Wensuge

Wensuge

Wensu Pavilion, Shenyang Palace Museum building. Wensuge in Shenyang Palace Museum is famous not only because of its unique architecture, but also because it is the world-famous collection place of Sikuquanshu and the largest library in the palace.

Wensu Pavilion in Shenyang Palace Museum

Historical evolution

There is still a history.

After the Qing soldiers came to the Central Plains, the Han people's anti Manchu sentiment was very strong. At first, the Qing Dynasty suppressed by force, but it was very difficult to eliminate the national consciousness by high-pressure means, so it imitated the previous "Mingzhu" literary and administrative measures, attempted to delete the classics and fool the people, especially the literati. In 1772 (the 37th year of Emperor Qianlong), Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty set up the "four libraries" and issued an edict to solicit books from all over the world. "Quanshu" means a series of books. After more than ten years, it was finally compiled into a book with a total of 168000 volumes, which is divided into four parts: classics, history, literature and collection, so it is called Si Ku Quan Shu. This is another huge series after Yongle Dadian of Ming Dynasty, which can be called the most in the world. After the series was compiled, Emperor Qianlong decided to build a pavilion in Shenyang Palace Museum to collect Sikuquanshu. After the completion of the pavilion, it was named "wensuge", which means "tracing the stream to seek the root", to show that in the prosperous age, I still remember the difficulties of my ancestors in starting a business and running the country conscientiously.

The architecture of Wensu Pavilion is quite peculiar. It was built on the West Road of the Forbidden City. There are more than 100 palaces on the West Road of the Forbidden City, but the main layout is divided into two areas. From south to north, the front is the play room, stage and Jiayin hall, and the back is Wensu Pavilion. Wensuge is a two-story and three story building, and its color is quite different from other palaces. Generally, yellow glazed tile green trimming and multicolored ornaments are used on the top of palaces, while black glazed tile green trimming is used in Wensu Pavilion. This is unique in Shenyang Palace Museum. All the doors, windows and columns are painted green, and the color paintings on the outer eaves are mainly blue, green and white, which is quite different from the red and gold ornaments on the outer eaves of other palaces. The theme of his colorful paintings does not use the flying dragons and phoenixes commonly seen in palaces, but uses the patterns of "white horse offering books" and "Hanmo scroll" that are in harmony with the functions of the library, giving people a sense of ancient elegance and freshness. The reason why it uses black glazed tile as the top is to unify the appearance style of the whole building.

The appearance of the pavilion is two-story, with black glazed tiles and green cut edges on the top of the mountain. It has five rooms wide, six staircases on the west side and three rooms deep. The lower floors of the pavilion are covered with eaves. There are three floors in the pavilion. Under the roof of the lower floor, one floor is added in the form of corridors on the East, North and west sides, commonly known as "fairy tower". The front of the pavilion is about two meters wide, so that the three rooms in the middle form an open hall with two floors. The lower floor is separated by a fan to the north, which is nearly two meters wide. The bookshelves of Sikuquanshu and gujinshujiji are arranged on each floor of the pavilion.

The role of pavilions

In addition, it is said that according to the "five elements and eight trigrams", the color of northern Rengui water is black, and black represents water. Wenzhuge is a pavilion specially built for storing the Encyclopedia Sikuquanshu of the Qing Dynasty. The book is fire-free, with black tiles as the top, implying the meaning of "water conquering fire". And the window column is not decorated with red gold and other warm colors, which also has the purpose of "taking good fortune to avoid disaster". Behind the Wun court, there were a hall of hand - hunting hall connected to Yang Xi Zhai, and nine rooms after the retreat, including Peony Garden, Wutong courtyard, etc. This is the place where Emperor Qianlong studied during his "tour to the East". Looking at the whole pattern of the West Road, the courtyard is clear, the courtyard is connected without disorder, and the flowers and trees are interspersed in it. It is indeed an ideal "fairyland" for reading and painting.

Emperor Qianlong regarded Sikuquanshu as a treasure. He would check it in person every time he went to the east to appreciate the pleasure of reading. In September 1783 (the 48th year of Qianlong's reign), the 73 year old Qianlong came to Shengjing for the fourth time. After seeing the newly built palace and Wensu Pavilion, he was filled with emotion and wrote a long poem: "Lao Fang's collection of the complete works of the Four Treasuries has won the meritorious service. The capital of the state of Beijing has been merged with the capital of Qin. Yuanning outside this garden near, Tianjin to ask the successor of Zhuang. Search the secret and find out the talent, and make a compromise. The Tang Dynasty wrote to the Song Dynasty, but the name of Xunle and Liu Xin was also empty. The five stars in the east wall are in the same place, while the seven stars in the West are in the same place. In zier, where the cloud passes through the cave, dares to gather with the people, is the king. In order to avoid Tiancong Library's development, we must first dare to be lax and open. The ink of this poem is still hanging in Wensu Pavilion. At the same time, Emperor Qianlong wrote two couplets. On the north side of the painting is: "ancient and modern times are merged into Hanru Vientiane, cangming explore the big book, rites and music are inherited from Jixu three rivers, Tianhan guide Honglan", with the banner "holy sea along the Hui". On the south side of the painting is: "from the ancient to the Dunhua river flow area, this Shaowen is the canon learning heart preaching method to test the power of public opinion."

Wen Su Ge and Si Ku Quan Shu

Chu Guoqing

After living in Shenyang for more than 20 years, I have traveled all over the streets, alleys and scenic spots. The only place that haunts me with a little sadness is wensuge. I can't remember how many times I went to that building with grey walls and green tiles deep in the Forbidden City. A few days ago, in order to cooperate with the CPPCC members' proposal on the return of wensuge "Sikuquanshu" to Shenyang, the magazine "Zongheng" sponsored by the CPPCC National Committee asked me to write an article about wensuge, and I came to wensuge again. The pavilion is still empty and lonely. Looking at the bleak shadow of Wensu Pavilion, I have a sense of sadness that things change and things go empty.

To wensuge, I have a kind of unforgettable feelings, and a kind of empty stripping feeling. I think of the autumn of 1996, when wensuge's Sikuquanshu left Shenyang and left wensuge for 30 years, Shenyang TV station prepared to shoot a feature film of wensuge and Sikuquanshu. As a writer of this film, I had a good reason to visit wensuge and visit its vicissitudes. At the same time, I went to Lanzhou to visit the Bank of the Yellow River Because of the separation of books and pavilions, the complete book of Siku is empty and sad.

one

It was a misty autumn afternoon. Mr. Zhi Yunting, President of Shenyang Palace Museum, arranged everything for my interview and personally introduced the scale and historical changes of Wensu Pavilion. He was more or less excited, almost desolate. I understand very well that, as the president of the museum, I will not be happy when I face the most lovable but empty Pavilion in the Forbidden City, which has been gloomy for 30 years.

When we came to the bottom of Wensu attic after watching the pavilion of yangxizhai and wensuge Ji, which Emperor Qianlong studied in those years, we saw that the door to the attic was locked tightly. President Zhi called to the building a few times. The figure of the female administrator emerged from the open window upstairs. It turned out that she was cleaning the building. In case someone went upstairs, she locked the door inside. The stairs are very narrow, wooden and inclined. They can only accommodate one person. For more than 200 years, only a few people can go to wensuge.

There are six couplets on the upper floor, each of which is carved with Phoebe. Sunlight slanting, then the golden Phoebe bookshelves empty, black in dark red. Zhang Aiqun, the female administrator, graduated from the History Department of Jilin University in 1986. She seems to be very proud of this job and devoted herself to it. The bookshelves are clean. On the small desk in the corner of the building is a row of "reading" magazines. She said she was a loyal reader of reading and had been subscribing for more than ten years. I envy her very much, reading in the sunshine of Wensu Pavilion, which is a kind of enjoyment that the former can't see but the latter can't reach. However, not everyone can keep such a lonely mood.

Outside the window, the rain and fog are rising, and the autumn is strong. There is a kind of antique flavor of books and nanmu everywhere. The pavilion is quiet, so quiet that people can't feel the dust in the world. If it wasn't for the inscription "Jibu No.XX shelf" on the nanmu bookshelf, it seems that people can't recall the history and the vicissitudes of wensuge for more than 200 years. The nanmu bookshelf, the nanmu floor and the nanmu door are all made of Nanmu. In my impression, nanmu is the symbol of the emperor. The standing golden nanmu column in the Changling Hall of the Ming Tombs in Beijing once made the world marvel. In order to cut the nanmu used by the emperor, I don't know how many people died in the mountains of Guangxi and Yunnan. Nanmu not only brings cruelty, but also civilization. Now, I touch the nanmu bookshelf 200 years ago and step on the nanmu floor which has been covered with dust for many years. I feel totally different from the nanmu column in the Ming Tombs. If you stop at any place here, it's like walking into the history full of words.

Every floor and book case tells me that written records are undoubtedly one of the most important symbols of the beginning of civilization. When the clouds of history are gone and the world is like dust, there is nothing better than the voluminous ancient books and culture to interpret the footprints of civilization evolution. It is in this sense that people regard Sikuquanshu as the three major ancient Chinese projects juxtaposed with the great wall and the Grand Canal. It is also in this sense that although Sikuquanshu is no longer available, people still attach great importance to wensuge and protect wensuge. They all think of something indescribable in the place where Sikuquanshu was once stored. A chase? A sadness? A look forward to? It is the charm of the ancient books and the inspiration of the culture.

Looking down on the Forbidden City from Wensu's attic, you can see the cornices and corners of all kinds of buildings and a piece of golden Ryukyu

Chinese PinYin : Wen Su Ge