Attractions >> Shanghai >> Shanghai Attractions

Shanghai Museum

The Shanghai Museum is a museum of ancient Chinese art, situated on the People's Square in the Huangpu District of Shanghai, People's Republic of China.

The museum was founded in 1952 and was first open to the public in the former Shanghai Racecourse club house, now at 325 W. Nanjing Road. In 1959 the museum moved into the former Zhonghui Building at 16 S. Henan Road, which previously housed insurance companies and bank offices. In 1992, the Shanghai municipal government allocated a piece of land on People's Square to the museum as its new site.

Construction of the current building started in August 1993. It was inaugurated in October 12, 1996. It is 29.5 meters high with five floors, covering a total area of 39,200 m². Designed by a local architect, the new museum building is designed in the shape of an ancient bronze cooking vessel called a ding. It is said that the inspiration for the design was specifically provided by the Da Ke Ding, now on exhibit in the museum. The museum style and presentation surround visitors with artifacts demonstrating ancient wisdom and philosophy. The exterior design of the round dome and the square base symbolizes the ancient idea of a round heaven and a square land.

Carved lacquer furnitureThe museum has a collection of over 120,000 pieces, including bronze, ceramics, calligraphy, furniture, jades, ancient coins, paintings, seals, sculptures, minority art and foreign art. It has eleven galleries and three special temporary exhibition halls. The permanent galleries are:

Gallery of Ancient Chinese Bronze
Gallery of Ancient Chinese Sculpture
Gallery of Ancient Chinese Ceramics
Gallery of Ancient Chinese Jades
Gallery of Ancient Chinese Paintings
Gallery of Ancient Chinese Calligraphy
Gallery of Ancient Chinese Seals
Gallery of Ancient Chinese Numismatics
Gallery of Chinese furniture in Ming and Qing dynasties
Gallery of Arts and Crafts by Chinese Minorities
The Shanghai Museum houses several items of national importance, including one of three extant specimens of a "transparent" bronze mirror from the Han Dynasty.

The ancient ceramics collection is a special Shanghai Museum treasure. Among the more than 500 pieces are artwork from various dynasties, such as painted and gray pottery from the Neolithic age, primitive celadon from the Shang, Zhou and Warring States, mature celadon from the East Han Dynasty, the well known tri-colored glazed pottery from the Tang Dynasty, blue, white and black glazed as well as painted porcelain from the Song, Jin and Liao, and the brilliant works from Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, the center of the industry during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties.

Chinese paintings and calligraphy have profound traditions and unique national styles. Masterpieces from different periods and genres are featured.

The Gallery of Chinese Ancient Sculpture focuses mainly on Buddhist sculptures.

Jade in ancient China was both decoration and the symbol of wealth and power. It was further personified to symbolize perfect morality. The elegance of jade wares glows through its crystal colors and vivid patterns.

The Ming and Qing dynasties witnessed the heyday of Chinese furniture. The gallery shows a refined garden-like residence of that time. Even a simple chair demonstrates Chinese culture and etiquette.

First of its kind, the Gallery of Chinese Seals, reflects the importance of seals in history from the Western Zhou to the end of the Qing Dynasty.

China is one of the earliest countries to use currency, and the nearly 7,000 pieces in the Gallery of Chinese Coins reveal the development of Chinese currency and the growth of economic exchange between China and foreign countries.

Chinese culture is a result of the melding and collaboration of many nationalities. During its long history, minority nationalities have created their own colorful cultures. From clothes to textiles, metal wares, sculptures, pottery, lacquer and bamboo wares, the exotic styles of their artwork give us a general picture of creativity and passion toward life of those ethnic groups.

As a Chinese saying goes, it is better to see for oneself than to hear many times. Shanghai Museum welcomes visitors to see and enjoy Chinese culture.

Edited by Athena Lee

China Tour Online Help