The
model of Andingmen is one of the highlights at the show Sculpture and
Memory. It is about one-tenth scale of the original building and
features city walls, an entrance, a gate tower and a watchtower. - Photo
from China Daily
FOR people who never had the chance to see the old city of Beijing, there is now a way to travel back in time. Sculpture and Memory,
an exhibition of sandalwood models of Beijing’s old city walls and
gates, which opened in the National Museum of China recently evoking
memories of the old city.
The exhibition showcases models of the Temple of Heaven and
Andingmen. They are the second and the third installment in a series of
models of Beijing’s ancient architecture initiated by China Red
Sandalwood Museum. The first model, Yongdingmen, also known as the Gate
of Everlasting Stability, was finished in December.
“When I was a kid, I saw many of these city gates with my own eyes.
But how about our descendents, how can they know what the old Beijing
was like?” says Chen Lihua, founder of the China Red Sandalwood Museum
and chairwoman of Fuwah International Group, a major commercial property
developer in Beijing.
The model of the Temple of Heaven, a royal Taoist Temple where
emperors prayed for good harvests, is made entirely of precious
sandalwood, a heavy and fine-grained wood. It is one-eighth the size of
the original building. Weighing nearly 12 tonnes, it is the largest
piece of sandalwood artwork created by the China Red Sandalwood Museum.
The model of Andingmen, the north gate in the former city wall, is
one-tenth the size of the original architecture. It features city walls,
a barbican entrance, a gate tower and an embrasured watchtower. All the
painted parts are illustrated by red sandalwood, which has a gentle
glow. The city walls are made of ebony, a wood with variations in colour
much like the bricks on the old walls. The model weighs about 6.5
tonnes.
Andingmen, also known as the Gate of Stability, was where the armies
once returned from wars. The museum has also finished the model of
Deshengmen, the Gate of Triumph, where the troops embarked on
expeditions. Deng-shengmen is not on display this time because of
limited space.
All the models are made with mortise-and-tenon work, an essential technique of traditional Chinese architecture, Chen says.
Woodworkers around the world have used this simple but strong method
to join pieces of wood, particularly when the adjoining pieces connect
at an angle of 90 degrees.
Born into a noble Manchu family in Beijing, Chen saw the ancient
city walls and gates vanish in the latter half of the 20th century.
She has always wanted to restore them to the public consciousness.
“We have to leave our memory about old Beijing for the later generations,” Chen says.
Chen chose to re-create these buildings in miniature with red
sandalwood, because they can last for thousands of years. It took 10
years to complete the blueprint for the models, a process that involved
professional assistance from the Palace Museum and the Beijing Municipal
Administration of Cultural Heritage.
The capital city of both the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911)
dynasties, Beijing had 20 gates in the walls of the outer city, the
inner city and the imperial city. In the 1950s, a debate raged among
academics, politicians and historians as to whether these city walls and
gates should be kept.
Liang Sicheng, the “Father of Modern Chinese Architecture”, was a
leading advocate to save them. However, Liang and his fellows failed to
persuade the authorities, and the structures were torn down to make way
for urban construction in Beijing.
Yan Chongnian, a historian and director of Beijing Manchu Institute, says the models are more than reminders of the old city.
“Because of the special quality of sandalwood and ebony, these
models can survive for a very long time so later generations will have
the chance to get a glimpse of the old Beijing,” he says.
This is also the first cooperation between the National Museum of China and the China Red Sandalwood Museum.
“The molding, the materials and the proportions are all impeccable,”
says Lu Zhangshen, director of the National Museum of China. The models
also display “the beauty of Chinese wooden architecture craftsmanship”,
he says.
Chen says she plans to finish the rest of the city gates in five years.
“If time allows me, I will continue to make the 72 memorial archways
of the old Beijing,” she says. “And I would then love to be the doorman
for the old city of Beijing.” – China Daily/Asia News Network
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