The Nanjing Museum () is located in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, the capital of

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

Province in

East China East China () is a geographical and a loosely defined cultural region that covers the eastern coastal area of China. A concept abolished in 1978, for economical purposes the region was defined from 1949 to 1961 by the Chinese Central Governme ...

. With an area of , it is one of the largest museums in China. The museum has over 400,000 items in its permanent collection, making it one of the largest in China. Especially notable is the museum's enormous collections of Ming and Qing imperial porcelain, which is among the largest in the world.

History

The Nanjing Museum was one of the first museums established in China. The predecessor of the Nanjing Museum was the preparatory department of the National Central Museum, which was established in 1933. The museum took over in the Half Hill Garden of Zhongshan Gate.

Cai Yuanpei Cai Yuanpei (; 1868–1940) was a Chinese philosopher and politician who was an influential figure in the history of Chinese modern education. He made contributions to education reform with his own education ideology. He was the president of Pek ...

, the first preparatory president of the council of the museum, proposed building three major halls, named "Humanity," "Craft" and "Nature". Because of China's political instability in the 1930s, only the Humanity Hall was built. During the Japanese invasion, part of its collections were transferred to Southwest China, and in the end moved to the

National Palace Museum The National Palace Museum (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Kwet-li̍p kù-kiung pok-vu̍t-yèn), is a museum in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). It has a permanent collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of Chinese artifacts and artworks, many of which wer ...

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

when the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

lost the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

. The historian

Fu Sinian Fu Ssu-nien (; 26 March 1896 – 20 December 1950), was a Chinese historian, linguist, and writer. He was one of the leaders of the May Fourth Movement in 1919. He was also one of the creators of the Academia Sinica, and was named director of th ...

and anthropologist and archaeologist Li Ji were once preparatory presidents, and the archaeologist and museologist

Zeng Zhaoyu Zeng Zhaoyu (; 27 January 1909 – 22 December 1964), also known as Tseng Chao-yu in English, was a Chinese archaeologist, museologist, and politician who served as president of Nanjing Museum between 1955 and 1964. She was a member of the 2nd ...

was the first female president and also a founder of Nanjing Museum. In 1999 and 2009, extensions were built to the museum.

Buildings

The main building was designed by

Liang Sicheng Liang Sicheng (; 20 April 1901 – 9 January 1972) was a Chinese architect and architectural historian, known as the father of modern Chinese architecture. His father, Liang Qichao, was one of the most prominent Chinese scholars of the early 20t ...

in the 1930s combining Chinese and Western architectural styles. The front section is structure of traditional style and features a golden tiled roof. In the back is a Western-style flat-roof structure. Added in the 1990s to the west of the main building is an art hall which references Chinese architecture of the first half of the 20th century.

Exhibition halls

There are twelve exhibition halls at the museum. A highlight of the collection is a full-size suit of armor made from small jade tiles held together by silver wire. *Qin Garden *Earthen Ware Hall *Treasure Hall *Folk Art Hall *Bronze Ware Hall *Ming and Qing Porcelain Hall *Wu Weishan Sculpture Hall *Ancient Paintings Hall *Modern Art Hall *Jiangnan Silk Product Hall *Jade Hall *Lacquer Hall

Gallery

Paintings

File:Giant Bamboos and Stones by Li Kan.jpg, ''Giant Bamboos and Stones'' by Li Kan (1245-1320), 13th century File:Portrait of Jiang Shunfu.jpg, A

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

portrait of the official Jiang Shunfu, late 15th century File:Watching the Spring and Listening to the Wind by Tang Yin.jpg, ''Watching the Spring and Listening to the Wind'' by

Tang Yin Tang Yin (; 1470–1524), courtesy name Bohu (), was a Chinese painter, calligrapher, and poet of the Ming dynasty period. Even though he was born during the Ming dynasty, many of his paintings, especially those of people, were illustrated with el ...

(1470–1524), early 16th century File:Camellia and a Lonely Bird by Zhou Shuxi.jpg, ''Camellia and a Lonely Bird'' by Zhou Shuxi (1624–1705) File:Fisherman and Fisherwoman by Huang Shen.jpg, ''Fisherman and Fisherwoman'' by Huang Shen (1687-1772) File:Four Beauties by Ni Tian.jpg, ''Four Beauties'' by Ni Tian (1855–1919)

Lacquer

File:Western Han rectangular lacquerware box.JPG, A Western Han (202 BC - 9 AD) red-and-black rectangular lacquerware box File:Ming Dynasty lacquerware plate.JPG, A Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) black lacquerware plate File:Ming Dynasty lacquered bowl.JPG, A Ming red lacquered bowl File:Ming Dynasty mother-of-pearl and lacquer plates.JPG, A pair of Ming Dynasty black lacquerware plates with mother-of-pearl inlaid designs of domestic scenes. File:Lacquered box with character for luck, Qianlong Period.JPG, A Qing red lacquerware box with the Chinese character for "spring" inscribed on the front, dated to the Qianlong Emperor's reign (1736-1795) File:Lacquered plate, Qianlong Period, Qing Dynasty.JPG, A red lacquerware plate, dated to the Qianlong Emperor's reign

Ceramics

File:Western Jin Celadon pot (top) with decorations.JPG, A Western Jin Dynasty (265-316 AD) celadon ceramic jar with human figures, animals, and architecture. File:Song Dynasty porcelain box with flower design.JPG, A Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) porcelain box with a flower design File:Ming Dynasty porcelain dish, Hongwu Reign Period.JPG, A Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) porcelain dish from the reign of the Hongwu Emperor (1368-1398 AD) File:Ming Dynasty porcelain vase, Yongle Reign Period.JPG, A Ming blue-and-white porcelain vase from the reign of the Yongle Emperor (1402-1424 AD) File:Ming Dynasty porcelain dish, Xuande Reign Period.JPG, A Ming blue-and-white porcelain dish from the reign of the Xuande Emperor (1425-1435 AD) File:Ming Dynasty porcelain ding vessel, Xuande Reign Period.JPG, A Ming blue-and-white porcelain ding vessel from the reign of the Xuande Emperor (1425-1435 AD). File:Ming Dynasty porcelain vase, Zhengde Reign Period.JPG, A Ming porcelain vase from the reign of the Zhengde Emperor (1505-1521 AD). File:Ming Dynasty porcelain dish, Jiajing Reign Period (2).JPG, A Ming blue-and-white porcelain dish from the reign of the Jiajing Emperor (1521-1567 AD) File:Ming Dynasty porcelain bowl, Wanli Reign Period.JPG, A Ming porcelain bowl from the reign of the Wanli Emperor (1572-1620 AD). File:Ming Dynasty porcelain vase, Wanli Reign Period (2).JPG, A Ming blue-and-white porcelain vase from the reign of the Wanli Emperor (1572-1620 AD) File:Ming Dynasty porcelain box, Wanli Reign Period.JPG, A Ming blue-and-white porcelain box from the reign of the Wanli Emperor (1572-1620 AD) File:Ming Dynasty porcelain bowl, Chongzhen Reign Period.JPG, A Ming blue-and-white porcelain bowl from the reign of the Chongzhen Emperor (1627-1644 AD)

References

External links

* {{coord, 32, 02, 33.52, N, 118, 49, 12.62, E, source:zhwiki_region:CN_type:landmark, display=title Museums in Nanjing 1933 establishments in China Museums established in 1933 National first-grade museums of China