The Guangzhi Yuan is a historical building in the City of
Jinan

Jinan

Jinan is the capital of Shandong province in Eastern China. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of the region from the earliest beginnings of civilisation and has evolved into a major national administrative, economic, and transportation hub...

, Shandong

Shandong

' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...

 Province, China. In the early 20th century, it
housed a museum that became the forerunner of the Shandong Provincial Museum

Shandong Provincial Museum

The Shandong Provincial Museum is the principal museum of Shandong Province. It is located in the City of Jinan, Shandong, China.The Shandong Provincial Museum was established in 1954.. It houses acollection of more than 210 000 historical artifacts...

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The Guangzhi Yuan is linked to Shandong's oldest museum, the Yidu
Museum that was opened by British Baptist missionary J.S. Whitewright in
Qingzhou in 1887. The science history and exhibits of the Yidu Museum
were relocated to Jinan in 1904 and renamed to Guangzhi Yuan. Later, it was operated as the Whitewright Institute at Shantung Christian University

Cheeloo University

Cheeloo University was a university in China, established by Hunter Corbett American Presbyterian, and other English Baptist, Anglican, and Canadian Presbyterian mission agencies in early 1900 in China.-History:...

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The museum became quickly popular and attracted 102,000 visitors in the first four
months after opening in Jinan. By 1912, the
annual number of visitors had risen to 230,000 and by 1919 to
400,000.

The Guangzhi Yuan was reopened in 1956 as the Shandong Provincial Museum.