Page 45 - Collecting and Displaying China's Summer Palace in the West

30 James L. Hevia

Figure 2.2 Images of 12 Zodiac animal heads. Photograph taken by/copyright
James Hevia. October 10, 2014.

been removed that spring. But, the museum was still there. I returned again in the
spring of 2013 only to find even more examples of transformation and renewal. The
gardens, minus the eighteenth-century pavilions, which, after all, were burned in 1860,
look like gardens again. Hills have been restored and lakes refilled. Hundreds of people
were out enjoying the wonderful views that could now be had. But, as a Chinese
friend who had never been to the Yuanmingyuan before observed, the place looked
like any other public park in Beijing; so what was so special about it, she asked. I
said, the ruins, of course, and we headed for the northeast corner of the park. Here,
we found two major changes—the history museum was completely gone and the entire
site was now dominated by images and reproductions of the 12 zodiac animal heads
(see Figure 2.2).

Becoming the Summer Palace of the Emperor of China

I want to return to these images shortly. First, however, we need to explore a bit of
the other history, the one involving the proper name “From the Summer Palace
of the Emperor of China.” My approach to this history is to present a collective
biography of the objects that bear the epithet of having belonged to the emperor of
China. These included, among other things, dragon robes and armor, jade scepters,
throne cushions, the “Cap of the Emperor of China,” imperial seals, a carved screen