| THE Shanghai Museum,
founded in 1952, and now located at the Shanghai Renmin Square, is
a large museum exhibiting ancient Chinese arts. It houses a collection
of 120,000 cultural relics, including bronzeware, ceramics, Ming and
Qing dynasty furniture, calligraphic works, paintings, jade and ivory
articles, bamboo, wood and lacquer ware, inscribed bones and tortoise
shells, seals, and ethnic minority handicrafts. Among them, the bronzeware,
ceramics and Ming and Qing furniture are the most characteristic.
Bronze articles from the Shang (16th-11th centuries B.C.) and Zhou
(Western Zhou: 11th century to 771 B.C.) are an important indicator
as to the ancient social civilization. The Chinese Ancient Bronzeware
Hall houses over 400 pieces of exquisite bronzeware, reflecting
the history of bronze art between the 18th and 3rd centuries B.C.
The Dake Tripod of the mid-Western Zhou Dynasty and a pot engraged
with dragon designs of the late Western Zhou Dynasty are representative
of bronzeware of that era for their unique shape and exquisite patterns.
In the Chinese Ancient Ceramics Hall, the green decor and ceramics
of various dynasties set one another off harmoniously. The 500 exhibits,
including painted pottery from the Neolithic Age (80th-21st centuries
B.C.) and tri-color pottery of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), celebrate
the 8,000-year history of Chinese ceramics. The tri-color pottery
figurine of a horsewoman of the Tang Dynasty, and the white glaze
pillow engraved with the design of palace figures, are superbly
crafted. In the last section of the exhibition there is a reproduction
of a kiln. Next to the hall is the Zandelou Ceramics Exhibition
Hall, exhibiting ceramics donated by Hu Huichun and Wang Huayun.
Most of the 130 exhibits on display are official kiln porcelains
of the Qing Dynasty.
Furniture making in China has a long history, and furniture made during
the Ming and Qing dynasties is very popular. In the Chinese Ming and
Qing Furniture Hall, the gray bricks, whitewashed walls, and bamboo
groves give one the feeling of an authentic Ming or Qing dynasty residence.
The Ming Dynasty rosewood armchair and Qing Dynasty carved lacquer
square table and stools are examples of the unparalleled excellence
of ancient Chinese culture.
The Shanghai Museum comprises 11 specialized halls. It also has
three exhibition halls for visiting exhibitions. In addition, it
has established a research office for relic protection and archaeological
research, a research office for repairing cultural relics, and mounting
paintings and calligraphic works, and a multi-functional hall for
international symposiums equipped with simultaneous interpretation
facilities.
The architectural style of the Shanghai Museum is distinctive,
consisting of a huge dome and square base, symbolizing the ancient
concept of the universe as a "round heaven and square earth."
A cultural landmark, Shanghai Museum symbolizes changes in time
and space and the blending of history and the future. It is a window
on China's 5,000-year civilization.
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