Beijing Cultural Exchange Museum

Located in Zhihua temple, No.5, lumicang, Dongcheng District, Beijing Cultural Exchange Museum was established in 1992 on the basis of the original Zhihua temple cultural relics preservation office. The purpose of the museum is to collect museum information and materials from Beijing, China and even the world, and to show the current situation of all museums in Beijing.

Beijing Cultural Exchange Museum

Beijing Cultural Exchange Museum, located in Zhihua temple, No.5, lumicang Hutong, Dongcheng District, Beijing, covers an area of 7000 square meters. It was built on the original site of Zhihua temple in 1992 and has more than 1500 collections. It is a special Heritage Museum of social sciences

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The whole building of Zhihua Temple faces south, with four halls. The depth from north to south is about 278 meters, and the width from east to west is about 45 meters. It covers a total area of more than 10000 square meters. It is composed of Mountain Gate, bell tower, Drum Tower, Zhihua gate, Zhihua hall, cangdian hall and Dazhi hall. The architectural layout of "Jialan seven halls" is composed of Mountain Gate, bell tower, Drum Tower, Zhihua gate, Zhihua hall, cangdian hall and Dazhi hall

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In 1957, Zhihua temple was announced as the first batch of ancient buildings and cultural relics protection units in Beijing

In 1961, Zhihua temple was announced as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of China

. In 2009, Beijing Cultural Exchange Museum was rated as the first batch of national third-class museums in China

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Historical evolution

In the eighth year of Zhengtong (1443), Wang Zhen, the eunuch of rites, planned to build a family temple.

In 1444, Zhihua temple was built, which was named after Yingzong of Ming Dynasty.

In the first year of Ming Dynasty (1457), Emperor Yingzong of Ming Dynasty restored and built a "Jingzhong Temple" for Wang Zhen in Zhihua temple.

In 1679, the Wanfo Pavilion of Zhihua Temple collapsed due to the earthquake, and the monk Zong Yumu built the temple.

In 1898, shuangsong temple was built in Zhihua temple.

In 1900, Zhihua temple was invaded and destroyed by the "Eight Power Allied forces".

In 1930, Pu Yuan, the abbot of Zhihua temple, demolished Zhihua hall and Wanfo Pavilion caisson.

In 1936, Zhihua temple was renovated by the cultural relics sorting Committee of the old capital.

In 1944, the Japanese and puppet authorities carried out a renovation of the Zhihua temple, which was called "restoration of all nations".

In 1946, the Kuomintang government carried out small-scale renovation of Zhihua temple.

In 1955, the engineering team of Beijing Municipal Bureau of culture entered Zhihua temple and moved the residents.

In 1958, the Beijing municipal government funded the renovation of Zhihua temple.

In 1982, the Beijing Municipal Administration of cultural relics moved the Qing Dynasty "Qianlong version of the Tripitaka" originally stored in the Berlin Temple to the Zhihua temple for collection.

In 1984, Beijing Zhihua temple cultural relics preservation office was established.

In 1986, China allocated a large amount of money to rebuild Zhihua temple. With the support of Buddhist leaders Panchen Lama and Zhao Puchu, Beijing Buddhist music troupe, which mainly focuses on Zhihua temple music, was established.

In 1988, the "Qianlong version of Dazangjing tablet" of Qing Dynasty was moved from Zhihua temple to Yunju temple in Shijing mountain for collection and preservation.

In 1989, the second phase renovation project of Zhihua temple was completed, and some exhibition halls were opened to the public

On November 21, 1992, the renovation project of Zhihua temple was completed, the Beijing Cultural Exchange Museum was established, and it was fully open to the public.

In 2002, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of cultural relics took Zhihua Temple off the shelf for oil decoration

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Architectural pattern

overview

Zhihua temple is a typical building in the Ming Dynasty, with a total of four entrances. The depth from the north to the south is about 278 meters, and the width from the east to the west is about 45 meters. It covers a total area of more than 10000 square meters. It is the most complete Ming Dynasty wood structure building complex in Beijing. It consists of Mountain Gate, bell tower, Drum Tower, Zhihua gate, Zhihua hall, Tibetan hall and Dazhi hall. The whole building faces south from the north, and the main buildings such as Shanmen, Zhihua gate, Zhihua hall, Tathagata hall, Wanfo Pavilion and Dabei hall are listed on the central axis

 

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Zhihua Temple originally had three courtyards on the East, middle and West roads, each of which had a door and three courtyards side by side. Since the East and West courtyards have no longer existed, in order to restore the old system, a wall gate was opened on both sides of the main gate to form three gates

 

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Shanmen

The mountain gate is the gate to the temple. The gate of Zhihua temple is built of brick and stone. It is 7.10 meters wide with three rooms and 5 meters deep with five purlins. It has a single eaves of black glazed tiles on the top of the mountain. On the front of the door is a white jade plaque, with five big regular script characters of "chici Zhihua Temple" engraved in the heart; on both sides are small lines of words engraved in the shade; on the east side is "the imperial edict was given to build on the 9th day of the first month of the ninth year of the ninth lunar calendar of the orthodox system"; on the west side is "Zheng Zhen, the eunuch of the ceremonial room, the supervisor of the ceremonial supervision and the governor of the imperial service department for the use of the government in charge, was rebuilt on March 3rd of the fifth year of Wanli"

 

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Zhihuamen

Zhihua gate is the temple of heavenly king. There was a Buddha's seat in the original center, with Maitreya in the front and Weituo in the back. The left and right chambers are separated by wooden railings. The two vajras in the front are divided into East and West, and the four statues of heavenly kings in the rear

 

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bell tower

There is a bronze bell in the bell tower, which was cast in the ninth year of the Ming Dynasty (1444). It is 1.60 meters high, 1.05 meters in diameter and 9 cm in lip thickness. There are more than 20 kinds of Sanskrit sutras on the body of the bell

 

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drum-tower

The drum tower is the living place of the temple. It has two floors, the lower one is brick wall, and the upper one is wooden board wall. The most prominent feature is that the width of the dipper of the lower horned family is twice as large as that of the common dipper

 

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Zhihua Hall

Zhihua hall is the main building of Zhihua temple, which is equivalent to the main hall of general temples. The hall was originally dedicated to Sakyamuni Buddha, pharmacist Buddha, Amitabha Buddha and eighteen Arhats. The top ceiling caisson was lost to the United States in the 1930s. In the back of Zhihua hall, there is a Baoxia, which contains a mural of Ming Dynasty, the Bodhisattva of dizang and the ten kings of Hades.

The caisson of Zhihua hall is a square square with a bucket eight style. Its structure is complex and its production is exquisite. It is the best wood carving of Ming Dynasty. Lost to the United States in the 1930s, it is now in the Nelson Art Museum

 

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Dazhi Hall

The hall of great wisdom originally provided three great men, Guanyin, Manjusri and Puxian. Guanyin rode on a horse, Manjusri rode on a lion, and Puxian rode on a white elephant with six teeth

 

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Tibetan Palace

Zangdian is the west side hall of Zhihua hall. There is a Ming Dynasty runner in zangdian, which is the only one in Beijing

 

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Buddha Hall (ten thousand Buddha Pavilion)

The Tathagata Hall (also known as the ten thousand Buddha Pavilion), with one floor and one floor, is the largest building in Zhihua temple. Downstairs, the Buddha Sakyamuni is worshipped, while the Vatican king and Vajra are worshipped; upstairs, the Buddha viluzana, the Buddha Lushena and the Buddha Sakyamuni are worshipped. On the upper and lower Gables, there are niches full of 9999 small Buddhas, hence the name of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Pavilion. Its top caisson was lost to the United States in 1930s

 

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Da Bei Tang

Dabei hall, also known as the "blissful hall", has a stone Xumi seat for the wooden thousand handed Guanyin statue. The West Wing of the hall was ordered by Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty to be "Jingzhong Temple", where there is a statue of Wang Zhen, and the east wing is the Abbot's courtyard

 

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Collection

overview

Beijing Cultural Exchange Museum has a rich collection of more than 1500 cultural relics. There is a large mural in Zhihua temple, which is 4.8 meters long and 3.1 meters high. The mural is a picture of Bodhisattva in Tibet. It is a fine mural of Ming Dynasty in China. There is still a "zhuanlunzang" in the Tibetan hall, which is the oldest existing zhuanlunzang in Beijing

 

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Representative collection

Cultural Activity

In 2006, the first Zhihua temple music festival was held in Beijing Cultural Exchange Center

 

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In 2008, Beijing Cultural Exchange Museum launched the first museum treasure hunt competition on May 18 international museum day

 

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In 2009, Beijing Cultural Exchange Museum launched the second Museum treasure hunt competition on May 18 international museum day

 

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In 2010, Beijing Cultural Exchange Museum launched "the third Museum treasure hunt competition on May 18 International Museum Day"

 

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In 2011, Beijing Cultural Exchange Center held "the second series of activities of Zhihua temple music festival"

 

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Cultural relics protection

In 1957, Zhihua temple was announced as the first batch of ancient buildings and cultural relics protection units in Beijing

 

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In 1961, Zhihua temple was announced by the State Council as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units

 

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In November 2019, the list of national intangible cultural heritage representative project protection units was announced, and Beijing Cultural Exchange Museum (Beijing Zhihua Temple Management Office) was awarded the title of "Zhihua Temple Jingyin"

Chinese PinYin : Bei Jing Wen Bo Jiao Liu Guan