History of 40 cultural relics in Yuanmingyuan

1860, when the British and French allied forces burned the Yuanmingyuan, this precious set of paintings was taken away by the invaders and presented to the French emperor Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte, who is now in the National Library of Paris, France.

In the late 1920s, when Mr. Cheng Yansheng, an Anhui native, was roaming Europe, he came across this set of Forty Scenes of Yuanmingyuan collected by the French National Library. He can't help but sigh that this painting is a national achievement, and because this painting "has a history of great pain in China's architectural diplomacy, especially the famous paintings and calligraphy are comparable", after his many activities, he finally got the owner's permission to use photography. After that, Forty Leaves of Yuanmingyuan was printed in glass by Zhonghua Book Company and distributed to the whole country on 1928. At that time, this album with pictures and poems kept the original appearance of 40 original pictures. Although the map is greatly reduced and black and white, it is really sad for China people to "know" Yuanmingyuan again with these 40 maps.

The 40 color pictures of Yuanmingyuan that we saw before were printed according to the original picture of Qianlong presented to China by French scholars in 1983.

In 2003, a company in Beijing spent several million yuan to buy the original picture from a French photographer, and also bought the copyright of 40 scenes of Yuanmingyuan in China 10 from the French National Library, and plans to issue 2004 sets of out-of-print collection scrolls.

In 2004, the collection map of Forty Scenes of Yuanmingyuan was grandly released in Beijing. The 40 scenes of Yuanmingyuan, regarded as a rare national treasure by the world, were printed and painted in silk. The release ceremony was held in the West Pavilion of China National Museum on the morning of June+10/October 8, 5438. The National Museum of China presented the silk-screen painting No.2004 and No.0999 "Forty Scenes of Yuanmingyuan" to the National Library of China and the China Collectors Association. 000 1 was collected by the National Museum of China; 1860 was collected by China Yuanmingyuan Institute; No. 1997 was collected by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; 1999 was collected by the Macao Special Administrative Region; 0888 and 1888 were collected by Li Ka-shing, the richest man in Chinese, and Ceng Xianzi, the richest man in Hongkong.

The Collection of Forty Scenes of Yuanmingyuan, which we are seeing now, is the first screen-printed picture of Forty Scenes of Yuanmingyuan published in China. The roll is about 28 meters long and 38 centimeters wide. This is the longest silk color meticulous painting in the world, and it is applying for Guinness World Records. This picture is wrapped in a red Qi Diao Taiping Drum, symbolizing prosperity and peace. This picture scroll is supervised by the National Museum of China and the China Collectors Association, with 2004 sets out of print and 800 volumes distributed in China, and each volume has an out-of-print number. Because it contains profound historical, cultural and artistic values, it has important collection value.