Ancient relics found at Palace Museum

BEIJING: The Palace Museum in Beijing has confirmed the discovery of relics from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) that were buried underground in the heart of the city for more than 600 years.

The museum, also known as the Forbidden City, said on Thursday that the relics had been found during maintenance work at the site.

The Forbidden City was home to China’s imperial palace from 1420 in the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) until the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Li Ji, head of the Archaeology Department at the museum’s affiliated academic research institutes, said the relics were found under the west wing of the museum during maintenance work last year, but it had taken months to appraise them and confirm their age.

“The broken tiles and porcelain pieces are direct evidence that they come from no later than the start of the Ming Dynasty.”

Li also said the foundations for construction work from the Ming and Qing dynasties were found above the Yuan relics.

“These three layers of relics indicate how layouts for the buildings changed through time,” he said.

Li said no large-scale archaeological work will be carried out on the relics, to minimise the impact on surviving ancient architecture. — China Daily / Asia News Network