Exhibition displays Qing Dynasty archives
By He Na (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-10-29 00:42

"It is the first time I have seen the Golden lists of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and many other precious archives which are on the list of world cultural heritage, Simon F.K.CHU, government archivist of the Public Records Office of Hong Kong, said when he visited China's Most Valuable Archive Exhibition, which opened Thursday at the Art Museum of China's Millennium Monument.

The exhibition will run to November 2. More than 100 archives including the earliest paper document extant in China displaying the history of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) are on show. "The archives are selected from more than 20 archive administrations, and everyone has an opportunity to appreciate them ," he said.

A large amount of people surrounded the two Golden lists.

The larger one is the last Golden list of the imperial examination system.

The Golden lists are evidence of the Palace Examination, which was the final stage in the sequence of civil service recruitment in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The names of the successful candidates were written on a large sheet of yellow paper, which was called the Large Golden List. A miniature copy was also made listing the names of all successful candidates, the Small Golden List, which was submitted to the Emperor for his perusal to be then read out during the ceremony, while the large one was stamped with the emperor's seal and hung up in a public place.

Chinese civilization has left a rich documentary heritage. Files of 130,000,000 preserved in the archives of 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities are authentic records of this ancient civilization and also the roots that hold together the Chinese nation.

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