In 1860, when the British and French troops entered the Old Summer Palace, a soldier suddenly found an extremely exquisite treasure vase and hurriedly hugged it into his arms, but his boss forcibly took the vase away.
During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the Old Summer Palace was one of the most spectacular buildings in the world at that time, and it housed countless treasures and works of art, including a pair of exquisite porcelain, which is the Qianlong Pastel Hexagonal Set of Bottles.
This pair of vases was specially ordered by Emperor Qianlong to be made by Tang Ying, a famous craftsman in Jingdezhen, with a variety of crafts and colors, elegant shapes, gorgeous ornamentation, and can be called the pinnacle of Chinese ceramics. Emperor Qianlong cherished these sets of bottles very much, placed them in the most conspicuous place in the Old Summer Palace, and showed them this pair of bottles whenever foreign envoys visited, so as to show China's prosperity and civilization.
It was the autumn of 1860, when the Anglo-French army was under the city of Beijing, and Emperor Xianfeng fled to Rehe, leaving behind an empty palace and gardens.
The Old Summer Palace, the royal garden known as the "Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens", also became their target. They broke into the garden, only to be stunned by what they saw. They saw a splendor of buildings, but more than that, countless treasures that shimmered seductively. They saw splendid vessels, exquisite jade, strange and exotic beasts, and Western pavilions that they had never seen before. It was as if they had entered a world of dreams, a world full of wealth and glory. They suddenly forgot that they were here to fight, not to sightsee.
They began to greedily loot these treasures, wanting to transport them back to their own country in exchange for more money and prestige. They recklessly destroyed the buildings and landscape of the garden, turning the garden into a sea of fire. They don't know that what they are destroying is not just a garden, but the culture and pride of a people.
In this ruin, there is an extremely precious ceramic artifact, which is the pastel hexagonal set of bottles given by Emperor Qianlong.
It is the pinnacle of Chinese ceramic craftsmanship, a collection of pastel, enamel color, hollow and other techniques in one, the ornamental pattern integrates Chinese and Western culture, the shape of the vessel is regular, the craftsmanship is exquisite and ingenious, it is breathtaking.
This treasure was discovered by a British soldier named Mike, a man who had no appreciation for works of art, but he was attracted by the resplendor of this set of bottles, which he thought must be priceless treasures, and he rushed over without hesitation, snatched the set of bottles in his hands, and held them tightly in his arms.
His heart was filled with joy, and he fantasized that if he could bring this set back to England, he would be able to exchange it for a great fortune, that he would be able to live the life of his dreams, and that his children and grandchildren would benefit immensely.
However, his luck did not last long, and his superior, Sir Locke, a collector with an extreme passion for art, had collected many curiosities and treasures all over Europe, and believed that all the beautiful things in the world should belong to him. When he saw the set, his eyes flashed with greed and jealousy, and he was determined to take it for himself.
He walked up to Mike, untied a pearl necklace from his waist, and said coldly, "This bottle is mine, you can take this necklace." ”
When Michael heard this, he was terrified, he was unwilling to give up his vase, he felt that the string of pearls could not be compared with the vase, he wanted to reason with Sir Locke, but he was afraid of his power and violence, he could only weakly say, "My lord, I want the vase." ”
Before he could finish his sentence, Sir Locke pointed his gun at his head and shouted, "Do you want your life, or do you want the vase?"”
Mike was so frightened that he knew he had no choice, so he reluctantly handed the vase to Sir Locke. Sir Locke took the vase and went away triumphantly, and he later sold it to a collector named Morrison, and the vase disappeared into the darkness overseas.
It was not until May 2, 2000 that the vase reappeared in the public eye, and Sotheby's announced that it would auction this national treasure in Hong Kong, with a starting price of 4.2 million Hong Kong dollars.
The news reached the ears of Mr. Qin Gong, the general manager of the Beijing Municipal Cultural Relics Company, who was a person who loved the country's culture, and he decided to buy this treasure vase back at all costs and return it to the motherland and the people.
However, the competition at the auction was very fierce, and many people wanted to get this vase, and they bid one after another, raising the **. After more than 40 rounds of bidding, Mr. Qin Gong finally won the vase with 19 million Hong Kong dollars. He felt extremely proud and proud of his achievements, and he felt that he had done a great thing for the country and made a contribution to the cultural rejuvenation of the nation.
However, he did not have the opportunity to see the national treasure he had saved with his own eyes, and on the eighth day after the auction, he died of a heart attack due to overwork. He exchanged his life for this national treasure, he is a real hero, a true patriot.
What is so special about this vase, and why does it make people fall for it, go crazy for it, and even die for it?It turned out that this treasure vase was a kind of sandwich exquisite bottle made by Tang Ying, a famous craftsman in Jingdezhen, in order to decorate the Old Summer Palace, and it was one of the nine exquisite bottles appreciated by Emperor Qianlong.
Its outer layer is pastel porcelain, the inner layer is blue and white porcelain, there is a gap between the two layers, and there are openwork flower windows on the six sides of the outer layer, and the blue and white patterns of the inner layer can be seen. Its shape is hexagonal, each side has a different ornamentation, some are Chinese-style entwined flowers, some are Western-style passionflowers, and there are auspicious patterns such as bergamot and longevity peach.
It also comes in a variety of colors, including gold, silver, red, and yellow, which is very gorgeous. At the bottom of it there is a blue and white seal book of the "Qianlong Year of the Qing Dynasty" of the inscription of this treasure vase is very complicated, it needs to go through a number of processes, each process requires extremely high skill and precision, a little careless, it will cause the deformation or cracking of the bottle body.
It is said that Tang Ying did not hesitate to spend countless manpower and material resources in order to complete this treasure vase, and even sacrificed his own life. After completing the vase, he died of overwork, and his death became a mystery of the vase.
The value of this vase lies not only in its beauty and rarity, but also in its history and culture. It reflects the social outlook and aesthetic taste of the Qianlong period, it carries the exchange and collision of Chinese and Western cultures, and it also records the humiliation and sorrow in modern Chinese history. It is a rare national treasure and a priceless treasure.
Today, this vase is housed in the Ceramic Treasures Exhibition Hall of the Capital Museum in Beijing, and together with another vase in the Hongxi Art Museum in Taipei, it forms a complete set of Qianlong pastel hexagonal bottles. Although they are separated by thousands of miles, they still echo each other and reflect each other, they are the symbol of Chinese culture and the pride of the Chinese nation. We hope that one day, they will be able to reunite and recreate the glory of those years.