National Museum of China

National Museum of China
The National Museum of China
Established	1959
Location	Beijing
Type	Art museum, History museum
Website	http://www.chnmuseum.cn/

The National Museum of China (simplified Chinese: 中国国家博物馆; traditional Chinese: 中國國家博物館; pinyin: Zhōngguó guójiā bówùguǎn) flanks the eastern side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. The mission of the museum is to educate about the arts and history of China. It is directed by the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China.

History

The museum was established in 2003 by the merging of the two separate museums that had occupied the same building since 1959: the Museum of the Chinese Revolution in the northern wing (originating in the Office of the National Museum of the Revolution founded in 1950 to preserve the legacy of the 1949 revolution) and the National Museum of Chinese History in the southern wing (with origins in both the Beijing National History Museum, founded in 1949, and the Preliminary Office of the National History Museum, founded in 1912, tasked to safeguard China's larger historical legacy).

The building was completed in 1959 as one of the Ten Great Buildings celebrating the ten-year anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. It complements the opposing Great Hall of the People that was built at the same time. The structure sits on 65,000 ㎡ and has a frontal length of 313 meters, a height of four stories totaling 40 meters, and a width of 149 meters.^[1] The front displays eleven square pillars at its center.

After four years of renovation, the museum reopened on March 17th, 2011 with 28 new exhibition halls, more than triple the previous exhibition space, and state of the art exhibition and storage facilities. It has a total floor space of nearly 191,900 square meters to display the over one million national treasures in its collection.^[2][3] The renovations were designed by the German firm Gerkan, Marg and Partners.^[4]

Collections

A Han Dynasty jade burial suit laced with gold thread at the National Museum of China

The museum, covering Chinese history from the Yuanmou Man of 1.7 million years ago to the end of the Qing Dynasty (the last imperial dynasty), has a permanent collection of over 620,385 cultural items,^[5] with many precious and rare artifacts not to be found in museums anywhere else in China or the rest of the world.

Among the most important items in the National Museum of China are the "Simuwu Ding" from the Shang Dynasty (the heaviest piece of ancient bronzeware in the world, at 832.84 kg),^[6] a square Shang Dynasty bronze zun decorated with four sheep heads,^[6] a large and rare inscribed Western Zhou Dynasty bronze water pan,^[6] a gold-inlaid Qin Dynasty bronze tally in the shape of a tiger,^[6] Han Dynasty jade burial suits sewn with gold thread,^[6] and a comprehensive collection of Tang Dynasty tri-colored glazed sancai and Song Dynasty ceramics.^[6]

Countdown clocks

Because of its central location in Tiananmen Square, the front of the museum has been used since the 1990s for the display of countdown clocks relating to occasions of national importance, including the 1997 transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong, the 1999 transfer of sovereignty of Macau, the beginning of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the opening of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.

Controversies

A three-month exhibition of the luxury brand Louis Vuitton in 2011 led to some complaints of commercialism at the museum, with Peking University professor Xia Xueluan stating "hosting such an exhibition is harmful to a State-level public museum that should in fact only be dedicating itself to non-profit cultural promotion."^[7] Museum vice-director Chen Lüsheng defended the exhibition as “present[ing] exquisite classical Italian design to Chinese audiences, and boost[ing] cultural exchanges between Italy and China.”^[8]

Some critics have also alleged the museum's modern historiography tends to focus on the triumphs of the Communist Party, while minimizing or ignoring politically-sensitive subjects such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.^[9]

See also

• List of museums in China
• Forbidden City
• National Palace Museum
• State Administration of Cultural Heritage
• Ministry of Culture

Notes

1. ^ China.org
2. ^ http://english.cntv.cn/20110301/111608.shtml
3. ^ http://english.cntv.cn/20110217/110226.shtml
4. ^ Hanno Rauterberg, Aufklärung in eigener Sache, Die Zeit, April 1st, 2011 (in German)
5. ^ Highbeams Research
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "The National Museum of China". China Culture. http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_museum/2003-09/24/content_29769.htm. 
7. ^ "National museum, LV reject criticisms of design exhibition". Global Times. June 1, 2011. http://www.china.org.cn/china/2011-06/01/content_22689523.htm. Retrieved 2012-01-17. 
8. ^ "National Museum of China under fire – again!". Global Times. September 14, 2011. http://www.globaltimes.cn/NEWS/tabid/99/ID/675301/National-Museum-of-China-under-fire-again.aspx. Retrieved 2012-01-17. 
9. ^ Ian Johnson (April 3, 2011). "At China’s New Museum, History Toes Party Line". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/world/asia/04museum.html. Retrieved 2012-01-17. 

External links

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• Official Website

Coordinates: 39°54′12″N 116°23′24″E / 39.90333°N 116.39°E / 39.90333; 116.39