Room
The Emperor as a Scholar: the Study Room
The Imperial Dining Room
The Emperor's Bedroom
Imperial Dress
Religion in the Forbidden City
Arms and Armor of the Emperor
The Emperor at Leisure

It also includes the Last Emperor Xuantong's bicycle and music box, objects evocatively captured in Bernardo Bertolucci's film of the same title.

Secret World of the Forbidden City: Splendors from China's Imperial Palace is curated by Director of the Palace Museum Beijing, Yang Xin, with assistance from Dr. Janet Baker, former Director of Public Programs and Curator of Asian Art at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana, California. While similar exhibitions have been shown in Europe and Asia, no exhibition of this scope and subject has yet been mounted in North America. The presentation of this exhibition marks the initiation of an important cultural exchange that complements a nationwide interest in Chinese history and art.

HISTORY AND IMPORTANCE OF THE FORBIDDEN CITY
In the heart of Beijing, the Imperial Palace remained the residence of the emperors for nearly five hundred years, from the 15th century to the early 20th century, and was the actual and symbolic seat of imperial power. Popularly known as the Forbidden City, it was built in the Ming Dynasty between the 4th and the 18th years of the Yongle period (1406 - 1420 AD). Many of the buildings of the Palace have been repaired and rebuilt, but their basic form and layout remain in their original state.

This magnificent, palatial architectural complex covers an area of over 2,350,000 square feet and contains 9,999 rooms. The largest complex of its kind in the world, it is surrounded by ten-foot-high walls that are crowned by four observation towers and flanked by a deep moat. The walls are pierced by four large gates, each with three openings and a broad crowning pavilion.

The layout of the Forbidden City is based on a Chinese cosmic diagram of the universe that clearly defines the north-south and east-west axes. The buildings represent the largest and best-preserved examples of Chinese traditional architecture found today. The overall layout is centered on the three primary Halls of State: The Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian), The Hall of Middle Harmony (Zhonghedian) and The Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohedian). State ceremonies were held in the Outer Court (Wai Chao) of the Forbidden City. Here the emperors governed from their thrones, holding court sessions with their ministers, issuing imperial edicts and initiating military expeditions. The Outer Court was also the site for important ceremonies: the accession of a new emperor to the throne, birthdays and weddings. The Inner Court (Nei Ting) was the residential area of the emperor and the imperial household, as well as the place where the emperor dealt with routine state affairs.

The Forbidden City was the scene of many significant events affecting the course of Chinese history. Secret World of the Forbidden City: Splendors from China's Imperial Palace explores the objects housed in this important complex, lending insight into the mysteries of the imperial court under the Qing Dynasty, from the entry into the city of Manchurian troops led by Li Sicheng to the pinnacle of artistic creativity under Qianlong to the decline of the dynasty and the abdication of the last Emperor Xuantong in 1912.

Today, the Forbidden City is one of the world's foremost museums of Chinese art. Its palaces and halls are filled with innumerable works of art and cultural artifacts, including gifts of state, military campaign loot and furnishings and possessions of members of the imperial households. A great number of these treasures represent the peak of artistic and inventive genius exhibited by the countless artisans who worked exclusively for the imperial court.

THE ROLE OF THE EMPEROR IN THE QING DYNASTY
The Emperor was the supreme authority within a power structure that arose from an indisputable family hierarchy. Called "The Son of Heaven," he was regarded as a mediator between the earthly and heavenly realms, and his roles were numerous: magistrate, judge, scholar, family patriarch and supreme military commander. According to Confucian philosophy, the ways of nature foretell events relevant to humankind and, in turn, human behavior influences the course of nature. Since a virtuous ruler represented the apex of humankind, he could bring peace and prosperity to the realm.

The Qing Dynasty emperors were Tungusic Manchus who descended from the Jurchen horsemen occupying the region northeast of China. After the decline of the preceding Ming dynasty and the last Ming emperor's suicide, the Manchus occupied Beijing and conquered China. The majority of the Chinese population, the Han, thus found themselves under foreign rule for the next three centuries. The Manchus successfully held on to their power by adopting Chinese customs while preserving their superior horsemanship along with the Manchu language and dress.

AFFAIRS OF STATE: THE THRONE ROOM
The emperor's affairs of state, including meeting with officials and grand councillors, receiving foreign envoys, reading memorials, writing decisions and commentaries, and hosting the three annual holiday ceremonies (the Lunar New Year, the Winter Solstice and the emperor's birthday) were conducted in the three great halls of the imperial palace. Major ceremonies were conducted in the Hall of Supreme Harmony while routine business was carried out mainly in the private apartments of the inner court, such as the Palace of Heavenly Purity or the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Prior to Emperor Kangxi's reign, the emperor handled routine affairs in his residence in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. When Emperor Yongzheng ascended the throne, he moved his quarters to the Hall of Mental Cultivation but still held audiences with officials and foreign envoys in the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

During the 200 years from the reign of Emperor Yongzheng through the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Hall of Mental Cultivation housed eight emperors. This hall later became known as the place from which the Dowager Empress Cixi, hidden behind a screen, conducted the affairs of state. Superseding the young Emperors Tongzhi and Guanxu, Cixi ruled thus for nearly five decades.

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