Harbin University of Commerce Commercial Culture Museum

Harbin University of Commerce Commercial Culture Museum

The Harbin University of Commerce Commercial Culture Museum was established in 1996. It consists of four specialized exhibition halls: the Monetary and Financial Museum, the Harbin Commercial Ticket Museum, the Cultural Revolution Ticket Museum, and the Harbin University of Commerce History Museum. Covering a total area of 1,500 square meters, the museum houses over 15,000 exhibits. The Monetary and Financial Museum, the Harbin Commercial Ticket Museum, and the Cultural Revolution Ticket Museum were donated and built by Professor Zhang Xinzhi.

Composition

Monetary and Financial Museum

Established in September 1996, it is the first specialized coin exhibition hall in Chinese universities. After two relocations and expansions in 2002 and 2006, it now covers an area of 300 square meters and houses a collection of more than 6,000 items. These include currencies, tickets, and financial historical materials from various historical periods ranging from the pre-Qin era to the People’s Republic of China. The exhibits are divided into ten sections: “Metal Currencies of Various Chinese Dynasties,” “Ming and Qing Dynasty Paper Money,” “National Bank Paper Money of the Republican Era,” “Local Bank Paper Money of the Republican Era,” “Private Local Banknotes of the Republican Era,” “People’s Currency and Tickets,” “Japanese Puppet Currency and Tickets,” “Tsarist Russian Paper Money,” and “Financial Historical Materials.” Among these, the “Japanese Puppet Currency and Tickets” section systematically and comprehensively displays financial evidence of Japan’s economic aggression and plunder during its invasion of China, featuring unique characteristics exclusive to this museum.

Harbin Commercial Ticket Museum

Established in late 2008, it is a thematic ticket exhibition hall showcasing the commercial history and culture of old Harbin. Covering an area of 400 square meters, it houses over 2,000 exhibits, including various old commercial tickets from Harbin during the Republican era and the puppet state of Manchukuo, as well as related precious images. The exhibits are divided into six sections: “The Historical Positioning of Harbin’s Business District,” “The Former Glory of Time-Honored Chinese Brands,” “The Bygone Shadows of National Industry and Commerce,” “The Old Splendor of Foreign Trading Companies,” “The Colorful Culture of Tickets,” and “Old Banknotes Issued and Circulated in Harbin.” Its unique and systematic content makes it the first of its kind in China.

Cultural Revolution Ticket Museum

Established in 2012, it is the first museum in China dedicated exclusively to displaying Cultural Revolution tickets. Covering an area of 180 square meters, it houses over 6,000 exhibits, including various tickets, certificates, badges, quotations, statues, and daily necessities from the Cultural Revolution period. The exhibits are divided into four sections: “Red Imprints,” “Deified Leaders,” “The Eastern Bible,” and “Tickets of the Era.” As living fossils of that absurd chapter in history, the exhibits carry distinctive characteristics of the time.

University History Museum

As a special component of the Commercial Culture Museum, the Harbin University of Commerce History Museum covers an area of over 600 square meters. Through 152 exhibition panels, it systematically and comprehensively showcases the development of disciplines and majors, educational achievements, scientific research accomplishments, party building, and ideological and political work over the university’s 60-year history since its founding in 1952, especially after the establishment of Harbin University of Commerce. The sections include “Historical Evolution,” “Founding the Foundation,” “Today’s Glorious Chapter,” “Leadership Care,” and seven other parts. It fully demonstrates the glorious 60-year development of Harbin University of Commerce and its distinctive features centered on commerce-related disciplines, aiming to cultivate talent through commerce and refine character through elegance.

Functions

The functional positioning of the Commercial Culture Museum includes educational, teaching, and research roles. This is determined by the multiple cultural elements, profound historical background, rich professional knowledge, and diverse artistic forms embodied in the exhibits.

Educational Function

The dynastic currencies displayed in the Monetary and Financial Museum are a microcosm of China’s politics, economy, culture, and technology over thousands of years, reflecting the rise and fall of different historical periods. Among the featured exhibits, the “Japanese Puppet Currency and Tickets” not only comprehensively display financial evidence of Japan’s invasion of China but also profoundly reveal the principles of “survival of the fittest” and “backwardness invites aggression,” making them highly significant for patriotic education. The “People’s Currency and Tickets” section displays precious revolutionary relics that authentically depict the fervent period of China’s New Democratic Revolution, offering epoch-making educational value for revitalizing China and achieving national rejuvenation in the new era. The Harbin Commercial Ticket Museum exhibits commercial tickets and related photos from the Republican era and the puppet state of Manchukuo, serving as true carriers of Harbin’s social, economic, political, and cultural history. The profound and splendid history and commercial culture of Harbin have important practical significance in cultivating and inspiring the love for the hometown and the passion for construction among the people of Heilongjiang. The various tickets, quotations, badges, and daily necessities displayed in the Cultural Revolution Ticket Museum authentically record and showcase the disastrous and catastrophic history of the Cultural Revolution, carrying extremely unique educational and cautionary significance. The content exhibited in the University History Museum, especially the arduous entrepreneurial journey of Harbin University of Commerce and its glorious achievements over 60 years, will surely inspire the love for the university among faculty, students, and alumni, and strengthen our confidence and determination to create a bright future for Harbin University of Commerce. In addition, the technological knowledge contained in the exhibits of the Monetary and Ticket Museums—such as material production, design printing, anti-counterfeiting techniques, authenticity identification, and damage handling—also serves a unique function in science popularization education.

Teaching Function

The currencies, stocks, bills of exchange, promissory notes, time drafts, bonds, insurance policies, bankbooks, commercial documents, and financial literature in the museum’s collection contain rich professional financial knowledge. They serve as rare physical reference materials for financial courses such as monetary banking, securities investment, and the history of monetary finance, making the museum a practical base for financial teaching and fulfilling a unique and valuable teaching function.

Research Function

The museum’s vast and diverse collection, with its profound cultural connotations, holds abundant and unique research resources. Relying on the collection, systematic and in-depth research can be conducted in areas such as coins, the history of Chinese monetary finance, the financial aggression and plunder of imperialist powers against China, local currencies of Heilongjiang, and the commercial history of Harbin. This establishes the museum as an important research base in these fields.