Huang Xin: Prince Edward City, how did the Chinese royal culture collide with the Olympic culture 820 years ago?
China News Service Shijiazhuang, January 20 Title: Prince City, how did the Chinese royal culture collide and blend with the Olympic culture 820 years ago?
——Interview with Huang Xin, Vice President of Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
China News Service reporter Niu Lin Li Xiaowei
Historical inter-meeting, 820 years of invitation. The cities of Zhangjiakou and Beijing continue the close connection between the Jin Dynasty Palace and the capital city in China. At that time, Jin Zhangzong probably did not expect that a global ice and snow sports event would be held at the palace of his "Bowl" (Khitan old custom). As a "living specimen" of Chinese royal culture 820 years ago, the ruins of Prince Edward City, located in the core area of the Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou, were destroyed in history by wars, and now they are flourishing in the "sacred fire". Huang Xin, vice president of the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, recently accepted an exclusive interview with the "East and West Question" to explain how Chinese royal culture and Olympic culture infiltrate each other and collide and blend.
The interview transcript is summarized below:
China News Service: Why is the ruins of Prince City, located in the Zhangjiakou area of the Beijing Winter Olympics, a "living specimen" of China's royal culture 820 years ago?
Huang Xin: The ruins of Prince Edward City are not large in scale, with a length of about 417.53 meters from north to south, a width of 343.05 meters from east to west, and a total of about 143,200 square meters. The western wall has two lanes, with a spacing of about 64.15 meters, and a moat around the perimeter. Its important building sites are distributed along the axis: the southernmost is the South Gate and the Urn City, followed by the Taihe Hall (i.e., the No. 9 base site) and the Fifty-Ninth Courtyard, which together form the Former Dynasty District; behind the Fifty-Ninth Courtyard is the Courtyard No. 123, that is, the Back Sleeping Area. There is an east-west road dividing line between the front and back beds. After excavation, it was confirmed that the ruins of Prince City were the royal palaces of the middle and late Jin Dynasty, and were basically confirmed as the Taihe Palace of Emperor Zhangzong of Jin.
Aerial view of the ruins of Prince Edward City after the snow. Photo by Yang Dongwu, China News Service
First of all, why 820? According to research, the Prince City (known as Taihe Palace in the Jin Dynasty) existed for about 20 years from its inception to its abandonment, and the date of the city site is about 1190 to 1210 AD. During this period, Jin Zhangzong came twice in 1202 and 1205. From the 1202th year of Jin Zhangzong's early arrival in Prince Edward City, to 2022, Beijing and Zhangjiakou will host the 24th Winter Olympics, which is exactly 820 years.
Secondly, in terms of ruins, the layout of the ruins of the Prince City ruins is the front and back sleeping, which is the royal layout and is very similar to jinzhong.
The ruins of Prince Edward City. Photo courtesy of the Archeological Team of the Ruins of Prince Edward City
In terms of relics, a large number of "Shang Food Bureau" dishes and plates have been excavated from the site, as well as Ru kiln azure glazed porcelain, Shanxi Huairen kiln porcelain and some tiles, as well as a large number of architectural components, all of which have the characteristics of the times and the significance of the era.
In particular, a total of 22 pieces of "Shang Food Bureau" dishes and plates have been excavated from the ruins of Prince City, which is currently the site with the largest number of "Shang Food Bureau" porcelain excavated in addition to the Dingyao kiln site. Shang Food Bureau is the name of the institution responsible for the emperor's diet since the Northern Dynasty, and the words "Shang Food Bureau" are engraved at the bottom of the dishes customized in the Ding kiln for the exclusive use of the imperial family. More than 90% of the printed "Shang Food Bureau" dishes are in the middle and late Jin Dynasty. A large number of such dishes and plates have been excavated here, and it can be concluded that this is a royal site in the middle and late Jin Dynasty.
The ruins of Prince Edward City have also unearthed a large number of green bricks stamped with the words "Nei", "Palace" and "Official" and "Xiu Neisi" architectural components, which are all dedicated to the royal family. In addition, two bronze sitting dragons have been unearthed, and the cultural relics are clearly pointed.
"Palace" character brick. Photo courtesy of the Archeological Team of the Ruins of Prince Edward City
Bronze sitting dragon. Photo courtesy of the Archeological Team of the Ruins of Prince Edward City
The palace of the Jin Dynasty with a city pool is only one place in the Prince City, which is its uniqueness. The ruins of Prince Edward City are an important city site second only to the capital of the Jin Dynasty, filling the gap in the royal architecture of the Jin Dynasty, and providing important first-hand information for the study of the royal architectural hierarchy of the Jin Dynasty, the site selection and construction of the palace, the palace utensils and the bowl system.
China News Service: The 24th Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing and Zhangjiakou, and the two cities of Beijing and Zhangjiakou will continue the close connection between the capital of the Jin Dynasty and the palace.
Huang Xin: This confirms the profundity and consistency of China's excellent traditional culture, which we call "the meeting of history and the invitation of 820 years".
The reason why the Jin Dynasty chose the palace in Prince City was that environmental factors were the first. It is a very suitable place to escape the heat, the microclimate is rainy and snowy, the average temperature in summer is 18 ° C to 20 ° C, which is particularly cool, it can rain three or four times a day, and the snow is abundant in winter. Some snow sports of the Beijing Winter Olympics were held in Chongli and have natural conditions.
On the other hand, Prince Edward City is located in the heart of the Dragon-shaped Mountains, surrounded by mountains at an altitude of 2,000 meters, which is equivalent to a natural barrier, and the emperor is safe here.
In terms of water system, there are three rivers in the northeast, southeast and north of the ruins of Prince Edward City, which join the Prince Edward River on the west side of the site, which is the source of the Beijing water system. That is to say, the place where the emperor temporarily lived in the summer was the farmost part of the entire Beijing water system, which to a certain extent also revealed the concept of site selection at that time.
The ruins of Prince Edward City are at the south gate and urn city. Photo courtesy of the Archeological Team of the Ruins of Prince Edward City
From the perspective of transportation, it is not far from Jinzhongdu (present-day Beijing), and the straight-line distance is only 140 kilometers.
In 2015, the site of Zhangjiakou Winter Olympic Village (Winter Paralympic Village) was selected at this time, and people did not know that this was the royal palace of the Jin Dynasty. The ruins of Prince Edward City have confirmed to the world that in the long river of history, Chinese civilization has never been interrupted, and excellent culture and traditions have been born and passed down to this day.
China News Service: In the case of conflict with the original plan, what efforts have been made by the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee and the Hebei Provincial Government to completely preserve the ruins of Prince Edward City?
Huang Xin: In 1978, when archaeologists conducted archaeological investigations, they found that this was a city site, which was speculated to be a small city in the Liao or Jin Dynasties. The policy of China's cultural relics work, protection is the first.
On May 28, 2017, we began to enter the stadium, and we originally planned to vacate this place before the end of September and hand it over to the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee. In September 2017, the nature of the site of the Prince Edward City site was confirmed.
Floor plan of archaeological excavations at the ruins of Prince Edward City. Photo courtesy of the Archeological Team of the Ruins of Prince Edward City
From October 10 to 24, 2017, there are 3 days that will determine the fate of the ruins of Prince Edward City. Under the arrangement of the Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau, I reported to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Hebei Provincial Government, and the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee on these three days. After listening to the report, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China immediately informed the Hebei Provincial Government and suggested that the city site be preserved as a whole.
At that time, the planning of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games had been basically determined, and the scope of the ruins of Prince Edward City was originally planned to be Zhangjiakou Winter Olympic Village (Winter Paralympic Village), Prince Edward City Ice and Snow Town and Traffic Green Space, etc., and construction was scheduled to begin in October. Hebei reacted quickly. Six days later, the Hebei Provincial Government proposed that the city site must be protected as a whole.
On October 24, 2017, I reported to the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, and the experts present finally decided to readjust the plan.
Finally, the plan was greatly adjusted, the Zhangjiakou Winter Olympic Village (Winter Paralympic Village) moved 200 meters to the east, the Prince City Ice and Snow Town was reduced by 40,000 square meters, the site area was completely avoided, and the Prince City Archaeological Site Park was built, and the Prince City site and the surrounding historical environment were able to achieve the overall protection of the original site.
Aerial photo of the Winter Olympic Village in Zhangjiakou, Zhangjiakou, Beijing Winter Olympics (photographed in October 2021). Photo by Wang Zirui, China News Service
"Making way" for an archaeological site, which is extremely rare in the history of the Winter Olympics. The preservation of the ruins of Prince Edward City as a whole shows China's respect and reverence for cultural heritage, and is also the embodiment of the Humanistic Olympic Games. The Beijing Winter Olympics will become a new global model for the combination of venue construction and cultural relics protection in the history of the Olympic Games.
China News Service: As the only archaeological site park in China to display the ruins of the Jin Dynasty Palace, what core contents will Prince City focus on?
Huang Xin: First of all, focus on the central axis. Of all the city sites, the most important is the central axis. From 2017 to 2020, the most important archaeological excavations at the Prince Edward City site revolved around the central axis.
The central axis of the ruins of Prince Edward City is 158 degrees east-north, which points directly to the area between Jinzhongdu (present-day Beijing) and Jinling (i.e., the Imperial Tombs of the Jin Dynasty, present-day Dafangshan, Fangshan District, Beijing). This is a "axis of kings", reflecting that the palace (the ruins of princely city) is the satellite city of the capital (Beijing city). It fully expresses the blood ties and ancestral worship characteristics of the nomadic regime of the Jin Dynasty, and is a typical embodiment of the Shangzu system. At the same time, the institutional embodiment of the creation of the French style is also based on this axis.
Another exhibit is the West Courtyard. The ruins of Prince Edward City have two western walls, and there is a protruding courtyard between the west inner wall and the west outer wall, which we call the west courtyard. Under normal circumstances, the site of the city is square, and a protruding piece here must be a special place. As a result, once excavated, a large number of "Shang Food Bureau" dishes were unearthed in the west courtyard, which inferred that this was the location of the "Shang Food Bureau".
The western courtyard of the ruins of Prince Edward City. Photo courtesy of the Archeological Team of the Ruins of Prince Edward City
"Shang Food Bureau" white glazed bowl. Photo courtesy of the Archeological Team of the Ruins of Prince Edward City
China News Service: As the "Chinese cultural business card" in the core area of the Winter Olympics, why is the theme of the Prince Edward City Archaeological Site Park "Four Hours Bowl" and "Winter Olympic Taihe"? And how to collide with Olympic culture?
Huang Xin: In line with the concept of combining heritage culture, history and culture with Olympic culture, "Four Hours bowl" and "Winter Olympic Taihe" have become the two major themes highlighted in the design language of Prince Edward City Archaeological Site Park.
As the only indoor display in the archaeological site park, the west courtyard with the richest remains, 4600 square meters of overall coverage protection facilities are planned and built. The eastern half of the exhibition hall will be a live display of the site, and the western half will display the cultural relics excavated from the site, including the cultural relics and literature introduction related to the Jin Dynasty bowl.
"捺钵" is a Khitan word meaning 凚孫,宻のト Khitan old customs, with the water and grass, cold and summer, back and forth nomadic fishing and hunting. The three generations of the Liaojin And Yuan Dynasties were all ethnic minority regimes, and after they entered the Central Plains, they all had the habit of holding bowls. The emperor went out hunting, the officials accompanied him, and the administrative affairs were handled in the process of making bowls. In the Liao Dynasty, it was called "Four Seasons Bowl", also known as "Four Seasons Bowl"; the Jin Dynasty Bowl was called "Spring Water Qiushan"; and the Yuan Dynasty Bowl was called "Both Cities Patrol Lucky". Unlike the Liao Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, which have clear records of the Bowl, there is little literature related to the Jin Dynasty Bowl. Archaeological excavations at the ruins of Prince Edward City have filled in the gaps.
The theme of "Winter Olympic Taihe" highlights the fusion of the site culture and the elements of the Winter Olympics: the outer wall of the exhibition hall of the West Courtyard uses the palace wall color found in the site- red, but not the dark red of ancient times, but represents the contemporary positive red, that is, "Chinese red"; in addition, in the olympic rings, red represents vitality. The upper part of the red wall is designed with a hexagonal pattern, which is the style of the ancient Chinese imperial palace pane, which is a royal symbol and a snowflake shape, creating the oriental charm of "snow falling palace wall".
On January 12, Chongli District, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, the exhibition hall of the west courtyard of the Prince Edward City Archaeological Site Park after the snow. China News Service reporter Jia Tianyong photographed
The Chinese nation has had an indissoluble relationship with ice and snow since ancient times, using ice and snow, watching ice and snow, playing with ice and snow, and gradually integrating ice and snow into the spiritual value system of Chinese. In ancient China, especially the royal family, there were many ice and snow sports that were close to today's Olympic events. This is clearly documented in the Qing Dynasty, such as the "Ice Painting" painted by the Court Painters of the Qing Dynasty, which depicts figure skating and ice acrobatics. The Liao Dynasty began at four o'clock, but the Liao Jinyuan did not have relevant literature records.
In September 2021, at the 2021 China International Trade in Services Fair in Beijing, a participant watched the "Ice Map" displayed with digital technology at the booth of the Palace Museum. Photo by China News Service reporter Hou Yu
Historically, the Taihe Palace was destroyed in the war, as evidenced by documentary materials and site fires and sintered copper and iron components. Today, it is thriving on the Olympic flame: the ruins of Prince Edward City have injected the royal cultural heritage of 820 years ago into the Beijing Winter Olympics, and showed the world the breadth and depth of Chinese civilization. Olympic culture will also be more abundant, diverse, open and inclusive because of the integration of Chinese royal culture. (End)
Respondent Profiles:
Huang Xin, a research librarian of culture and bo, a postdoctoral fellow in archaeology, and the vice president of the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Participated in or presided over archaeological excavations such as Dingyao kiln site, Jingxing kiln kiln site, Chongli Prince City site, etc., of which the excavation of Dingyao kiln site as the executive leader was awarded the "2009 National Top Ten Archaeological New Discoveries", and the excavation of the Prince City site presided over by the team leader was awarded the "2018 China's Six Major Archaeological New Discoveries" and "2018 National Top Ten Archaeological New Discoveries". His main research direction is ceramic archaeology and Song and Yuan archaeology, and he has published more than 50 academic papers, and is now a member of the Song Liao Jin Yuan Ming and Qing Archaeology Professional Committee of the Chinese Archaeological Society, a member of the Architectural Archaeology Professional Committee of the Chinese Archaeological Society, a member of the Religious Archaeology Professional Committee of the Chinese Archaeological Society, a director of the Chinese Liaojin and Khitan Jurchen History Research Association, a director of the Jingdezhen Oriental Ancient Ceramics Research Association, a director of the Hebei Ancient Ceramics Society, and a part-time master's supervisor of Fudan University.
Source: China News Network