Issuing the imperial edict was the method used by emperors in ancient China to give orders to their ministers or promote officials. These orders were customarily written on a piece of yellow silk and passed on to the relevant person. The recipient would receive the silk in the formal manner on bended knee, taking the edict in both hands from the envoy. Not many of these edicts have survived till today. But one antiques collector in Xuzhou has built up his own considerable collection of ancient edicts and has recently opened a museum in which to exhibit them.
The museum was opened just over a year ago. It?s nestled in a beautiful courtyard next to the Han dynasty tomb on Guishan Hill in Xuzhou. Its owner is 56 year-old Zhou Qinming, a local resident of Xuzhou. Zhou began collecting paintings and calligraphies in his teens, but it was when he stumbled across an ancient edict that he decided to change the subject matter of his collection.
?Collecting edicts came about purely by accident. In the early 1960s, I went to an old artist and asked him to paint a picture or write a piece of calligraphy for me. The old man took out a piece of old writing and told me that it was an imperial edict. This was the first time I?d ever seen one, and my interest grew from there.?
Over the past four decades Zhou has built up a collection of more than 50 imperial edicts, which date back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. His new museum is the first of its kind in China. Each edict is a rare piece of history and they feature alongside other cultural relics and documents that Zhou has managed to find and preserve. Among them, imperial examinations documents dating back to the Qing dynasty, and writings by scholars.
He explains why the imperial edicts hold such a strong fascination for him.
?I collect them because they are beautiful pieces of art in themselves. Imperial edicts are important records of the history of a dynasty. Until now, our museums haven?t given enough attention to this aspect of imperial life. My museum offers a useful insight into China?s past.?
The imperial edicts may well provide the key to unlock the secrets of the past. From the emperors? original message to the type of silk used, we can glean information about the political situation of the day, the economy, culture and level of technological development.
At a recent exhibition in Shanghai Zhou Qinming attracted a lot of attention from collectors both at home and abroad.
?My personal collection is an important part of Chinese culture. My next plan is to take the exhibition overseas. My aim is to help more people get a better understanding of Chinese culture.?
(CRI September 12, 2002)
