Invitation for a Museum Tour, Poster | C-Site Cultural Relics: Visit Henan Museum | Text | Henan
The oracle bones record the origin of writing, while the revered bronze tells the magnificent scenery of civilization. Museums are the cultural soul of cities, recording history and leading the future.
Henan is an important birthplace of Chinese civilization, with a profound historical heritage and rich cultural relics resources. There are over 340 museums of various types in the province.
Walking in Henan, understanding China. The "treasure of many museums in Henan" crosses the long river of history and stands at position C to invite: Central Plains cultural relics witness Chinese civilization, come to Henan and embark on a museum trip!
1、 Henan Museum
From the Yangshao culture igniting the first ray of dawn of Chinese civilization, to the Xia capital Erlitou site unveiling the mysterious veil of the kingdom era; From the echoes of Jiahu bone flute spanning eight thousand years, to the peak of the Bronze Age witnessed by Fuhao Owl Zun... After nearly a century, the Henan Museum interprets to the world that Central Plains culture is the main source and root of Chinese culture, and it is also a microcosm of the history of Chinese civilization.
The Henan Museum was established in 1927 and is one of the earliest museums in China. It is also one of the provincial-level comprehensive museums in China. The Henan Museum covers an area of 126 acres, with a building area of 55000 square meters. It has a collection of more than 170000 cultural relics, especially prehistoric relics, Shang and Zhou bronze ware, ceramic ware from various dynasties, jade ware, and stone carvings. There are currently over 170000 cultural relics in the collection, with a large number of high-quality cultural relics, a complete variety, high taste, and great value. It is a cultural and artistic treasure trove that witnesses the development trajectory of Chinese civilization and showcases the historical development of China.
The Henan Museum currently has "Nine Treasures of the Town", namely: Jiahu Bone Flute, Du Ling Fang Ding, Fu Hao Owl Zun, Jade Handle Iron Sword, Lotus and Crane Square Pot, Cloud Pattern Copper Forbidden, Four Gods Cloud and Qi Painting Mural, Wu Zetian Gold Slips, Ruyao Sky Blue Glazed Engraved Goose Neck Vase.
2、 Zhengzhou Museum
Zhengzhou Museum was established in July 1957 and is a local comprehensive urban museum, one of the first "National First Class Museums". In December 1999, the Songshan Road Museum was completed and opened to the public. On May 1, 2021, the new Zhengzhou Museum located on Wenhan Street - currently the largest single museum in China - officially opened for visitors.
The museum currently has a collection of nearly 60000 cultural relics, including more than 20 categories such as pottery, porcelain, bronze ware, stone carvings, calligraphy and painting. Among various collections, the most abundant cultural relics are from prehistoric society to the Tang and Song dynasties, with the most representative being Shang and Zhou bronze ware, Tang and Song stone carvings, etc., such as the gluttonous milk nail patterned copper square tripod, white colored pottery bowl, Bodhisattva stone statue, etc. Its basic display is based on the historical and cultural development of Zhengzhou from prehistoric to modern times, divided into themes such as "Capital of Creation", "Within Heaven and Earth", and "Centennial Historical Tales", comprehensively showcasing the historical changes of Zhengzhou. There are also 13 special exhibitions on cultural relics, such as "Wonderful Scenery", "Eternal Carving of Stones", and "Earth Fire Craftsmanship".
3. Luoyang Museum
As the ancient capital of the thirteen dynasties, Luoyang ranks first in the province in terms of the total number of museums and the number of museums above the third level. Luoyang Museum is one of the first museums in China and a local comprehensive history museum in China. It was founded in 1958 and the new museum officially opened to the public in 2009. The museum covers an area of 300 acres and has a construction area of 62000 square meters. The architectural appearance is like a square tripod standing, implying "Dingding Luoyi" and "standing in the world".
The Luoyang Museum has exhibited a total of 15000 cultural relics, with 508 national first-class cultural relics. The five treasures of Zhenguan are respectively the bronze jue with milk nail patterns, the three-layer golden silk nanmu pagoda, the Eastern Han stone exorcism, the Cao Wei white jade cup, and the Tang Dynasty three colored black glazed horse.
Kaifeng Museum, 4.
Eight dynasties ancient capital, thousands of years of Beijing. Kaifeng is one of the important areas of the origin of early civilization in China, with a history of more than 5000 years of civilization. In the Kaifeng Museum, there are thousands of cultural relics exhibits, recording the stories that have happened on this land.
The museum was founded in 1962 and is a comprehensive local museum that integrates exhibition, cultural relic collection, cultural relic protection, scientific research, and publicity and education. Its predecessor was the Kaifeng Exhibition Hall. There are four exhibition halls in the museum: the Fine Stone Carving Exhibition, the Kaifeng Zhuxian Town Woodblock Painting Exhibition, the Kaifeng Ancient Civilization Exhibition, and the North Song Dynasty Tokyo City Historical and Cultural Exhibition. There are collections such as Tang yellow glazed twisted body porcelain pillows, Tang white glazed double dragon porcelain statues, and Tang three colored duck carrying female figurine bottles.
5. Yin Ruins Museum
Yin Ruins, the epitome of a kingdom. After a hundred years of archaeology, there are still too many secrets about the Yin Ruins that cannot be known. It is the capital of the late Shang Dynasty in China, and it is also the first ancient capital site in Chinese history that has documents to test and confirmed by oracle bone inscriptions and archaeological excavations. It has a history of 3300 years.
In March 1961, Yin Ruins were announced as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units. In March 2001, Yin Ruins was rated as the top 100 archaeological discoveries of the 20th century in China. On July 13, 2006, Yin Ruins were included in the The World Heritage List at the 30th World Heritage Committee meeting because of their outstanding global universal value and good management and display.
The existing cultural relics of the Yin Ruins Museum include the Ya Chang Niu Zun, Ya Zhi Fang Zun, Yu Long, Tao Lei, and Simu Xin Ding. Among them, the Ya Chang Niu Zun is the only ox shaped bronze artifact discovered in the Yin Ruins to date, and is one of the treasures of the Yin Ruins Museum.
6. Chinese Character Museum
From here, the Chinese character Museum is located in Anyang City, the hometown of oracle bone inscriptions. It is a national thematic museum approved by the State Council, which integrates the functions of cultural relics protection, display and scientific research. It is also the first museum with the theme of words in China. The museum has a total of 4123 cultural relics, including 305 first-class cultural relics, involving oracle bone inscriptions, gold inscriptions, bamboo slips and silk manuscripts, the history of the development of Chinese characters, the history of Chinese calligraphy, minority languages, and world languages.
A piece of oracle bone startles the world! Oracle bone script is the earliest mature writing system discovered in China to date, marking the dawn of Chinese civilization history. Currently, nearly 160000 oracle bones and over 4700 individual characters have been discovered. The content recorded in these oracle bones is extremely rich, involving many aspects of social life in the Shang Dynasty, including not only politics, military, culture, social customs, but also science and technology such as astronomy, calendar, medicine, etc. The important collections of the Chinese Language Museum involve multiple types, including bronze ware, coins, pottery, etc., such as the Jia Bo teapot, turtle belly armor engraved with the symbol "eight", Zhu Shu and Yu Zhang, Mahayana Wuliang Shouzong Yaojing, and Ziyou Stele.
7、 Erlitou Xiadu Site Museum
The transportation network of double subways, elevated overpasses, expressways and expressways is interconnected... The crisscrossing paths outline the glorious revitalization of the ancient capital Luoyang. The earliest urban road network and two wheeled vehicle ruins in China... Follow the ancient city expressway for 30 minutes to the east, and explore the earliest Chinese "urban model" through 3800 years at the Erlitou Summer Capital Site Museum.
The Erlitou Summer Capital Site Museum is built on the scientific and archaeological excavation results of the Erlitou Site, a capital site of the mid to late Xia Dynasty, spanning more than 60 years. It is a major cultural engineering project of the 13th Five Year Plan of China, and is a specialized museum that showcases the history of the Xia Dynasty, the archaeological achievements of the Erlitou Site, the exploration process of Xia culture, the Xia Shang Zhou Chronology Project, and the achievements of the "Chinese Civilization Exploration Project". The museum covers an area of 246 acres and has a total construction area of 32000 square meters. It was officially opened to the public on October 19, 2019. Its basic exhibition, "The First Capital of China," consists of three parts: "First Dynasty," "Hehe Xia Capital," and "Century Exploration." It displays more than 1500 cultural relics, including turquoise dragon shaped vessels, breast nail patterned copper cups, and grid patterned copper tripods. The turquoise animal face patterned copper plaques are not only important cultural relics of Xia Bo, but also important national treasures.
Anyang Museum, 8.
Anyang Museum is a comprehensive local history museum. It was established in May 1958. It is one of the earliest prefecture-level city museums in Henan Province. It is now a national first-class museum and a demonstration base for patriotism education in Henan Province. On November 26, 2013, Anyang Museum was awarded the title of Henan Patriotism Education Demonstration Base. In December 2019, Anyang Museum was awarded the title of "Advanced Collective of Social Education Work in Henan Museum. In December 2020, Anyang Museum was approved as a national first-class museum.
The museum currently has a collection of over ten thousand cultural relics, including oracle bones, jade, metalware, ceramics, currency, calligraphy and painting, and modern cultural relics in more than ten categories. The collection dates back to the Old Stone Age and continues to modern times. The main items in the museum include bronze cauldrons with commercial fire patterns, gray blue glazed porcelain vases with first ring ears, Wang Wenzhi's calligraphy scroll, and the Western Zhou tiger shaped blue jade pendant.
9. Sanmenxia Museum
The landscape here is the same color, known as "cloud mountains on all sides, water on three sides, a city of smoke trees and half city fields" reputation. Sanmenxia City Museum is located in the ancient city site area of Shanzhou, a cultural relic protection unit in Henan Province. In the 1980 s, the site area was designated as Shanzhou Park.
The museum area is located on the site of the Tang Dynasty Confucian Temple, covering an area of 19800 square meters, with a building area of 9800 square meters and an exhibition hall area of 4400 square meters. The antique garden style architectural style is unique, elegant and beautiful, and can be said to have a garden in the museum and a pavilion in the garden. It is currently a national second level museum, a national cultural relic second level risk prevention unit, a patriotic education demonstration base in Henan Province, and one of the first permanent free museums open to the public in China.
At present, the museum has a collection of more than 15000 cultural relics, including more than 1400 precious national cultural relics at or above the third level. The collection mainly includes Yangshao colored pottery jars, Shang Dynasty herringbone patterned copper tripods, Yangshao stone pestles, Tang Dynasty flower mouth white porcelain bowls, and so on.
Text: Zhang Jiaqi Li Lianfan
