The museum is designed predominantly in Tang dynasty rectangles, squares and circles, squatting low like a cultural fortress firmly embedded in the ground of history.
The entrance to the museum guarded on each side by a sturdy looking stone pillar capped with Tang dynastic roof
part of the garden in front of the museum
The view from the entrance to the exhibition hall
A plan of the imperial palace and Xian City during the Tsing Dynasty
A reconstructed replica of Xian City during the Tsing dynasty, first completed at the Tang Dynasty (貞觀八年)（AD 634）and is one of the three main palaces of Xian (then called Cheung On) at the northern suburbs of the present city. It was where all state affairs were dealt with for 234 years since the time of 唐高宗. . It is the model for the Imperial Palace in Beijing. It was originally the summer palace called 永安宮 but was rebuilt by 唐太宗 for his father at AD 635年. After his father died, it was renamed 大明宮 otherwise known as 「東內」. After 唐高宗 succeeded to the throne, he thought that 太極宮, where he originally reside was too humid and started major renovation and expansion of it in AD 662年 and renamed it 蓬萊宮 and used it as his residence. In AD 670, it was further renamed 含元宮 but it reverted to its name of Tai Ming Palace in AD 705. However it was damaged by fires during battles and was burnt down in AD 896 and its remains were demolished in preparation for war at the end of the Tang Dynasty so that all that remained were ruins. The original palace were divided into three sections each with its own walls. It has a total of 9 gates. At the centre in the south is the 丹鳳門, at the east is 望仙門 and the west is 建福門. At the centre north is the famous 玄武門，and to its east is 銀漢門 and to its west the 青霄門. At the centre of the east is the 左銀台門, at its west south 右銀台門 at its east the 九仙門。Except for the main gage 丹鳳門, where there are five side gates, each of the other gates have only one gateway. The imperial guards were stationed outside the east and west of the city palace walls and the headquarters of the imperial guard were stationed at the inner gate of the north gate. called「北衙」.The outer part of the palace was where the daily audience was held whilst the inner part of the serve residential, feasting and leisure purposes. The inner palaces were aligned along a north-south axis to starting from the main gate to the south 丹鳳門. From north to south are the palaces called respectively 含元殿、宣政殿、紫宸殿、蓬萊殿、含涼殿、玄武殿.
The Goose Pagoda (大雁塔) was situated at the corner of the imperial palace and city
A model of Tai Ming Palace (大明宮), now destroyed.
The side of the imperial palace.
The other side of the model of ancient Xian
The artificial lake where the Emperor would spend his leisure hours
The roof dome of the museum
There are windows underneath the dome
The staircase leading to the first floor
Light and shadows on the staircase
I like the thoughtfully built spiral staircase
More light and shadow of the void under the staircase
A small court yard outside the windows of the staircase
A map of Sian on the floor at the centre of the museum, lit by natural
light flooding in from the circular windows at the base of the dome
Some rock carving of the Buddha or Koon YIn
A Koon Yin guarded by two disciples
A gilded Koon Yin from Northern Zhou Dynasty (北周) (AD
557-581), unearthed from the Xicha village, Hanchegn town, Weiyang
District, Xian (西安未央區漢城西查村)in 1996. Not the fine details.
A Buddha served by two bodhisattvas with some other disciples at his feet from a niche also from the North Zhou dynasty, unearthed at Caotan, Weiyang District, Xian (西安惠陽區草灘) in 1975.
Another niche of a marble Buddha served by two attendant bodhisattvas and two lions with finer details also from the North Zhou dynasty, unearthed from Caotan, Xian in 1975
Another Buddha served by two bodhisattvas and two disciples under the same curtains from the same period and unearthed from the same spot
Another similar one from the same period and the same spot with a more elaborate curtain
Another Buddha with a broad face and calm expression
Two further stone carved Buddhas
A stele from the Northern Wei Dynasty (北魏) (386-534) unearthed from the Weiyang District in 1971
Another stele with Buddhas on four sides from the same period from the same spot
A giant stone Buddha from the same spot
Three porcelain elephant hooks in the famous Tang three colors of white yellow and green (唐三彩) (AD 618-907)
More elephant hooks from the Tang dynasty
Another pottery fragment in the Tang yellow blue and green
Samples of black pottery at the left also from the Tang dynasty
The head of one of the 9 children of the Dragon called Female Dragon (螭龍), the hornless second son of the dragon from the Tang dynasty. According to Chinese mythology, there are five types of dragons according to whether they have scales, wings, horns, legs etc.: those with scales being called "serpent dragon" ( 蛟龍, ), those with wings being called "eagle dragons" (應龍) , those with horns being called "deer dragon" (虯龍) and those without horns being called "female dragon) (螭龍) and those without legs being called "legless dragons" (蠋龍).
A another Tang stone dragon head
The end-piece of for sealing up the tile tubes used for roofing from the Tang Dynasty
Various other samples of such end pieces from the same period
A stone dragon
a Tang carved lion
A Tang dynasty bronze weight?
Tang bricks with signatures of the relevant kilns. The one above shows the seal of the manufacturer's hands.
A Tang brick with signature of the manufacturer
Two Tang patterned square bricks
Another Tang patterned square brick
Another patterned brick from the Tang Dynasty
A rectangular brick with a human figure from the Song Dynasty (960-1279)
Another brick of the same period
A further figure of the same period. All appear to be playing some wind instruments.
Another lady playing a plucking instrument
A Tang tortoise shape paper weight
A Ming dynasty (1368-1644) pottery couch with decorative dragons at its corners
Ming dynasty cabinet and clothes hanger models unearthed in Yanta Distict, Xian (西安雁塔區曲江鄉淳沱村) in 2000
A Ming dynasty pottery cooking stove model unearthed the same spot
A model pottery house unearthed at the same spot
Another model room from the same spot
Another pottery room showing the style of the Ming period
A green glazed pottery Chi dragon from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
A Chi dragon used as part of the eave end-piece of the Tsing dynasty (1644-1911)
Tsing Dynasty stone carving
Another Tsing stone carving
(To be cont'd)
My trip didn't cover this part. Thanks for filling the vacuum.
回覆刪除[版主回覆09/12/2012 09:27:24]Xian is a huge place. It's filled with relics of its past.
Althought it was two years ago,
回覆刪除I still remember the permanent exhibition of the museum,
the figures of buddhas with kind smiles.
[版主回覆09/12/2012 10:04:20]Yes, the Buddha can smile because nothing really bothers him any more: he doesn't strive for power, fame, wealth, physical prowess, sexual conquests, addiction to any form of sensual pleasures or mundane "achievements" and has nothing but infinite compassion for the foibles of the ordinary folks who wallow in such pursuits and he devotes himself single-mindedly to enlightening them on the root cause of human suffering: the false concept of the importance of the "illusory self".
The stone carvings are wonderful.
回覆刪除[版主回覆09/13/2012 06:22:50]Yes, they are the work of our ancient craftsmen. So are the work of our pottery and tile makers.
The ancient city planning is amazing
回覆刪除[版主回覆09/14/2012 04:03:57]I do not know if the city streets were planned or they just spontaneously developed. But from the plan of the ancient city, it looks as if there were some kind of rough north/south and east/west grids.
Splendid!
回覆刪除[超哥回覆09/14/2012 09:57:27]I agree! China does have very rich cultural tradition and seeing is believing. It's just a nuisance that until recent years the cultural remains had not been too well preserved!
[版主回覆09/14/2012 09:24:46]If there is anything which impressed me during this trip, it's that China has an extremely rich cultural tradition and is immensely complex and there are so many things which I need to learn.
El Zorro 把展品拍得很清晰呀！ 也謝謝你詳盡的介紹！ 古建築群佈局嚴緊、宏偉、 令人嘆為觀止！
回覆刪除[版主回覆09/15/2012 00:47:38]The plan of the ancient Chang An (Xian) is discovered by the archaeologist with the help of infra-red scanning !Yes, you're right, the scale of ancient Xian is really impressive. At that time, Xian was the biggest and most populous city in the world !