The top ten collections of the Palace Museum include: Qianlong model Jin Ou permanent cup, Zhang Cheng model carved lacquer cloud pattern plate, sapphire cloud dragon pattern stove, cloisonné enamel lotus pattern elephant ear stove, "Along the River During Qingming Festival", Lu Ji's "Ping Fu Tie" in the Western Jin Dynasty, a painted and gilded pavilion-style self-opening imperial bell made by immortals wishing their birthdays, Shen Zifan's tapestry "Picture of Plum Magpie", Lang Kiln red glaze threaded straight-mouth vase, and Yanya square bottle.
1. Qianlong style Jinou permanent cup
The Qianlong gold-embedded Jinou permanent cup of the Qing Dynasty was made of 80% gold. The cup has a round mouth with engraved edges. The seal characters of "Jinou Yonggu" and "Qianlong Year System" are cast on the edge of the cup, and the whole body is engraved with entwining flowers.
2. Zhang Cheng’s carved lacquer moiré plate
Zhang Cheng’s carved lacquer moiré plate has a wooden body with black paint, with moire patterns carved both inside and outside. It is round and round, with four lines of vermilion exposed on the dark and deep knife-edge section, which is the so-called "black line vermilion line" method in "Painting and Decoration Record". The bottom of the plate is painted black and has obviously been repainted. The four characters "Made in the Qianlong Year" in regular script and gold are inscribed in the center, which were added during the later painting process.
3. Sapphire furnace with cloud and dragon pattern
Song Dynasty jade furnace with cloud and dragon pattern and animal ears, 7.9 cm high and 12.8 cm in diameter. Blue-grey with fire marks. The body is round and the wall is thick. The mouth is narrowed, the lower part of the abdomen is bulging, the feet are circled, and the two sides are decorated with animal heads and cloud ears. On both sides of the abdomen, there is a rising dragon hidden on the ground decorated with I-shaped wall patterns, with water waves below and a cloud pattern on the side. The dragon has a long mouth, long hair, a thin neck, a long body, four sturdy legs with three claws, a snake-shaped tail, and a network of fine scales engraved on the body and feet.
4. Cloisonné enamel elephant-ear stove with entwined lotus pattern
The Yuan Dynasty cloisonné enamel elephant-ear stove with entangled lotus pattern was unearthed from the collection of the Qing Palace and is now in the Palace Museum in Beijing. Yuan Dynasty cloisonné enamel elephant ear furnace with lotus pattern and gold-plated copper body, round foot, double elephant head and ears, and rolled nose. There is a gold-plated copper string pattern on the neck, which is covered with light blue enamel glaze and decorated with twelve entwining chrysanthemums in four colors of red, blue, yellow and white. The center of the flower is a gold-plated milk nail. The abdomen is a dark blue glazed ground, decorated with green leaves and six lotus flowers in red, yellow and white colors.
5. "Along the River During the Qingming Festival"
Along the River During the Qingming Festival is one of China's top ten famous paintings handed down from generation to generation. It is a genre painting of the Northern Song Dynasty. It is the only surviving masterpiece of the Northern Song Dynasty painter Zhang Zeduan. For more than a thousand years, this painting has become famous and popular, with many imitators. There are still many copies and forgeries in the hands of public and private collectors all over the country. According to some statistics, there are more than 30 copies of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" in existence, and Zhang Zeduan's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" is now in the Palace Museum.
6. "Pingfu Tie" by Lu Ji in the Western Jin Dynasty
"Pingfu Tie" has nine lines and eighty-four characters. It was written by Lu Ji to a sick and difficult person. A letter from a friend who has recovered. In ancient times, when people wrote letters, they used to put the date at the beginning and the name of the recipient at the end. However, this letter has no date and no recipient. It is just named "Pingfu Tie" based on the four words "I am afraid it will be difficult to recover". 》.
7. Painted gold pavilion-style self-opening imperial clock made by immortals wishing longevity
This clock is 102cm wide, 72cm thick and 185cm high. It has seven sets of mechanical systems, respectively. Control travel time, time chime, movable devices in the scenery box, etc. The shape is divided into two floors, pavilion style, with the whole body decorated with black lacquer and the base with colored lacquer and anchor gold patterns. Both floors are decorated with golden lacquered fences, door lintels and columns with gold-painted double dragons playing with beads and other decorative patterns. The bell body and the bottom are decorated with painted gold-painted landscapes and other patterns.
8. Shen Zifan’s tapestry painting of Plum Magpies
The tapestry scroll of Shen Zifan’s tapestry painting of Plum Magpie is a representative work of embroidery made by the Forbidden City. The axis of the figure is 104cm long and 36cm wide. In the picture, there is a plum blossom tree in Laogan. The plum blossoms have just begun to bloom on the branches. Two cold magpies with plump feathers are perched on the trunk. One magpie looks back and the other buries its head under its wings with a slight chill. The plum trees are vigorous, the plum blossoms are in full bloom, the bamboo leaves are swaying in the wind, and the two magpies are perched on the tree trunks. The poetic and picturesque feeling of early spring comes to life on the page.
9. Langyao red glaze straight mouth bottle
Langyao red porcelain can be divided into single-layer glaze and double-layer glaze.
The double-glazed Lang Kiln red porcelain does not "fall off", but the single-glazed Lang Kiln red porcelain has its rim exposed, so it appears "falling off"; and because the glaze slowly flows downward, the body of the vessel appears to have a "glaze hanging" phenomenon. The glaze color of the half part is light, and the glaze color of the lower half is dark; as long as the workmanship is fine and the heat is just right, the glaze will not be too full if the body of the vessel appears to be "fluid".
10. Drinking Asian square bottles.
The Shangyan sub-square bottle is 45.5 cm high, 38 cm wide, 33.6 cm × 33.4 cm in diameter, and weighs 21.5 kg. The bottle is square in shape with an extravagant mouth. Each of the four corners on the shoulder is decorated with an elephant head. Between the elephant heads is an animal head. The neck, abdomen and feet are all decorated with eight ridges. Animal face patterns and Kui patterns are the main patterns, with thunder patterns as the ground. There is an inscription on the inside of the mouth with two lines and nine characters: The man who abuses Asia has respected him as his eldest son.