The Forbidden City: Inside Court of China's Emperors

(script read at the Media Press Conference for the opening of the Forbidden City: Inside Court of China's Emperors at ROM, March 5, 2014)

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen and members of the media. I am honored by the presence of so many special guests with us here today as the ROM is now ready to open its gates to the Forbidden City.

I am pleased that you are with us on this historic occasion - this is the very first opportunity for Canadians to view the Imperial Treasures, and to experience life inside the Forbidden City. For 500 years, it was accessible to only Chinese emperors, their immediate families and thousands of their servants. The average person, like you or me, was forbidden to know anything about – or to go within - the walls of the Forbidden City. Now we bring the Forbidden City to life right here at the ROM.

In the heart of Beijing, sits the largest palace complex in the world – the Forbidden City.  It was home to China’s last 24 emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Tales about the lives of these powerful rulers and their imperial families who lived inside this mysterious place have captivated us for years.

Shortly after the revolution, in 1925 the Forbidden City was turned into the a public institution which opened its palace doors to everyone. Today, the Palace Museum houses a collection of over 1.8 million objects, many of which were hidden away in the vaults, unknown and unseen, until recently.

In 2009, the ROM was privileged to become the sole official Canadian partner with the Palace Museum – China’s largest museum. Since then, the ROM and the Palace Museum have explored opportunities to exchange exhibitions and engage in research and training programs. Our partnership with the Palace Museum speaks of the ROM’s long-standing contributions and commitment to developing important exhibitions in collaboration with respected, international institutes. Certainly, The Forbidden City, in collaboration with the Palace Museum, is the most ambitious undertaking to date.

It took Emperor Chengzhu of the Ming Dynasty 14 years to build the Forbidden City. And, it has taken ROM curators and dozen of staff more than two years to make this spectacular exhibition. The most exciting part of planning for me, is in December 2012, over the Christmas holidays, I, along with my two colleagues, Dr. Wen-chien Cheng, the exhibition co-curator and the ROM’s Chinese painting specialist, and Dr. Sarah Fee, the exhibition advisor and the ROM’s textile and costume curator, spent a week in the Palace Museum’s collection vaults, where we selected 250 of the finest, significant, and historically rich objects to be displayed in the ROM’s exhibition. None of these objects have ever been seen anywhere in Canada, AND more than 80 artifacts have never travelled outside the walls of the Forbidden City. ROM visitors will be the first to see these treasures outside the Palace walls. Today, YOU are the first to see these treasures. AND you will see….

·        A ceremonial suit of armour made more to dazzle than protect

·        The finest and rarest of all Ming Dynasty porcelains—only two original Chenghua chicken cups survive in the Palace Museum

·        Jades that have been sentimental to Chinese for more than 8,000 years

·        The brushwork of one of the most talented and artistic emperors

·        A dragon robe worn by a 6-year-old emperor on his inauguration

·        A gilt bathtub used by the last emperor of China, Puyi   

·        A silk coat for the royal dog – even the family pets were treated royally!

…And many more for you to discover on your own as you travel through the exhibition.

Due to the large presence of light-sensitive objects, there will be an extensive rotation at approximately the half-way point of the exhibition’s ROM engagement. I promise it will be worth a return visit!

Once my colleagues and I chose the objects, the exhibition started to take shape. The exhibition focuses on three storylines within the Forbidden City: people, places, and events. Main characters, such as Emperors Yongzhen and Qianlong, are highlighted with selected objects. Together, these two great rulers built the greatest empire in the entire 18th century in the East.  Empress Dowager Cixi - a towering and controversial presence during the twilight of the dynasty - is profiled as are officials, concubines, eunuchs, children, and foreign Jesuits. An interactive map is seen throughout the exhibition, raising the profile of major architectural complexes connecting the lives of people and objects on display. Narratives can be traced through objects and unfold in relation to the people, their characters, and the places they once inhabited.

These stories are illustrated throughout the exhibition by way of five sections, which incorporate five themes: Power and Privileges, Life within the Palace, Emperor’s Study and Collections, Fascination with Western Cultures, and Palace Museum. The exhibition’s layout and design follows the palace’s architectural design, and echoes the Forbidden City’s structural concept. The exhibition begins with an outsider’s view. However, as visitors make their way through the exhibition, they will experience first the Outer Court and then the Inner Court as they move increasingly into the palace’s restricted areas. Ultimately, access is gained to the most private space of all: the emperor’s personal study.

Power and prestige exposes how emperors were presented to the outside world, and ultimately how their private lives were concealed deep within the palace’s opulent interior realm. In the Outer Court, which is the exhibition’s section 2, the viewer witnesses the impressive world of luxury and imperial grandeur, power and ritual serenity. Here, objects tell stories of grand public events, stately ceremonies, imperial weddings, birthdays, New Year celebrations, and royal hunting excursions in the surrounding gardens. Among the highlights is a spectacular throne of lacquer, jades, and ivory. You cannot miss it, it is that grand!

Section 3 highlights The Inner Court and represents the female realm, a private space for the everyday lives of the emperors and their families. Here, we experience a sense of secrecy - expressed through informal displays.

The palace’s most private areas are revealed in section 4. Once restricted to all but the emperor himself, this is where the emperor’s artistic cultivation and mind-blowing imperial treasures are dramatically showcased for everyone’s viewing enjoyment.

Finally, Section 5 reveals the Twilight of the Last Dynasty, and portrays the Forbidden City’s last chapter as it began its transformation into what is known, today, as the Palace Museum.  Here, visitors learn about the fall of the empire during the last dynasty and the fate of the imperial palace’s precious treasures.

Following the ROM’s engagement, the exhibition will travel to the Vancouver Art Gallery from October 18, 2014 to January 11, 2015.  After  they travel to these two Canadian venues only - the treasures will return to Beijing, and back to the Palace Museum’s highly secured vaults and storage areas. I believe they will not travel again in the same assemblage.

ROM curators, designers, conservators, registrars, and many other support staff have worked around the clock to bring you this exhibition. Together with our colleagues, and now our good friends from the Palace Museum, I firmly believe that we have delivered a once in a lifetime, and fully memorable, experience of life in the Forbidden City. I am also honoured that The Forbidden City is considered to be the centerpiece exhibition of the ROM’s upcoming Centennial – a year-long celebration launching on March 19.

As I finish, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Robert H. Ho Family Foundation, the exhibition’s Presenting Sponsor, and Manulife Financial, its Lead Sponsor, for their generous support in helping us create this magnificent exhibition, and for making the Forbidden City accessible to the people of Toronto, Ontario, and Canada.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Forbidden City. Thank you, and enjoy your visit.

 Youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDgSas4fjPI