archaeological site Archives

Nanjing Museum | Seven Wonders of the Medieval World — Porcelain Arch

The Porcelain arch

Unearthed in 1958 at the former site of the glazed kiln outside the Zhonghua Gate in Nanjing. At the time of excavation, it was only a batch of defective glazed bricks with mottled glaze, which were later assembled and restored according to the data. The colorful glazed were made through a special process, which can be found on the surviving Porcelain arch.

The tower was built with white porcelain bricks that were said to reflect the sun’s rays during the day, and at night as many as 140 lamps were hung from the building to illuminate the tower.

Digital restoration of the Porcelain tower

Why didn’t the surviving set of Porcelain arche disappear with the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing?

This is because during the construction of the Porcelain tower, three complete sets of tower builds were fired in order to facilitate subsequent repair work. One set was damaged together with the collapsed glazed tower at that time. While the remaining two sets were buried in the ground. The remaining set was found underground.

Designs on the arch

The image on the archway is the dharma decoration (six apparatuses) unique to Tibetan Buddhism Tantric Buddhism. During the reign of Ming Yongle (1402-1424), the Ming government organized several visits to Tibet by Chinese Buddhist monks, and some monks went to Nanjing for exchanges. At that time, the Nanjing Dajianen Temple was still under construction, so it was influenced by Tibetan Tantric Buddhism.

Story between The Porcelain Tower and the West

In the 17th century, the European traveler Johan Nieuhof discovered The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing in the Great Bao’en Temple, and made a painting of it, which he brought back to Europe.

The Painting of The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, Johan Nieuhof

This had a grand impact on Western architecture at the time. The design of the Trianon Palace in Paris, and the Kew Gardens Tower in London, were heavily influenced by this.

There is also a particularly interesting story: in ancient Chinese architecture, the number of stories of a tower is basically singular, whereas the imitation towers built in the West are all ten-story. This is because Johan Nieuhof made a mistake and painted the tower with ten stories.

Hand-drawn drawings of Porcelain Tower

Nowadays, Nanjing Dajian’en Temple has rebuilt the glazed tower. However, it was not rebuilt using glazed material. This is to protect the underground palace beneath the ruins of the glazed pagoda, in which precious relics such as the Buddha’s relics and the Ashoka Pagoda have been unearthed.

Yinxu Museum| Simuxin Ding, in honour of China’s first historical female general.

Recently, the new building of Yinxu Museum was officially opened. This is the first large-scale museum in China to present to the public a national archaeological theme in the form of a panoramic view of the famous Shang Dynasty (1600 bc.-1046 bc.). The museum exhibits nearly 4,000 pieces/sets of bronzes, jade, and oracle bones the earliest writing carriers in China.

When it comes to the Yinxu Museum, we have to mention an outstanding female historical figure: Fu Hao, also known as Simuxin.

She was the first female general in Chinese history, was also the first wife of King Wuding of the Shang Dynasty (1600 bc.-1046 bc.). Meanwhile a priestess who was trusted by the king for her expertise in divination. She was an amazing woman with multiple identities!

Bronze sacrificial vessel — Simuxin ding

In 1976, the tomb of Fuhao was unearthed in Anyang. Its name derives from an inscription on the burial objects in the tomb.

The tomb is the only one known to have preserved in its entirety a tomb of a member of the royal family of the Shang Dynasty (1600 bc.-1046 bc.). Also, the burials and material in this tomb are relatively complete.

Fuhao and Simuxin ding

The “Simuxin ding” found in the tomb of Fu Hao is another major archaeological discovery of the Shang Dynasty. It is another major archaeological discovery after the “Houmuwu ding” (or Simuwu ding).

After that into the Bronze Age, “Ding” from the ordinary food utensils into a heavy and gorgeous bronze ritual. It became the status symbol of the noble ruling class at that time.

In addition, as the town treasure of Yinxu Museum, Simuxin ding has a high research value and artistic value.

The name “Simuxin” comes from the inscription of bronze, which is used as a signature. The name “xin” is the temple name of Fuhao, the wife of King Wuding of the Shang Dynasty. “mu xin” is the name given by the son to his mother. It can be seen that the Simuxin ding was a ritual vessel made by the son of Fuhao to commemorate her.

Archaeology allows the world to study artefacts and history to discover the different social. Also the life experiences of our ancestors thousands of years ago.

In the tomb of Fuhao, a large number of oracle bones and written records of Fuhao’s life have been unearthed. The person in charge of the Yinxu Museum said, “Fuhao was the famous queen of Wuding and also the first female general in history.” She made great achievements for the Shang dynasty. Also was one of the important and indelible figures in history.

Ornamentation on the Bronze ding

The Simuxin ding is 80,1 cm high, with a 64,0 cm long and 48,0 cm wide rectangular mouth. The body of the vessel is intricately decorated.

The lower four sides of the mouth and the corners are decorated with animal-face motifs, with cloud and thunder motifs on the base, studs on the bottom of the waist, and a striking animal face on the upper part of the foot.

Most importantly, the ancient Chinese beasts “Taotie” and “Kui Long” are used as decorations, suggesting majesty and power. And with the cloud and thunder pattern as a backing, it adds a sense of mystery to the vessel.

Anyang Yinxu Ruins

Tracing the archaeological history of China, it can be found that the Shang Dynasty (1600 bc.-1046 bc.) is the earliest dynasty in China supported by archaeological evidence. Moreover, the archaeological site of Yinxu in Anyang, an important site of the Shang Dynasty, is of great significance.

On 25 February 2023, the Smithsonian’s centennial celebration of the National Museum of Asian Art in the United States featured an exhibition on Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings.

To sum up, it is one of China’s oldest and largest archeological sites. And is the birthplace of Chinese archaeology, while the earliest Chinese writing was found here. Further, it was selected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006.

Source

the News of the new building of Yinxu Museum

Web site of Yinxu Museum

the special exhibition in the Smithsonian’s centennial celebration of the National Museum of Asian Art