Shaanxi History Museum, which is located to the northwest of the

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda Giant Wild Goose Pagoda or Big Wild Goose Pagoda (, literally "big swan goose pagoda"), is a monumental Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. It was built in 648/649(?) during the Tang dynasty and originally had five storie ...

in the ancient city

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...

, in the

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

province of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, is one of the first huge state museums with modern facilities in China and one of the

largest Large means of great size. Large may also refer to: Mathematics * Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics * Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers * Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (o ...

. The museum houses over 370,000 items, including murals, paintings, pottery, coins, as well as bronze, gold, and silver objects. The modern museum was built between 1983 and 2001 and its appearance recalls the architectural style of the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

History

Shaanxi History Museum was constructed from 1983. It was opened to the public on 20 June 1991. The museum is in an area of 65,000 square meters, with a building area of 55,600 square meters, cultural relics storerooms of 8,000 square meters, exhibition halls of 11,000 square meters, and a collection of 370,000 objects. The museum is architecturally in the Tang style, with a "hall in center, storied buildings in corners". It is elegant and dignified, on a large scale, with a combination of traditional architecture and modern technology, which embodies folk tradition and local features. Shaanxi was the ancient imperial capital of China, having been the seat of more than 13 feudal dynasties, including the Zhou, Qin, Han, and

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) ...

dynasties. The province is rich in cultural relics. With the completion of the Shaanxi History Museum, it collected over 370,000 precious relics which were unearthed in Shaanxi Province, including bronze wares, pottery figures, and mural paintings in Tang tombs. In particular there are large numbers of pottery

Tang dynasty tomb figures Tang dynasty tomb figures are pottery figures of people and animals made in the Tang dynasty of China (618–906) as grave goods to be placed in tombs. There was a belief that the figures represented would become available for the service of the ...

from the tombs of the imperial family around the city. Since the opening of the museum, it has followed the policy of collecting, conservation, publicizing, education, and scientific research, using its many historical relics, and conducted various types of display. The relics have also been exhibited overseas in cities in Japan, France, the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany.

Collection highlights

Highlights of the museum include: * Fossils of the

Lantian Man Lantian Man (), ''Homo erectus lantianensis'') is a subspecies of ''Homo erectus'' known from an almost complete mandible from Chenchiawo (陈家窝) Village discovered in 1963, and a partial skull from Gongwangling(公王岭) Village discovered ...

(preceded Peking Man), * The ''Deer Pattern Eaves Tile'' from the

Qin Dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

, * The many objects from the Tang Hejia Village hoard, found in 1970, deposited around 755 during the

An Lushan Rebellion The An Lushan Rebellion was an uprising against the Tang dynasty of China towards the mid-point of the dynasty (from 755 to 763), with an attempt to replace it with the Yan dynasty. The rebellion was originally led by An Lushan, a general off ...

. * ''The Kneeling Archer'', a 120 cm tall figure unearthed in 1977 from Emperor Qin Shi Huang's tomb * ''The Four Footed Li'', a

Shang Dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty a ...

bronze cooking utensil, * ''Playing Polo'', a

mural of people playing

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small ha ...

in China, * Frescos and pottery tomb figures from the tomb of Princess

Li Xianhui Princess Yongtai (), born Li Xianhui (); 685 – October 9, 701Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), courtesy name Nonghui (穠輝), was a princess of the Tang Dynasty. Biography Li was the seventh daughter of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang and t ...

, 705, Tang dynasty * ''The Empress's Seal'', a jade seal from the

Western Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a war ...

, excavated near the tomb of

Emperor Gao Zu Emperor Gaozu of Han (256 – 1 June 195 BC), born Liu Bang () with courtesy name Ji (季), was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning in 202–195 BC. His temple name was "Taizu" while his posthumous name was Em ...

, the first emperor of the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

– one of the most important imperial seals ever found in China.

Gallery

File:Xi'anviewpic4.jpg, Zhou Dynasty gold

Bianzhong Bianzhong ( Chinese:编钟) is an ancient Chinese musical instrument consisting of a set of bronze bells, played melodically. China is the earliest country to manufacture and use musical chimes. They are also called Chime Bells. These sets of c ...

File:Xi'anviewpic7.jpg, Ceramic tomb figure of a horse in ''sancai'' glaze File:Xi'anviewpic13.jpg, Tomb figures of ladies File:Gold monster.jpg, Gold stag with eagle's head and ten more heads in the antlers. Object inspired by Siberian Altai art. Nalinggaotu site, Shenmu County, near

. File:Zhongshan Grottoes.jpg, Statues from

Zhongshan Grottoes Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,62 ...

() File:Painted Honor Guards.jpg, Painted tomb figures of guardians of Prince Qinjian from the Ming Dynasty File:Terracotta army museum.jpg, Soldiers from the

Terracotta Army The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE with the purpose of protecting the emperor ...

File:Gilt silver jar with pattern of dancing horses.jpg, Gilt silver jar with patterns of dancing horses, from the

, Hejia Village hoard File:ShiErShengXiao Shaanxi History Museum.JPG, Sculptures of the twelve

Chinese zodiac The Chinese zodiac is a traditional classification scheme based on the lunar calendar that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating twelve-year cycle. Originating from China, the zodiac and its variations remain ...

figures, from the Tang Dynasty File:Tang Mirror Shaanxi History Museum.JPG, The back of a Tang Dynasty bronze mirror File:TangSanCai Shaanxi History Museum.JPG, ''Tang Sancai'' tomb figures File:唐-玛瑙兽首杯.jpg, An agate cup shaped in an animal head, from the Tang Dynasty, Hejia Village hoard

Location

The address of the museum is 91 East XiaoZhai Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China.

References

External links