Shanghai Museum
Encyclopedia
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
.
Construction of the current building started in August 1993. It was inaugurated on October 12, 1996. It is 29.5 meters high with five floors, covering a total area of 39,200 m². Designed by local architect Xing Tonghe, 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 building has a round top and a square base, symbolizing the ancient Chinese perception of the world as "round sky, square earth".
The museum has a collection of over 120,000 pieces, including bronze
, ceramic
s, calligraphy
, furniture
, jade
s, ancient coin
s, painting
s, seals
, sculpture
s, minority art and foreign art.
The Shanghai Museum houses several items of national importance, including one of three extant specimens of a "transparent" bronze mirror from the Han Dynasty
.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
of ancient Chinese art
Chinese art
Chinese art is visual art that, whether ancient or modern, originated in or is practiced in China or by Chinese artists or performers. Early so-called "stone age art" dates back to 10,000 BC, mostly consisting of simple pottery and sculptures. This early period was followed by a series of art...
, situated on the People's Square
People's Square (Shanghai)
People's Square is a large public square adjacent to Nanjing Road in the Huangpu District of Shanghai, China. People's Square is the site of Shanghai's municipal government headquarter building, and is used as the standard reference point for measurement of distance in the Shanghai...
in the Huangpu District
Huangpu District, Shanghai
Huangpu District , is one of Shanghai's 18 districts and makes up the eastern part of Shanghai's traditional urban core. Today's Huangpu District is sometimes referred to as "new Huangpu" to distinguish it from the pre-merger Huangpu District which existed before 2000. In 2000, the pre-merger...
of Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
.
History
The museum was founded in 1952 and was first open to the public in the former Shanghai Racecourse club house, now at 325 West Nanjing Road. In 1959 the museum moved into the former Zhonghui Building at 16 South 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 on October 12, 1996. It is 29.5 meters high with five floors, covering a total area of 39,200 m². Designed by local architect Xing Tonghe, the new museum building is designed in the shape of an ancient bronze cooking vessel called a ding
Ding (vessel)
A ding is an ancient Chinese cauldron with legs, a lid and two handles opposite each other. They were made in two shapes with round vessels having three legs and rectangular ones four....
. It is said that the inspiration for the design was specifically provided by the Da Ke Ding, now on exhibit in the museum. The building has a round top and a square base, symbolizing the ancient Chinese perception of the world as "round sky, square earth".
Collections
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
, ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
s, calligraphy
Calligraphy
Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...
, furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
, jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
s, ancient coin
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
s, painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s, seals
Seal (device)
A seal can be a figure impressed in wax, clay, or some other medium, or embossed on paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document ; but the term can also mean the device for making such impressions, being essentially a mould with the mirror image of the design carved in sunken- relief or...
, sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
s, minority art and foreign art.
The Shanghai Museum houses several items of national importance, including one of three extant specimens of a "transparent" bronze mirror from the Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
.
Galleries
It has eleven galleries and three special temporary exhibition halls. The permanent galleries are:- Gallery of Ancient Chinese BronzeBronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
- Gallery of Ancient Chinese SculptureSculptureSculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
- Gallery of Ancient Chinese Ceramics
- Gallery of Ancient Chinese JadeJadeJade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
s - Gallery of Ancient Chinese PaintingsChinese paintingChinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The earliest paintings were not representational but ornamental; they consisted of patterns or designs rather than pictures. Early pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals...
- Gallery of Ancient Chinese Calligraphy
- Gallery of Ancient Chinese Seals
- Gallery of Ancient Chinese NumismaticsNumismaticsNumismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the...
- Gallery of Chinese furnitureChinese furnitureThe forms of Chinese furniture evolved along three distinct lineages which dates back to 1000 BC, based on frame and panel, yoke and rack and bamboo construction techniques...
in MingMing DynastyThe Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
and QingQing DynastyThe Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
dynasties - Gallery of Arts and Crafts by Chinese Minorities
Numismatic Collections
The Museum has an important collection of ancient coins from the Silk Road, donated since 1991 by Linda and Roger Doo. The collection contains 1783 pieces from the Greeks to the Mongol Empire.Selected publications
- Ancient Chinese Ceramic Gallery The Shanghai Museum. Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, 1996. (English & Mandarin Chinese edition.) ISBN 7532517217