Shanghai Museum

When you want to see various Chinese art from different Chinese dynasties without traveling far, a quick trip to the Shanghai Museum is a good alternative. The museum does not just present the artifacts; it also explains the cultural philosophy of each piece.

The museum is found at the People’s Square, center of Shanghai’s Huangpu District. It was founded in 1952 transferring locations from Nanjing Road to Hernan Road, its present location. The museum follows the shape of a bronze ding or “cooking vessel” symbolizing China’s “round sky and square earth” perception.

The Shanghai museum has various important bronze pieces from the Zhou and Shang dynasties. The 400 piece bronzeware collection shows ancient Chinese art. It has an ancient pottery section where the ceramics from different dynasties are displayed. Sporting more than 500 pieces of pottery, the collection covers a progression of ceramic art from the Neolithic era, Primitive Celadon (Shang and Zhou), Mature Celadon (East Han Dynasty), tri-colored glazed ceramics (Tang Dynasty), painted and black and white glazed pottery (Jin, Lao, Song), and other works from Yuan, Min, and Xing dynasties.

You can feast your eyes at the various galleries where you will find: Chinese sculpture, Chinese Bronze, Chinese ceramics, Chinese Jades, Chinese Paintings, Chinese Calligraphy, Chinese Numismatics, Chinese seals, along with Ming and Qing furnitures.

China is one of the first countries to use coin as currency. The museum has a collection of over 7000 pieces of Chinese coins signifying the economic exchange and development of China with other foreign countries.

One day will not be enough time for those who are interested in Chinese artifacts and history. A visit to the Shanghai Museum, you will end up more knowledgeable and enthralled about on Chinese culture.

Shanghai Museum