Clocks made in Europe and China were popular at the Qing imperial court. Emperor Kangxi enjoys European chiming clocks, which help him deal with government affairs more efficiently. Novel and luxurious timepieces with features such as automata or music adorned many interiors in the Forbidden City.
Mirror and Watch With Elephant, Birds, and Automata 轉水法水禽象馱鏡表
Gilded copper alloy, mirrored glass | Great Britain, 18th century | H: 105cm | The Palace Museum Collection. 銅鍍金丶鏡面玻璃｜英國，十八世紀｜高105cm｜故宮博物院藏
The gold and silver glass mirror on the top was used by the Empress for adjusting her crown; the elaborate base should be a music box with mechanical automata.
The nose and tail of the elephants on some of these Palace clocks can swing, but no more data can be found to prove that this exhibit can swing.
The cultural relics of watches and instruments are the product of the gradual study of Western learning from the East since the end of the Ming Dynasty. They are important relics that reflect the grand cultural exchanges between China and the West in the Chinese court during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Usually, it was made by the missionaries who came to China or guided the craftsmen of the court office to make it, and influenced the learning style of the court at that time.1
Europeans were fascinated by the exotic East and used a combination of elements from China, Japan, and India, such as pagodas, up-turned roofs, and roof ornaments, as well as a menageries of real and mythical beasts – elephants, dragons, and phoenixes.2
Like imperial women, the emperor checks his appearance in a mirror. In the eighteenth century, glass mirrors with a layer of mercury on the back were widely used at the Qing court.3
Horology under the reigns of Emperor Kangxi and Qianlong
The first person to send clocks into the Chinese imperial palace was the Italian Matteo Ricci4 (1552-1610). They are more than just clocks: they present an enchanting combination of a flamboyant aesthetic, timekeeping, music, and sometimes movement using mechanisms new to most people in 1700s China.
He came to China from Europe to preach in China and brought many gifts to Emperor Wanli (1563-1620, r.1572-1620) of the Ming Dynasty, including two mechanical clocks.
Gilded Copper Clock with Three Immortals: Prosperity, Status and Longevity 铜镀金福禄寿三星钟
Gilded copper alloy, mirrored glass | Qing Qianlong period (r. 1736-1795), Guangzhou | H: 89cm, W: 41cm, L: 33cm | The Palace Museum Collection. 銅鍍金丶鏡面玻璃 | 清乾隆 | 广州 | 高89厘米 宽41厘米 厚33厘米 | 故宮博物院藏
In the 1580s, Western clocks entered China’s interior from its southern coast, and the country’s history of clock collection and manufacture began. The most distinctive feature of these Guangzhou clocks is the use of vividly and diversely coloured enamel, with regular, elaborately detailed patterns. They typically take architectural forms such as multi-storeyed pavilions, platforms, and towers and auspicious shapes such as gourds or vases. Inside, the mechanisms are relatively complex: as well as keeping time chiming, and playing music, they sometimes feature moving decorative elements.
Wood Clock with Bronze and Enamel Decorations 彩漆嵌铜活鼓字盘钟
Gilded copper alloy, glass | Qing Qianlong period (r. 1736-1795), Guangzhou | H: 89cm, W: 41cm, L: 33cm | The Palace Museum Collection. 銅鍍金丶玻璃 | 清乾隆 | 通高63厘米，面宽37厘米，厚16厘米 | 故宮博物院藏
Decades later, Emperor Kangxi (r 1662-1722) began collecting the automata, which he christened 自鸣钟 (lit. “self-ringing clock”)5, displaying them as ‘foreign curiosities’ and demonstrating his mastery of time, the heavens, and his divine right to rule. This became the beginning of the Chinese imperial collection of clocks.
During the rule of Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722), an Office for Clock Manufacturing 做钟处 was established, with Jesuit clockmakers given the responsibility of maintaining the court’s various Western clocks.6
Gallery of Clocks 钟表馆
Open to visitors since January 17, 2019, the new Gallery of Clocks 钟表馆 is located south of the Hall for Ancestral Worship 奉先殿. The Gallery of Clocks features eighty-two timepieces from the Palace Museum’s collection; of these, twenty-one were made in China and sixty-one were manufactured overseas.
The restoration and protection technology of Palace clocks is indeed very complicated, and some clocks and watches have to be sent to special museums for restoration. For example, the western clock with acoustic effects in the Palace Museum in Beijing was sent to the National Automatic Music Museum of the Netherlands for restoration and tuning, and the Metropolitan Museum of New York has also cooperated with the museum.
The rich collection of timepieces in the Forbidden City serves not only as a medium of contact between China and the Western world, but also as a vehicle of cultural diversity: through a unique historical angle, it showcases over three centuries of communication, exchange, and integration between China and the wider world’.
The preface of the Gallery of Clocks wrote: “Clocks may turn back in time, but humans may never dream of doing so”7. Although the clock can be turned back, our life can only move forward. We should cherish every day in our life, and if we waste time, we will never get time back.
About Chinese National Treasure Series
中華國寶系列 Chinese National Treasure series feature specific artefacts and relics from museums all around the world that are historically significant to be considered a National Treasure. The series covers the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation from Neolithic periods before the Xia dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BC) to modern day.
Footnotes:
- 轉水法水禽象馱鏡表 ( Mirror and Watch with Elephants, Birds, and Automata )
18世紀，英國，高105cm，頂部的金銀玻璃鏡是帝后用於正衣冠的；最底層應為機械裝置和樂箱，有些機械裝置的大象的鼻子和尾巴甚至可以擺動的，不過這個展品找不到更多資料證明能夠擺動。
鐘錶儀器文物是明末以來西學東漸下的產物，是反映明清時期中國宮廷中西文化交流盛況的重要遺存。通常都是來華的傳教士親自製造或指導宮廷造辦處工匠製作，並影響當時宮廷的學風。https://medium.com/@meerkatw/香港故宮文化博物館-part-ii-逆向參觀-珍品介紹-5646f17bb1de, accessed Dec 2025 ↩︎ - https://asianartnewspaper.com/ziminzhong-chinese-clocks/#prettyPhoto ↩︎
- Museum information card, Hong Kong Palace Museum, visited Dec 2023 ↩︎
- [Matteo Ricci] became the first European to enter the Forbidden City of Beijing in 1601 when invited by the Wanli Emperor, who sought his services in matters such as court astronomy and calendrical science. He emphasized parallels between Catholicism and Confucianism but opposed Buddhism. He converted several prominent Chinese officials to Catholicism. He also worked with several Chinese elites, such as Xu Guangqi, in translating Euclid’s Elements into Chinese as well as the Confucian classics into Latin for the first time in history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matteo_Ricci, accessed 22 Sep 2025 ↩︎
- Not verified, information taken from Chinese media site, “Turning back the clock”, 2019-06-04, China Daily, Li Yan; https://www.ecns.cn/hd/2019-06-04/detail-ifziupva1116230.shtml ↩︎
- https://www.chinadailyhk.com/hk/article/293176 ↩︎
- 钟表，可以回到终点，可是人们永远不能回到昨天。https://ggzlquanjing.dpm.org.cn/scene/21c17BqaSyODM8NuPWg4riJUexBi3451/Zhongbiaoguan/tour.html ↩︎
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