The Palace Museum is one of the largest comprehensive museums in China. Based on the Forbidden City, a palace in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has collected countless rare cultural relics. You may not know that the Palace Museum has a special table, which is not only a unique national treasure, but also a little-known historical story behind it. What kind of mysterious table is it? If you are curious, the following small series will reveal the secret to you from the beginning:

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Tables are indispensable furniture in our lives, including desks, dining tables and computer desks. Archaeological research shows that before the Han Dynasty, the ancients did not have the concept of "table". At that time, people sat on the floor and called things used to carry objects a few cases, which can be found in many tomb murals. In the Tang Dynasty, the ancients no longer sat on the floor, so adding a few legs to the case became taller, so the case became a table, and at the same time there were chairs matching the table. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, with the continuous development of social productive forces, table styles have also become numerous and varied.

experts found that the furniture in Ming and Qing dynasties had the most exquisite workmanship and the most patterns. Take tables for example, there are thousands of tables with different types and functions. For example, the most common table is the square table, which is the so-called four immortals table, six immortals table or eight immortals table. There is also a rectangular altar, which is more common in ancestral temples and is usually used to hold sacrificial offerings; There are also round tables, tables specially used for eating and banquets, which are indispensable for every household; In addition, there are piano tables, chess tables and calligraphy and painting tables dedicated to literati, all of which are beautifully shaped and natural and elegant, which is enough to show the ingenuity of the ancients in creating a table.

Although there are many kinds of tables, they are essentially the same, just a flat board with a few legs. However, the interesting question is coming. How many legs do you think the table has? Perhaps many readers will say four legs. Of course, this answer is right and wrong, because the most common tables are all four legs, but some craftsmen do not take the usual path and make some tables with three legs, eight legs or even five legs.

For example, a table with five legs, the most famous of which is a teak flower pattern with a waist and five legs, which is a national treasure collected in the Palace Museum. Made in the late Qing Dynasty, the table is about 195.9 cm long, 153.1 cm wide and 79 cm high. It is brownish red in overall appearance. Although it has a history of 1 years, it still looks very glamorous. On the surface of the table, the exquisite flower patterns were carved by hollow carving and relief.

The most surprising thing is that the teak flower pattern has five legs, and the fifth leg is located in the center of the bottom of the table instead of the usual four-legged table. Experts' research shows that because the length of the table is close to 2 meters, and the table top is made of heavy huanghuali wood, it is difficult for the four legs to bear the weight of the table, so a thicker leg is placed in the middle, which can just stabilize the center of gravity of the table.

According to historical records, Empress Dowager Cixi loved teak flower-patterned five-legged patchwork table and put it in Jingfu Pavilion in the Summer Palace. Jingfuge is the place where Empress Dowager Cixi enjoys the rain. Whenever the rain comes in summer, Empress Dowager Cixi will go to Jingfuge to enjoy the rain, and put all kinds of delicious snacks and tea on the teak flower-patterned five-legged table, enjoying the rain while eating snacks, which is simply "not listening to national affairs, but only watching the rain outside the window".

after the fall of the Qing dynasty, teak flower-patterned five-legged table was abandoned in the Summer Palace, but in 1949, it made a great contribution. According to the records, in January 1949, a negotiation on the liberation of Beiping City was held in the Summer Palace, and the two sides also reached the Agreement on the Peaceful Settlement of the Beiping Problem. Finally, Beiping was peacefully liberated without any bloodshed. If Xiaobian doesn't tell you, you may never know that they signed the agreement on the teak flower-patterned five-legged table. Because this table was the largest and cleanest in the Summer Palace at that time, they sat around the table and started negotiations for three months, in exchange for peaceful years and today's prosperity.

After the negotiation, the teak flower-patterned five-legged table with girdle was transferred to the Palace Museum for preservation, and it also had another name-the table of peace. Teak flower pattern with girdle and five-legged table has experienced many vicissitudes. It is not only a witness of the Qing Dynasty's stepping down from the altar, but also a witness of the country's peaceful development, prosperity and civilization. Therefore, it has become a national treasure and deserves its name.