Haiyantang


The Haiyantang was an area in the Xiyang Lou of the Old Summer Palace, which included the famous Zodiac Fountain - water clock fountain consisting of 12 bronze Chinese zodiac statues. Supposedly designed by Giuseppe Castiglione for the Qianlong Emperor, the statues would spout out water from their mouths to tell the time.
The bronze-cast heads of the stone statues were among the treasures looted during the destruction of the Old Summer Palace by British and French expeditionary forces in 1860 during the Second Opium War. Since then, they have been among the most visible examples of attempts to repatriate Chinese art and cultural artifacts. About the scandal with two of this heads see 2009 auction of Old Summer Palace bronze heads.

Current status

In culture