Cultural relics of the Old Summer Palace Introduction to the cultural relics of the Old Summer Palace

1. Dragon head bronze statue

The dragon head, one of the twelve zodiac animal head bronze statues, was originally part of the fountain outside the Haiyan Hall of the Old Summer Palace and was cast during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. . According to the data, this series of animal heads were designed by the Italian court Western painter Castiglione Castiglione, supervised by the Frenchman Chiang Youren, and produced by the court craftsmen. In the mid-19th century, the British and French forces invaded China and burned the Old Summer Palace. Since then, the bronze statues with twelve animal heads began a century-long history of wandering overseas.

2. Bronze statue of sheep's head

The bronze statue of sheep's head was originally the bronze statue of the Great Water Method in front of the Haiyan Hall of the Western Building in Yuanmingyuan. After the "Burning of the Old Summer Palace" in 1860, they were plundered and lost overseas.

The twelve zodiac bronze statues in Haiyan Hall of the Western Building in Yuanmingyuan were designed and made for Emperor Kangxi under the guidance of French Catholic missionaries. From the copper engravings drawn by the missionaries, we can clearly see that there are six bronze statues of the twelve zodiac animals lined up on the left and right, each representing the twelve hours of the day and night.

Every time an hour comes, the bronze statues representing the zodiac animals at that hour will automatically spit out fountains from their mouths. At noon, the twelve bronze statues will simultaneously spray spring water from their mouths. These bronze statues were designed by Westerners and made in China. , integrating Eastern and Western cultures.

3. Pig head bronze statue

The pig head bronze statue was plundered and lost overseas after the "Burning of Old Summer Palace" in 1860. It was later purchased by China Poly Group Company and is now collected in Beijing Poly Art Museum.

The pig-headed bronze statue, one of the twelve zodiac animals in the Yuanmingyuan that had been lost overseas for 143 years, successfully arrived at Guangzhou Baiyun Airport from Beijing on the afternoon of March 17, 2004 by special plane. Starting from the 21st, it will be free for Yangcheng citizens to visit.