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

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Hong Kong Palace Museum

West Kowloon Cultural District, 8 Museum Drive, Kowloon


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From Dawn to Dusk: Life and Art in the Forbidden City

Gallery 2
From Dawn to Dusk: Life and Art in the Forbidden City
Gallery 2

Follow in the footsteps of the emperors and empresses of the Forbidden City and experience court life in the eighteenth century. Significant events from morning to bedtime and over 300 sumptuous treasures from the Palace Museum represent key moments in their busy and well-regulated lives. These moments bring to life the colour, texture, joy, and sorrow of life inside the Forbidden City.

Clock with elephants, bird and automata

Clock with elephants, bird and automata
Great Britain, 18th century
Gilded copper alloy
© The Palace Museum

Highlighted objects

Clock with elephants, bird and automata

Clock with elephants, bird and automata

Great Britain, 18th century
Gilded copper alloy
© The Palace Museum

Clock with elephants, bird and automata

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.

Clock with elephants, bird and automata
Great Britain, 18th century
Gilded copper alloy
© The Palace Museum
Two double gourd-shaped hangings with auspicious characters

Two double gourd-shaped hangings with auspicious characters

Qianlong period (1736–1795)
Gold with semi-precious stones and coral inlay
© The Palace Museum

Two double gourd-shaped hangings with auspicious characters

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.

Two double gourd-shaped hangings with auspicious characters
Qianlong period (1736–1795)
Gold with semi-precious stones and coral inlay
© The Palace Museum
Five-piece altar set with lotuses and Buddhist treasures

Five-piece altar set with lotuses and Buddhist treasures

Imperial Porcelain Factory, Jingdezhen
Qianlong mark and period (1736–1795)
Porcelain with overglaze enamels
© The Palace Museum

Five-piece altar set with lotuses and Buddhist treasures

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.

Five-piece altar set with lotuses and Buddhist treasures
Imperial Porcelain Factory, Jingdezhen
Qianlong mark and period (1736–1795)
Porcelain with overglaze enamels
© The Palace Museum
Tea bowl with poem by the Qianlong Emperor

Tea bowl with poem by the Qianlong Emperor

Imperial Porcelain Factory, Jingdezhen
Qianlong mark and period, 1746 or later
Porcelain with overglaze enamels
© The Palace Museum

Tea bowl with poem by the Qianlong Emperor

“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.

Tea bowl with poem by the Qianlong Emperor
Imperial Porcelain Factory, Jingdezhen
Qianlong mark and period, 1746 or later
Porcelain with overglaze enamels
© The Palace Museum
Three-panel screen with pine tree, bamboo, plum blossom and orchid

Three-panel screen with pine tree, bamboo, plum blossom and orchid

Qianlong period, about 1776
Panels: champlevé, polychrome enamels and gold on copper-alloy core; frame and stand: zitan wood; back: nan wood
© The Palace Museum

Three-panel screen with pine tree, bamboo, plum blossom and orchid

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.

Three-panel screen with pine tree, bamboo, plum blossom and orchid
Qianlong period, about 1776
Panels: champlevé, polychrome enamels and gold on copper-alloy core; frame and stand: zitan wood; back: nan wood
© The Palace Museum

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Hong Kong Palace Museum
Map

Hong Kong Palace Museum

West Kowloon Cultural District, 8 Museum Drive, Kowloon


Mon, Wed, Thu & Sun
10:00 am – 06:00 pm
Fri, Sat & Public Holiday
10:00 am – 08:00 pm | Closed on Tuesdays (except public holidays) & the first two days of the Lunar New Year