The Quanzhou Maritime Museum () in the

Fengze District () is a district of the city of Quanzhou, Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to th ...

Quanzhou Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China, People's Republic of China. It is Fujian's largest most populous metropolitan region, wi ...

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

, is the only museum in China specialising in overseas relations. Established in 1959, through its comprehensive and valuable display of historical relics relating to overseas transportation, the museum reflects the development history of the major Eastern port of the Middle Ages—Citong or Zaytun (). It also showcases the important role that Quanzhou played in economic and cultural exchanges with foreign countries.

Introduction

The museum consists of an old and a new section. The old section, housed in a purpose-built exhibition hall on the grounds of the Kaiyuan Temple, is used for exhibiting ancient boats. The new section, completed in 1991 and located near the scenic East Lake Park (), resembles a large sailing ship afloat on the sea. It covers an area of with a built-up area of up to . There are four exhibition halls in the new section named "Quanzhou Maritime Exhibition Hall" (), "Quanzhou Religious Stone Carving Hall" (), "Quanzhou Ethnic Culture Exhibition Hall" () and "Ancient Chinese Model Hall" (). Quanzhou Maritime Museum Front View

Rare collections

Song Dynasty Ancient Ship of Quanzhou Bay 20061229

Among the exhibits of particular interest are:Quanzhou Maritime Museum -an interactive encyclopedia (泉州海外交通史博物馆_互动百科)
/ref> * The Quanzhou ship: A Song dynasty (9601279) ship unearthed in 1974. * Stone stelae and tombstones with religious inscriptions. Besides Buddhist ones, there are

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, and

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

specimens. * Export ceramics: the Dehua porcelain is of particular value. * Ancient navigation equipment: such as a four-claw anchor () dating to the Ming dynasty (13681644)

Introduction

Rare collections

References

See also