As
a museum of ancient Chinese art, Shanghai Museum possesses a collection
of 120,000 precious works of art. Together with the museums in Beijing,
Xian, Nanjing, the four are honored as the China's four major museums.
Shanghai
Museum was established in 1952 and relocated twice before finding a permanent
home at its present location, south of the centrally located People's
Plaza, in 1996. The 29.5 meters four-storey building has a construction
space of 39,200 square meters. It's a unique architectural style with
vault ceiling and square base, combining China's traditional culture and
modern spirit.
Shanghai Museum's rich and high-quality collection of ancient Chinese
bronze,ceramics, painting and calligraphy is specially celebrated in the
world. Altogether, there are eleven special galleries and three exhibition
halls in the Museum.
Gallery
of Ancient Chinese Bronze: Bronze artifacts have been regarded as important
treasures
ever since the Shang and Zhou dynasties. More than 400 pieces of exquisite
bronzes are shown within the space of 1,200 square meters, providing an
overall perspective of bronze art in ancient China.
Gallery
of Chinese Sculpture: More than 120 ancient Chinese stone, wood, clay,
pottery, and cast bronze sculptures from the Warring States period to
the Ming Dynasty are displayed here. The focus is on Chinese Buddhist
sculpture and figurines.
Gallery
of Zande Lou Ceramics: The couple, Mr. Hu Huichun and Mrs. Wang Huayun,
donated the 130 pieces of extraordinarily fine ceramics shown in this
gallery.
Gallery
of Chinese Paintings: More than 120 famous paintings from the Tang Dynasty
up to the present time are shown within the space of 1,200 square meters.
Gallery of Chinese Calligraphy: This gallery exhibits original handwritten
documents composed by eminent persons in China's history. Chinese calligraphy
has a 3,000-year history, and can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty.
The official script (Lishu), the regular script (Kaishu) and the cursive
script (Caoshu) matured in different periods and reached their peak in
the Tang and Song Dynasties.
Gallery of Chinese Seals: Over 500 variously styled signets between the
Western Zhou and the Qing dynasty are presented in the 380-square-meter
gallery.This is the first gallery specifically designed for displaying
Chinese seals in the world.
Gallery
of Chinese Ancient Jade: Well known for the reputation of "the Country
of Jade" around the world, China has a 7,000-year history of jade
production. The gallery presents ancient Chinese jade as another unique
aspect of Chinese history and culture.
Gallery of Chinese Furniture in Ming and Qing Dynasty: More than 100 pieces
of furniture are displayed in this 700 square meters gallery. Furniture
made during the Ming Dynasty is famous for simple modeling, gracious line,
and well-balanced scale, while furniture made during the Qing Dynasty
is noted for extravagant material and splendid decoration.
Gallery
of Chinese Minority Nationalities' Art:China is an ethnically diverse
country composed of 56 separate nations. This gallery has gathered the
most representative items from each minority ethnic group.
Gallery
of Chinese Ancient CeramicsMore than 500 fine specimens are shown in
the space of 1,300 square meters, dating from Neolithic times to the end
of the Qing Dynasty.
Gallery
of Chinese Coins: This gallery includes approximately 7,000 archaic, differently
shaped coins and paper money of imponderable wealth by today's standards.
More than 7,000 specimens show a historical development of ancient coins
and economic exchange between ancient China and foreign countries.
In
addition to the 11 galleries, the museum includes three exhibition halls,
a tearoom, a restaurant, shops, a high-definition graphics hall, a library
and a VIP garden.
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