New exhibition highlights craftsmanship of traditional architecture models

Poster for the exhibition

An exhibition featuring the craftsmanship of traditional Chinese architectural models, jointly organized by Prince Kung’s Palace Museum and the China Academy of Cultural Heritage, opened at Jiale Hall of the museum on March 20.

Location of the exhibition – Jiale Hall

Officials and guests from the National Cultural Heritage Administration, the China Academy of Cultural Heritage and other agencies attended the opening ceremony.

At the ceremony, Feng Nai’en, director and Party secretary of Prince Kung’s Palace Museum; Li Li, deputy director of China Academy of Cultural Heritage; Kong Xiangxing, lifetime researcher at the National Museum of China; and Liu Kuili, honorary member of the academic division of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, delivered addresses in succession. The ceremony was presided over by Wang Jing, deputy director of Prince Kung’s Palace Museum. After the addresses, they struck the drum together to marking the opening of the exhibition.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition

From the 1930s to 1940s, members of the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture, represented by Zhu Qiqian (1872-1964), Liang Sicheng (1901-1972), and Lin Huiyin (1904-1955), conducted surveys on Prince Kung’s Palace in 1937 and 1947. The on-site survey drawings, as well as photographs taken at that time, became the most direct, accurate, and important foundation for the restoration and interior reconstruction of Prince Kung’s Palace. 

To greet the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Prince Kung’s Palace Museum, with the official-style architectural construction craftsmanship (Prince Kung’s Palace) being inscribed on the fifth list of intangible cultural heritage of Beijing in 2021, the museum revisits the history of the society’s surveys of Prince Kung’s Palace and co-organized the exhibition with the China Academy of Cultural Heritage.

The exhibition features more than 20 models of ancient architecture, which were produced between the 1930s and 1950s and kept by the China Academy of Cultural Heritage. In addition to these models, related oil paintings of the architecture, polychrome decorative architectural paintings, survey drawings, and old photographs are also on display. 

During the exhibition, various display methods, such as site-specific theatre performances, intangible cultural heritage performances, multimedia images, and installations, are being used to provide guests and visitors with a diverse and enjoyable audio-visual experience.

Architectural models are on display at Jiale Hall of Prince Kung’s Palace Museum.

Architectural models are on display at Jiale Hall of Prince Kung’s Palace Museum.

An academic seminar is scheduled to be held during the exhibition. Experts, scholars, industry elites, representatives of related enterprises, and inheritors of intangible cultural heritage in the field of traditional architecture will gather together to engage in in-depth discussions on research, the status-quo, inheritance, and other related topics.

The exhibition will run through June 25, 2023.

Model of Zhaozhou Bridge

Model of a Qing Dynasty-style pavilion with six pillars and a round roof

Model of the Ciyun Ge, a Ming Dynasty-style lofty pavilion

Model of Chongyang Hall in the Yongle Palace, a Taoist temple in Shanxi province

Detail of the model of Dule Temple in Tianjin