Even before entering the Forbidden City, Einstein and Le Corbusier were shocked by just looking at the Forbidden City from a distance.
Along the way, the two foreigners looked around.
Einstein's attention was on the carved beams and painted buildings, while Corbusier was carefully observing the layout and structure of the building. The world's top architect had fallen into a state of feverish excitement, with countless design inspirations bursting out of his mind, and wanted to incorporate Eastern traditions into
Architectural art is integrated into his modern works.
Zhang Ji and Ma Heng, as the persons in charge of the Forbidden City, led everyone to greet him.
Zhang Jishao is the deputy director of the Forbidden City and the director of the Museum of Antiquities. He actually doesn’t have much research on cultural relics. He is just a politician-type bureaucrat sent by the central government. Ma Heng is only the director of the Forbidden City and the deputy director of the museum of antiquities, but he is under the supervision of the director.
Entrusted by Yi Peiji, he is fully responsible for the professional work of the Forbidden City.
Zhang Ji wanted to suppress Ma Heng at every turn. He stood in the center and deliberately blocked Ma Heng when he stepped forward to shake hands. He said warmly: "Welcome two international friends to visit the Palace Museum, such as Zhang Ji, deputy director of the Palace Museum.
.”
Ma Heng didn't care about this. He had a faint smile on his face and stood aside without saying a word. He didn't want to argue with Zhang Ji.
When Zhou Hexuan saw Zhang Ji, he only thought of two rumors recorded in later generations. One is that Zhang Ji designed to frame Yi Peiji in order to compete for the rights to the Forbidden City, and falsely accused the other party of stealing and selling cultural relics from the Forbidden City; the other was that this guy saved Wang Zhaoming's life, otherwise there would be no subsequent events.
Wang Puppet Government.
It was the winter of 1935. Wang Yaqiao, the "King of Assassinations", planned to assassinate Chang Kaishen. Reporter Sun Fengming was responsible for the specific tasks. Unfortunately, Chang Kaishen did not arrive at the scene at that time. Sun Fengming temporarily changed the assassination target to Wang Zhaoming, rushed forward and fired three shots.
.
The senior officials at the scene were so frightened that they peed their pants, Zhang Jingjiang rolled to the ground, and Kong Xiangxi crawled under the car. On the contrary, Zhang Ji, who was already 54 years old, was calm in the face of danger, rushed over and hugged the assassin's waist tightly. Zhang Xueliang stayed away and ran to kick him.
Kicked the gun out of the assassin's hand. The two of them worked together to save Wang Zhaoming's life.
But even so, Wang Zhaoming suffered a serious crime. Because the assassin used lead bullets, and the injured area was too sensitive, it was difficult to operate to remove the bullet. The spread of lead poison caused Wang Zhaoming to suffer for nearly ten years, and finally suffered from multiple myeloid tumors (bone marrow tumors).
cancer) and died of torture.
No more gossip.
The entire trip to the Forbidden City was led by Zhang Ji. In the morning, he took everyone to visit Qianqing Palace, Chuxiu Palace, Imperial Garden and other scenic spots. After taking a short break at noon, he took everyone to the Antiquities Museum, which displays numerous national treasure-level cultural relics.
"It's unbelievable, it's unbelievable," Einstein said with his eyes dazzled, sincerely admiring, "These are the treasures of mankind!"
Corbusier pointed to a porcelain bowl and asked: "What is this? It is more exquisite than any porcelain I have ever seen."
How could Zhang Ji know this? He could only let Ma Heng answer.
Ma Heng explained: "This is called a large bowl with a blue background and hundreds of flowers interspersed with dragon patterns. It was made during the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty in China. The fetal bone is slightly thicker, the white glaze is bluish-green, and the ring foot exposes the fetal area. The white embryo is delicate and the glaze line is light.
Orange. The inside and outside of the bowl are decorated with blue ground and white flower techniques. Before the soil is dry, the outer wall is first carved with double dragons passing through the branches of peony flowers..."
As a guest translator, Zhou Hexuan was completely confused at this moment. He didn't know how to explain the technical terms, so he could only hesitate and say: "Well, this is a dragon-patterned wristwatch made with special technology. It was made between 1426 and 1435...
…”
Corbusier nodded with satisfaction and said: "It turns out to be a medieval work of art. Chinese craftsmen are indeed well-deserved. Such exquisite porcelain has never appeared in Europe."
What a bumpkin!
Which of Xuande Kiln's fine domestic products can compare with the Clark porcelain exported to Europe?
Let’s just talk about this big one. Its shape is not unique. It is no different from the large porcelain bowls used to serve soup in ordinary people’s homes. But its glaze pattern is so exquisite that under the light, it seems to be shrouded in mist from a distance.
, take a closer look and you can see that every pattern is so wonderful.
Einstein shuttled between countless national treasures and lingered. At this moment, he was no longer a great scientist, but just an ordinary visitor, viewing these peerless masterpieces with a feeling of worship.
Later, in the 1940s, Einstein said in an interview with an American reporter: "Never compare art with the Chinese. The real works of art are all in China."
To be honest, Europeans in the 20th century were very obsessed with Chinese culture.
For example, Einstein's friend and academic rival Bohr admired Chinese Taoist thought very much. When he designed his family emblem, the core pattern was the Tai Chi Pisces figure because he believed that China's Tai Chi principles were closely related to his wave particles.
The two images have the same purpose but different approaches.
As for Corbusier, well, the architect couldn't move his legs while standing in front of a brush.
It was a fine piece of Ge kiln from the late Ming Dynasty. The entire glaze was broken into irregular network-like fragments. It looked like a defective product from the kiln firing, but it gave people an indescribable sense of beauty.
Corbusier took out a small notebook, stood next to the brush wash and began to sketch. He was obviously inspired by the Ge Kiln brush wash, and soon drew a conceptual design of a modern building. The building was shaped like a Chinese drum.
The shape, the main body should be a steel frame structure, and the inlaid pieces of glass are like the glazed porcelain fragments on the surface of the Ge Kiln brush wash.
After finishing the design concept, Corbusier excitedly said to Zhou Hexuan: "Zhou, when the design of Huagong Cemetery is completed, I will come to China again. Chinese traditional architecture and artworks are so wonderful, they bring me infinite
It’s a designer’s paradise.”
Zhou Hexuan thought of Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin and said with a smile: "I can introduce you to two Chinese architects. They are very knowledgeable about traditional Chinese architecture."
"Thank you so much!" Corbusier said happily.
Visiting various places in Peiping was just for fun for Einstein, but it was full of rewards for Corbusier.
When he visited the Institute of History and Philology of the Peking Academy the next day, Corbusier was also shocked and speechless by the Longshan Culture eggshell pottery unearthed last year. He was once again inspired by the eggshell pottery and wanted to design a
Egg-shaped building.
Zhou Hexuan looked at Corbusier's preliminary design concept drawings and found that this thing looked a bit like the future Tokyo Dome.
I have to say that life’s encounters are so wonderful.
Le Corbusier himself is the founder of the modern design field, but he was accidentally invited to China by Zhou Hexuan, which led to the design works in the second half of his life containing countless traditional Chinese elements. In the next ten years, this man will basically appear every year
He would stay in China for several months, and his journey to the East was not terminated until Japan fully invaded China.
After the founding of New China, Corbusier also actively promoted the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France and became the first batch of Western scholars to visit China after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France.
In his later years, Corbusier published the book "Modern Architecture and Chinese Art", which elaborated on the inspiration he drew from traditional Chinese art and said that Chinese traditional culture is a great treasure house of modern design.
This book has become a classic in the field of modern architectural design. After China's reform and opening up, a large number of Western architects came to China to learn from it, and China's major museums became the first choice for architects to travel.