#yuanmingyuan

[tendaysofrain]

Since many people enjoyed the Peach Blossom Springs build by Epicwork, here are some more builds that they’ve made over the years, along with some historical background on the builds, if anyone is interested:

The Thousand-Year Capital City - Luoyang (千年帝都·洛阳)

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In ancient times, Luoyang served as capital city in Xia dynasty/夏朝 (2070 BC - 1600 BC; the existence of this dynasty is debated among scholars due to insufficient archaeological evidence), Shang dynasty/商朝 (1600 BC - 1046 BC; Luoyang was one of the two capital cities), Western Zhou dynasty/西周 (1046 BC - 771 BC; Luoyand was again one of two capital cities), Eastern Zhou dynasty/东周 (770 BC - 256 BC), Western Han dynasty/西汉 (briefly starting from 202 BC), Eastern Han dynasty/东汉 (25 AD - 220 AD), Kingdom (dynasty if going by the traditional official historiography) of Wei/曹魏 (220 AD - 266 AD; this is part of the famous Three Kingdoms period), Western Jin dyansty/西晋 (266 AD - 213 AD), Northern Wei dynasty/北魏 (386 AD - 534 AD; Luoyang became its capital in 494 AD), Sui dynasty/隋朝 (581 AD - 618 AD; Luoyang became the capital in 605 AD), Tang dynasty/唐朝 (618 AD - 907 AD, including the brief Zhou/武周 during which Wu Zetian was the first female emperor; Luoyang was the capital or one of the capitals starting from 657 AD), Later Liang dynasty/后梁 (907 AD - 923 AD), Later Tang dynasty/后唐 (923 AD - 937 AD), Later Jin dynasty/后晋 (936 AD - 947 AD).

The build here (minus the giant dragon statue of course) is based on Luoyang during Tang dynasty, possibly around the time when Emperor Gaozong or Wu Zetian was in power, due to the presence of the enormous standing Buddha statue (Wu Zetian believed in Buddhism, while most other emperors of Tang dynasty put more emphasis on Daoism, since they claimed to be descendants of the founder of Daoism, Laozi, whose real name was Li Er). 

The Garden of Gardens - The Old Summer Palace (万园之园·圆明园)

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The Old Summer Palace or Yuanmingyuan/圆明园 was a garden constructed during Qing dynasty that incorporated elements of Chinese architecture and Western architecture.  The garden used to contain many priceless artifacts, the vast majority of which were stolen by British and French forces in 1860, and the garden itself was burned to the ground and thoroughly destroyed.  As a result of this purposeful destruction, only a few broken pillars remained, standing as a grim reminder to the plundering and destruction that were the results of Western imperialism.

Epicwork tried to reference old photos and historical records when recreating the garden here in this build.

The quote at the beginning of the video comes from a letter written by Victor Hugo to Captain Butler (boldened portion is the quote):

To Captain Butler

Hauteville House,

25 November, 1861

You ask my opinion, Sir, about the China expedition. You consider this expedition to be honourable and glorious, and you have the kindness to attach some consideration to my feelings; according to you, the China expedition, carried out jointly under the flags of Queen Victoria and the Emperor Napoleon, is a glory to be shared between France and England, and you wish to know how much approval I feel I can give to this English and French victory.

Since you wish to know my opinion, here it is:  

There was, in a corner of the world, a wonder of the world; this wonder was called the Summer Palace. Art has two principles, the Idea, which produces European art, and the Chimera, which produces oriental art. The Summer Palace was to chimerical art what the Parthenon is to ideal art. All that can be begotten of the imagination of an almost extra-human people was there. It was not a single, unique work like the Parthenon. It was a kind of enormous model of the chimera, if the chimera can have a model. Imagine some inexpressible construction, something like a lunar building, and you will have the Summer Palace. Build a dream with marble, jade, bronze and porcelain, frame it with cedar wood, cover it with precious stones, drape it with silk, make it here a sanctuary, there a harem, elsewhere a citadel, put gods there, and monsters, varnish it, enamel it, gild it, paint it, have architects who are poets build the thousand and one dreams of the thousand and one nights, add gardens, basins, gushing water and foam, swans, ibis, peacocks, suppose in a word a sort of dazzling cavern of human fantasy with the face of a temple and palace, such was this building. The slow work of generations had been necessary to create it. This edifice, as enormous as a city, had been built by the centuries, for whom? For the peoples. For the work of time belongs to man. Artists, poets and philosophers knew the Summer Palace; Voltaire talks of it. People spoke of the Parthenon in Greece, the pyramids in Egypt, the Coliseum in Rome, Notre-Dame in Paris, the Summer Palace in the Orient. If people did not see it they imagined it. It was a kind of tremendous unknown masterpiece, glimpsed from the distance in a kind of twilight, like a silhouette of the civilization of Asia on the horizon of the civilization of Europe.

This wonder has disappeared.

One day two bandits entered the Summer Palace. One plundered, the other burned. Victory can be a thieving woman, or so it seems. The devastation of the Summer Palace was accomplished by the two victors acting jointly. Mixed up in all this is the name of Elgin, which inevitably calls to mind the Parthenon. What was done to the Parthenon was done to the Summer Palace, more thoroughly and better, so that nothing of it should be left. All the treasures of all our cathedrals put together could not equal this formidable and splendid museum of the Orient. It contained not only masterpieces of art, but masses of jewelry. What a great exploit, what a windfall! One of the two victors filled his pockets; when the other saw this he filled his coffers. And back they came to Europe, arm in arm, laughing away. Such is the story of the two bandits.

We Europeans are the civilized ones, and for us the Chinese are the barbarians. This is what civilization has done to barbarism.

Before history, one of the two bandits will be called France; the other will be called England. But I protest, and I thank you for giving me the opportunity! the crimes of those who lead are not the fault of those who are led; Governments are sometimes bandits, peoples never.

The French empire has pocketed half of this victory, and today with a kind of proprietorial naivety it displays the splendid bric-a-brac of the Summer Palace. I hope that a day will come when France, delivered and cleansed, will return this booty to despoiled China.

Meanwhile, there is a theft and two thieves.

I take note.

This, Sir, is how much approval I give to the China expedition.

Regrettably, none of the priceless artifacts that were stolen had been returned by any of the countries involved, and instead became a major part of the museum collections of various Western countries.  The small portion of artifacts that had returned to China were mostly bought from auctions by Chinese people.  To this day, British and French mainstream media refuse to fully acknowledge the plundering and destruction of Yuanmingyuan.

Lijiang, the Ancient Mystic City (中国风·丽江古镇)

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I thought the translation for the title should’ve been “the Ancient Mystical City”, but it’s okay.  This is Epicwork’s first Chinese architecture-style build that became popular.  This build is based on the real life Old Town of Lijiang (丽江古镇), which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The real life Old Town of Lijiang has architecture that incorporated features of Han culture and Naxi culture.

Finally, a build that doesn’t really fit the topic of this blog, but personally I really liked it, and just in time for October...

Devil Island (恶魔岛)

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The cathedral in this build is based on Duomo di Milano.

[niteshade925]

LMAO I knew I would trigger a butthurt defender of Western imperialism with that post about Yuanmingyuan/Summer Palace/圆明园.

"Cultural revolution destroyed it" my ass. If it wasn't for the fucking British and French invaders burning it down in 1860 (mind you, 1860, the cultural revolution happened more than 100 years later) and looting everything including fucking fountain parts and leaving it abandoned, would looters have gotten in in the first place? Fucking idiots.

[hunxi-after-hours]

“Hengdian is dubbed the Hollywood of China. Many TV series and films are shot here. A lot of young aspiring actors live here, playing extras and picking up odd jobs. I carried a lot of equipment and after two days in scorching heat, I found a “Hengdian drifter” to help me. He thinks the Yuanmingyuan replica is quite grand. Every day we met people dressed in historical costumes or wedding gowns posing for photos on the set.

“I had mixed feelings. This full-size replica is the result of a huge investment but it looks very cheap. But many historical dramas and movies are made in Hengdian and formed our visual understanding of history. My wet plates pictures are also cheap remakes of what the original paintings could have shown. I wanted to use "fake" images to retell "real" events.

“I stayed in Hengdian for about 20 days, shooting the replica with a digital camera. Using wet plates directly would have been too expensive for me. I’d have needed a makeshift darkroom. Back in Shanghai, where I did have access to a darkroom, I printed these 40 photos in my studio and then recaptured them using wet plates. It was like a remake of a remake, a process of reproducing a fake image.” —Shi Yangkun

[tavina-writes]

Hitting you up because I want to hear more about Emperor Qianlong's art collection! My two big all-consuming hobbies are drawing and reading about history, so I pretty much can't get enough of either topic

OH OH where to BEGIN with Qianlong and his love of the arts???? And also okay he historically is SUCH a funky guy idk where to even begin on how much I love cool and kind of failflop Qianlong facts. If you want to know about his hilarious terrible poetry I leave you with this poem he wrote about cucumbers: 

It is the best ingredient on the plate in Beijing;

I tasted it lately in February, but how can I give it a review?

Weighing down the trellis, and embellishing the fence, it looks so beautiful,

The rural landscape contains true feelings.

No this isn’t any better in Chinese. You can find it and other Qianlong poetry roasts here.

Okay, I don’t know if Qianlong’s art collection/paintings created for him can be contained in a single answer, BUT, I’ll do my best! 

Emperor Qianlong was an avid patron of the arts, and his collection of paintings, jade pieces, and other antiques remain one of the greatest reasons why we still have a lot of the pieces on display around the world today. He was also in the habit of writing on/stamping his personal seal on his favorite paintings and art pieces, and some of these repeatedly viewed paintings (with his notes/thoughts/writings) also preserve great portions of his life, which is a really intimate look into him as a person especially throughout time. We rarely get this sort of information from a ruler since MOST imperial writing has been edited/was meant to present to other people. He also liked to take landscape paintings with him on his travels to compare the landscapes in the paintings to their irl presentation.

His habit of turning his favorite paintings into diaries is NOT a common practice btw, most people didn’t deface the paintings in their collections. (Okay they might put their personal stamp on it to explain that they own it, but WRITING NEW SHIT ON IT? nah.) 

Art historians, btw, have been in argument about his practice of defacing paintings and basically being in conversation with them ON the painting itself, since practically the time he started doing this about if it’s destroying the art or enhancing it somehow. He was just. SUCH a guy. 

(He uh, may also have used coercion, threats, and force to acquire some of these because he was the emperor and he wanted them. This behavior was normal for emperors but his obsession with art and antiques was slightly less normal. Like, this man was IN LOVE with art.) 

The OTHER hilarious thing about Qianlong was that while he LOVED paintings and antiques and poetry and art he uh, well okay see the above roast re his poetry but he wasn’t very good at any of these things per se. (For example, there are multitudes of stories about how he’d get really happy about a certain painting or antique in his collection, only to discover that it was a GREAT forgery or a fake or not actually all that old and oh here’s the actual thing your majesty this is the real one and be SO embarrassed by this new knowledge that he’d just KEEP BOTH and pretend nothing was wrong. Like just WHAT a guy. What a guy lmao.) 

Qianlong also really loved western style paintings and painters. For example, Giuseppe Castiglione was one of his favorite court painters (Chinese Name Lang Shining) and did these two paintings of Emperor Qianlong:

These two paintings are like, some of my favorite things because like, the combination of east and west, and utilization of like, different techniques and perspectives is !!!! in my brain. Like, it’s incredible and I love it so much. 

Qianlong also incorporated a lot of western style architectural elements in his redesign and beautification of Yuanmingyuan and had a REALLY interesting life overall, but this is getting kind of long so 😂I’ll leave off for now. 

Feel free to ask about anything that sounds interesting about this though! I love to ramble. 

[artistsonthelam]

Part 2 of artifacts from the newly opened Yuanmingyuan / Old Summer Palace exhibition at the Hong Kong Palace Museum:

1 - Detail of a painting and one of “The Twelve Beauties”. I adore the linework and shading; it looks so modern. And look at those nails!

2 - Poems. The tiny writing!

3 - Detail of a painting of a Lantern Festival celebration including fireworks performances. I zoomed in on the Qianlong Emperor.

4 - A portable censer with dragons and clouds.

5 - Love the composition of this painting. Consort of the Qianlong Emperor and Yongyan.

6 - Set of seals of the Kangxi Emperor.

7 and 8 - Details of paintings. I zoomed in on these cute royal dogs playing with children. They reminded me of poor little “Looty,” the Pekingese who was taken by the British when they and the French destroyed Yuanmingyuan (she was found with four other Pekingese mourning and guarding the body of the emperor’s elderly aunt, who committed suicide when she heard the plundering outside) and given to Queen Victoria, who gave her that terrible name. She ended up living a lonely life, longing for her homeland, and, unlike the Queen’s other dogs, was buried in an unmarked grave.

9 and 10 - The exhibition’s last room, which described the destruction and ruin and Yuanming Yuan.

// (c) Jenny Lam 2024

[augustus-scaevola]

🍋 And 🌽, for 2p China and 2p Rome?

//Sorry this ask took me so long the exact fruit and muse I was DYING no one asked was in fact asked and I had no idea what to say. But almost unfortunately now I do.

🍋: What is your OC's most painful memory? For Jin-long it's the destruction of, Yuanmingyuan, or Garden of Perfect Brightness. A beautiful palace was destroyed during the opium war by the British and French. The cracks in the imperial system were only just beginning to show, also there was quite literally nothing he could do. This event occurred in china's "century of humiliation". He laid his eyes upon artifacts that have never been returned. He had never felt so powerless in his life.

🍋: What is your OC's most painful memory? Around 389-391 AD the sacred flame of Vesta was extinguished. The priesthood disbanded and a plea to reinstate the altar of Victory to the senate was ignored. This is when Augustus ultimately knew he would face an inevitable end. The sacred flame of Vesta was an extremely serious thing, it kept the entire city of Rome safe from harm. From that point onward he felt doomed. And let's face it, with Christianity on the rise walking around Rome with piercing red eyes isn't exactly safe. He faced a sort of social death, going from being seen as the son of Mars, highly respected, to a devil worshipper. This was not overnight, but this incident didn't help.

🌽: How does this OC feel about acts of affection? What's their favourite act of affection, physical or emotional? Jin-long is not big on physical affection much of the time. He will tolerate it from the right person, maybe. Compliment him. Not something stupid sappy, but personal, from the heart. That man is yours. Also acts of service. Make him dinner, draw him a bath, loves that stuff.

🌽: How does this OC feel about acts of affection? What's their favourite act of affection, physical or emotional? For Augustus, don't be like Otto. He's not a giant, 24/7 space invader type person but he does enjoy cuddling/taking a nap with his S/O. Gift giving, give him something that reminds you of him and he'll melt. Honestly maybe cry. (He's a big softy but not many get to see it).

[mouldkingblockmerch]

✅ Wange 5222 Tsinghua Campus Beijing China   ✅Tsinghua University is a prestigious research university located in Beijing, China. It is known for its academic excellence, research contributions, and beautiful campus. Tsinghua University's campus is situated in the northwestern part of Beijing, near the Summer Palace and the Yuanmingyuan Park.   🚫 IMPORTANT!    Product Name: Tsinghua Campus Beijing China   Category: Modular Building   This Kit Contains: Wange 5222   986 pcs Good Quality Bricks    Manual Instructions    📌Nature of the protagonist    Introducing our proud collection named “Tsinghua Campus Beijing China” you should not miss.    The campus covers a significant area and is known for its lush greenery, gardens, and scenic landscapes. It provides a peaceful and conducive environment for learning and research.  Tsinghua University was established in 1911 and has a rich history as one of China's leading institutions of higher education. The campus has witnessed many historical events and changes over the years. The campus features a blend of traditional Chinese architectural elements and modern designs. It includes beautiful buildings, courtyards, and academic halls that reflect the university's cultural heritage.

[hannahfhhhong]

🌅（在 圓明園 Yuanmingyuan Park） https://www.instagram.com/p/CnuISuoPBhm/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chadlesbianjasontodd]

incense burner with cover, cloisonne enamels on copper with gilding. two handles in the shape of birds, gilt openwork dragons and clouds on cover. qianlong period, 1736-1795.

v&a registration records state that this object came “from the summer palace at pekin”, i.e. that it was looted by british troops during the 1860 burning of yuanmingyuan in beijing. the v&a’s digital item listing concludes that “whether this object came from yuanming yuan is difficult to verify.”

[fengleidiscovery]

Yuanmingyuan, the Summer Palace of the Chinese Emperor in Qing Dynasty 秋...

[chessinventor]

It may sounds like a science fiction when CCP China went to war with Russia once the head of Soviet Union in order to honour the plea of it's Ukrainian brother which gave PLA naval technology they inherited from Soviet Union. However if one turn the page of Sino-Russia history there are plenty of border dispute since the Ching dynasty when Russia is also one of the eight foreign army which lay waste of Yuanmingyuan that's hurt the national pride of Chinese. Then we have the beginning of breaking down of Communist Bloc when CCP China established formally relationship with USA which may laid the seeds of its war first with neighbouring Communist Vietnam then military conflict in the Northwest Territories of CCP China. In the textbook of Taiwan or Republic of China would include the ceded terrorities of Outer Mongolia and the lsland. So when CCP China keep pushing patriotism and nationalistic sentiment it inevitably land itself to the great border dispute with Russia. Therefore it made nationalistic sense during the beginning of Russian invasion of Ukraine some Chinese netizen suggested that CCP China may start a military campaign to liberate those terrorities originally belong to China. It is not logical coherent to accuse Taiwan is getting out from China when CCP China itself is not protecting its border from the Polar bear.

If CCP China indeed follow the suggestion of those Netizens to wage war with Russia then ROC which is ruled by Democratic Progressive Party whom independence from China is written into it's party manifest is in a difficult position when not sending army to the aid of CCP China to recapture the original Chinese territories is seen as moving further toward de-facto Taiwan independence, and the KMT would regain some support of nationalistic Chinese from Taiwan and oversea. That would also justified waging war against Taiwan later when it has returned China to its previous glorious state. What is so wrong when Russia dreaming of a Greater Russia while CCP China is dreaming of a Greater China? CCP China has been widely seen by its nationals as impotent toward the bigger brother. So that is sneaking behind Russia's back to avenge the sins committed by Czar's dynasty, it is just doing what Russia is really good at: opportunitistic strike toward the weak and vulnerable. With its army need to defend those terrorities there would be lesser resources devoted to invade Ukraine and that would drag out the war even longer if Russia can persist that long. I don't think Putin dare to wage nuclear weapons on CCP China and that would mean Russia would under nuclear strike of possibly both USA and CCP China. CCP China let that golden opportunity to slip away and remain impotent toward Russia as always.

[gordoncheung]

‘Arrow to Heaven’, Gordon Cheung solo show @alminerech, Paris, Matignon - ends 30 July ‘Gardens of Perfect Brightness’ The Old Summer Palace of Beijing, China otherwise known as Yuanmingyuan Park is literally translated as the ‘Gardens of Perfect Brightness’. It was the main imperial residence of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty and his successors. Considered to be the pinnacle of imperial gardens and palace design it was reputed as the ‘Garden of Gardens’. During the second Opium war French and British captured the palace on 6 October 1960 and took days to loot followed by around 4000 troops to burn down 3.5km (860 acres) over a 3 day period. It is estimated by UNESCO that 47 museums around the world contain Summer Palace loot. The blazing ambiguous sunset or sunrise colour palette refers to the days of burning subverting the notion of Gardens of Brightness. The two holy mountains of Sinai and Song appear like wings of the still life or could be viewed as a collision that forms the broken grounds like a fractured pillar for the still life to sit upon. The painting's foreground is a map of the Summer palace that appears to be part of a broken fragment of a larger whole accentuated by the ruin of Dashuifa. Surreal in scale the ‘Mille Fleurs’ Qianlong Emperor vase contains flowers from a Dutch Golden Age still life in reference to what is considered to be the birth of Modern Capitalism and the first recorded economic bubble with Tulipmania. It also contains flowers from Giuseppe Castiglione, a Jesuit missionary who became a painter at the court of the emperor. The rest of the composition is filled with sunflowers made from painted marks on plastic that are peeled and assembled together before being collaged to the surface of the painting. Sunflowers are used as a symbol to face the sun/god, here they are multi-directional but seem to be mostly facing toward the viewer. #GordonCheung #AlmineRech (at Almine Rech Paris Matignon) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cggst3UMKku/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[yishansworld]

Beauty of China

长城，雍和宫，圆明园

[niubibeijing]

圆明园 2018年8月

[di4444y]

圓明園，日落，結冰。

[artistsonthelam]

Inside the Hong Kong Palace Museum on Thursday after viewing the new Yuanmingyuan / Old Summer Palace exhibition! Filled with Chinese antiquities, the building is a contemporary interpretation of traditional Chinese art and architecture. // (c) Jenny Lam 2024