Old Summer Palace bronze heads of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs in the Old Summer Palace
As of December 2020 , seven bronze statues of the lost animal heads in the Old Summer Palace, including cow heads, monkey heads, tiger heads, pig heads, mouse heads, rabbit heads and horse heads, have returned to the motherland in different ways . Among them, the pig head bronze statue and the horse head bronze statue were purchased by Mr. Stanley Ho in 2003 and 2019 respectively and then sent back to the country . On April 26, 2013, the French Pinot family announced in Beijing that they would donate mouse and rabbit heads to China for free. On November 13, 2019, Stanley Ho donated the bronze statue of horse head to the National Cutural Heritage Administration and returned it to the Old Summer Palace for permanent collection. The whereabouts of the remaining five are still unknown.
The bronze statue of the beast head in Old Summer Palace was cast during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. It was designed by the court Western painter Lang Shining, an Italian, supervised by Michel Benoist, a Frenchman, and produced by the court craftsman.
At first, Lang Shining intended to build nude female sculptures with Western characteristics, but Emperor Qianlong felt that this was contrary to Chinese ethics and morality, so he ordered a redesign. So Lang Shining took into account China's folk culture and replaced the commonly used human body sculptures in Western fountain design with the seated figures of the twelve zodiac signs.
The body of the bronze statue of the Chinese zodiac is a stone sculpture wearing a robe, and the head is in a realistic style. The casting is delicate, and the wrinkles and fuzz on the animal head are clear and lifelike. The material used to cast the beast head was red copper refined by the Qing court at that time, with a deep color on the surface and a refined luster inside. After a hundred years without rusting, it can be considered a masterpiece. According to textual research, the bronze statues of the twelve zodiac signs were arranged in an eight character shape on both sides of a pool in front of the Haiyan Hall in Old Summer Palace, which was called the "water clock" by the time. Every day, the bronze statues of the twelve zodiac animals will take turns spraying water, representing different times of the day. At noon, the twelve statues will shoot simultaneously. The Haiyantang Zodiac Fountain is a fountain clock designed according to the Chinese zodiac. At every hour, the zodiac clock belonging to that hour will automatically spray water. At 12:00 noon, the twelve zodiac signs spray water at the same time, with extremely exquisite designs. The main building of Haiyan Hall faces west, with eleven rooms above and eleven rooms below. There are stacked water spray grooves on the left and right sides of the building door, and a large water spray pool is located below the steps. The bronze statues of the twelve zodiac animals with human bodies and animal heads are arranged in an "eight" shape on the left and right sides of the pool. Every day and night for twelve hours, the twelve zodiac signs take turns spraying water, commonly known as the "Water Clock".
The twelve zodiac figures were originally on the 12 stone platforms on the north and south sides of the fan shaped pool fountain in front of the Western Tower and Haiyan Hall in the Old Summer Palace. On the south bank are Zimo, Yinhu, Chenlong, Wuma, Shenhou, and Xugou respectively; On the north bank are Chou Niu, Mao Tu, Si She, Wei Yang, You Ji, and Hai Zhu, respectively. These portraits are all animal headed and human, with a copper head and a stone body. They are hollow and connected to a water spray pipe. Every other hour (two hours), the zodiac symbol representing that time sprays water from the mouth; At noon, the twelve zodiac zodiac signs erupt into a fountain at the same time, creating a magnificent spectacle. These bronze zodiac statues are 50 centimeters tall and finely carved, making them exquisite pieces of Qing Dynasty bronze ware.
Why is the bronze statue of animal head in Old Summer Palace precious? During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the Qing Dynasty had a strong national strength and the level of craftsmanship was at its peak, which was particularly fully demonstrated on the bronze statues of the animal heads of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs in the Old Summer Palace bronze heads.
First of all, the copper it uses is alloy copper specially refined for the imperial court. It contains many precious heavy metals. It is the same as the copper used in the Forbidden City in Beijing and the bronze cranes displayed in Summer Palace. It is dark in color, and it contains essence. It has experienced wind and rain without corrosion. It is a masterpiece.
Secondly, it was meticulously crafted by craftsmen from the court's manufacturing office dedicated to serving the emperor. The casting was finely crafted, and the surface was also finely carved with fine chiseling techniques. Fine details such as animal hair were chiseled and forged, making it clear and lifelike. Key areas such as the nose, eyes, ears, and the folds on the nose and neck were all displayed in a very delicate manner, without any carelessness, demonstrating a high level of craftsmanship.
Interestingly, the bronze statues of the animal heads of the Chinese zodiac were made by Chinese court craftsmen, and the designers were artists from Europe such as Lang Shining; Therefore, bronze statues not only have strong traditional Chinese aesthetic taste, but also integrate the characteristics of western Plastic arts.
More importantly, they are the cultural heritage of our Chinese nation for thousands of years, and also symbolize the strength of our motherland back then.
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