Hong Kong Palace Museum | From Dawn to Dusk: Life and Art in the Forbidden City

Clocks made in Europe and China were popular at the Qing imperial court. The Kangxi Emperor (1662–1722) enjoys European chiming clocks, which help him deal with government affairs more efficiently. Novel and luxurious timepieces with features such as automata or music decorated many interiors in the Forbidden City.

Double-gourd shaped decorations with characters representing “great fortune” adorned walls, doorframes, and screens in many residential and religious spaces inside the Forbidden City. They communicated messages of good fortune, longevity, and fertility. In 1746, the Qianlong Emperor commissioned sixty-two similar hangings for the Lunar New Year celebration.

An incense burner with two flanking candlesticks and flower vases was the standard for the “five-piece” altar sets used in religious and ritual spaces inside the Forbidden City. This set is decorated with the “Eight Buddhist Treasures”, such as the wheel and vase, suggesting that it was used in Buddhist rites. Originally, the incense burner may have had a stand for holding burning incense sticks. The candlestick might have held a candle decorated with dragons. The vase may have held artificial lingzhi mushrooms, a symbol of longevity.

“Three Purities Tea” was served at tea parties hosted by Qing emperors in the Lunar New Year. The name refers to three refreshingly aromatic ingredients: plum blossoms, Buddha’s hand citrons, and pine nuts. Brewing it requires snow water or water from the Jade Spring, to the west of Beijing. The tea was served in bowls inscribed with a poem the Qianlong Emperor composed about the tea. In 1768, it was also the topic of a collaborative poetry composition game held by the emperor.

Outside of Beijing, Qing emperors moved seasonally between multiple capitals, where they lived and worked. This screen adorned the imperial mountain resort in Chengde, another political centre of the Qing court. Here the Kangxi and other emperors enjoyed garden living and outdoor pursuits in summer and autumn and gave audiences to Mongolian and Tibetan leaders and foreign emissaries.