Diary of Ma Heng with Poems: The Forbidden City Around 1949 - Forbidden City Literary Collection

Author: Ma Heng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: Ma Heng (1881–1955), styled Shuping, alias Wugui, and styled Fanjiangzhai Master, was a native of Yinzhou, Zhejiang Province. Born on the 24th day of the 5th month of the 7th year of the Guangxu reign (June 20), he studied at a private academy in Shanghai with his father during his youth and graduated from Nanyang Public College. He taught himself classics, inscriptions, and seal carving at home, achieving fame in calligraphy and seal carving by middle age. In 1929, the Wang Guowei Monument in Tsinghua Garden was established, with contributions from Chen Xikuo, Ma Heng, Lin Zhijun, and Liang Sicheng in writing the inscription, carving the title, calligraphy, and design, respectively.
In 1917, he served as a collector for the National History Compilation Office affiliated with Peking University. In 1918, he became a lecturer in the Department of Chinese Studies, Institute of Studies at Peking University. In 1922, the Institute of Chinese Studies was established at Peking University, and in 1923, he became the director and instructor of the Archaeological Research Room, also teaching Chinese studies in the History Department. Later, he served as a lecturer at the Institute of Chinese Studies at Tsinghua University.
In November 1924, the Restoration Commission of the Qing Court was established, and Ma Heng participated in the inventory of the imperial collection in the Forbidden City. In 1925, the Palace Museum was founded, and he served as the deputy director of the Antiquities Museum. In October 1928, he was elected as a councilor of the Palace Museum. In 1933, he became the president and served until 1952, when he resigned to focus on his role as the director of the Committee for the Conservation of Cultural Relics in Beijing. During the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Ma Heng was responsible for transporting important cultural relics from the Forbidden City to southwestern regions, making significant contributions to their preservation.
Ma Heng dedicated his life to the study of studies, inheriting the tradition of textual research and textual criticism of the Qianlong-Jiaqing school while also emphasizing field investigations of unearthed artifacts. In September 1923, at the request of the Institute of Chinese Studies at Peking University, he traveled to Xinzheng, Henan, to investigate the site of bronze vessel discoveries and further to Mengjin for research. In 1924, he went to Zhujidang Village in Luoyang to survey the site of the Imperial University ruins where the Han and Wei Stone Classics were unearthed. In 1930, he led the archaeological excavation of the Yanshadu site. His contributions to the transition from studies to field archaeology in China earned him the title of "Pioneer of Modern Chinese Archaeology."
His major academic achievements also include expanding the scope of studies and systematically summarizing research findings since the Song Dynasty. Through the study of the evolution of characters and the comparison of inscriptions, he determined that the Stone Drums were inscribed during the Eastern Zhou period by the state of Qin. Based on actual measurements of artifacts such as the Jia Liang of the Xin Dynasty, he estimated the scale ratios and lengths of the Han and Tang dynasties. He also collected, organized, and comprehensively studied the data on the Han and Wei Stone Classics.
His works include Collected Han Stone Classics (Science and Technology Press, 1957), Essays on from Fanjiangzhai (compiled by Fu Zhilun, Zhonghua Book Company, 1977), and Inscriptions from Fanjiangzhai (Forbidden City Press, 1987), among others. Ma Heng passed away in Beijing on March 26, 1955, at the age of 75. In the same year, his children donated over 12,400 inscribed rubbing copies, more than 1,600 books, as well as bronze artifacts, calligraphy, paintings, and handicrafts to the Palace Museum, in accordance with his wishes.
Ma Heng’s father, Ma Haishu (1826–1895), served as an official in Danpu, Yuanhe, Changzhou, Wuxian, Jintan, and Baoshan, rising to the rank of a third-class prefect of Zhili Province. He had nine children. His eldest son, Ma Yufan (1858–1929), served as the magistrate of Zhen County, Gansu. Ma Yuya (styled Youyu, 1878–1945), Ma Heng, Ma Jian (styled Jiming, 1883–1959), Ma Zhun (styled Shengfu), and Ma Lian (styled Youqing, 1893–1935) all taught at Peking University and other institutions.