Shanghai Museum

Shanghai Museum

Shanghai Museum is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction and a patriotic education base.

Shanghai Museum is a large museum of ancient Chinese art, with an exhibition area of 2,800 square meters. It houses a collection of 120,000 precious cultural relics, particularly noted for its bronzes, ceramics, calligraphy, and paintings. The richness of its collections and the exceptional quality of its artifacts have earned it an outstanding reputation both in China and abroad.

Shanghai Museum was established in 1952, originally located at No. 325 West Nanjing Road in the former Shanghai Race Club, marking the beginning of its development. In October 1959, it moved to the former Zhonghui Building at No. 16 Middle Henan Road. During this period, the museum grew from small to large and achieved significant development in all aspects. In 1992, the Shanghai Municipal Government made the decision to allocate a prime site in People’s Square in the city center for the construction of a new Shanghai Museum building.

The museum has an exhibition area of 2,800 square meters, featuring separate exhibition rooms for Chinese bronzes, ceramics, paintings, and ancient sculptures. Exhibitions such as “Treasures of Shanghai Museum – Bronze Exhibition,” “Six Thousand Years of Chinese Art,” “Shanghai Museum Collection of Ceramics,” “Ming and Qing Calligraphy Exhibition,” “Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou Exhibition,” and “Scholar’s Studio Exhibition of the Late Ming Dynasty” have been displayed in Hong Kong, Japan, and the United States.

Historical Background

Shanghai Museum began preparations in April 1950 and officially opened on December 21, 1952. In its early days, the museum was located at No. 325 West Nanjing Road (formerly the Race Club Building). In 1959, it moved to No. 16 South Henan Road (formerly the Zhonghui Bank Building). In 1991, a 4,000-square-meter cultural relics warehouse was built at No. 1118 Longwu Road. In 1992, a branch of Shanghai Museum—the China Numismatic Museum—was established at No. 1286 Hongqiao Road. In the same year, the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government decided to construct a new building for Shanghai Museum, selecting a site on the south side of the central axis of People’s Square—at No. 201 People’s Avenue, facing the Municipal Government Building from afar. Masterpieces of Ming and Qing Furniture

Partial completion and trial opening took place in 1995, with full completion and official opening on October 12, 1996. The new museum covers a land area of 11,000 square meters, with a floor space of 38,000 square meters, two underground levels and five above-ground floors, standing 29.5 meters high, with a total investment of 570 million yuan. The architecture combines a square base with circular protrusions, symbolizing the Chinese concept of “round sky and square earth.” The name “Shanghai Museum” was inscribed by Chen Yi, Shanghai’s first mayor after the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

In its early days, the museum was under the administration of the Shanghai Cultural Relics Management Committee; in July 1953, it was placed under the leadership of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture; in September 1960, the Cultural Relics Committee and Shanghai Museum shared offices under one name and one team; in January 1987, Shanghai Museum was upgraded to a deputy bureau-level institution; in October 1988, the Shanghai Cultural Relics Management Committee resumed independent status, and Shanghai Museum was again placed under its administration; in September 2010, after the establishment of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage, all units previously managed by the Cultural Relics Committee, except for Shanghai Museum, were transferred to the administration, while Shanghai Museum came directly under the leadership of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee’s Propaganda Department.

Shanghai Museum (26 images) In its early days, Shanghai Museum adopted the organizational model of Soviet museums, using a three-department-and-one-office system, with departments for Conservation, Exhibition, Public Engagement, and an Office. In 1958, a Conservation Workshop was established; in 1960, a Laboratory for Cultural Relics Protection Technology was set up; in June of the same year, the Shanghai Mounting Production Cooperative merged into Shanghai Museum, forming a Painting and Calligraphy Mounting Group within the Conservation Workshop. In 1974, to strengthen academic research, an Exhibition Research Department was created, including five research groups for bronzes, ceramics, paintings, crafts, and exhibition design, along with an Archaeology Department; in 1985, the research groups were elevated to departmental level, the computer group became a separate office, and a Cultural Exchange Office was added. By 1995, to align with the new museum’s construction, further adjustments were made, resulting in 15 departments, 7 offices, and 3 divisions.

Over the past 60 years, the exhibition system of Shanghai Museum has undergone four major adjustments and revisions. In its early days, the basic exhibitions were arranged by historical periods, featuring ten exhibition rooms including the Prehistoric Period, Shang Dynasty, Western Zhou to Modern Crafts, collectively reflecting the development of Chinese art through the ages. After relocating in 1959, the layout changed to reflect stages of social development, with exhibition rooms for Primitive Society, Slave Society, Early and Late Feudal Society, and Modern Crafts. Beginning in 1966, the Cultural Revolution led to the removal of Shanghai Museum’s exhibitions. In 1972, operations resumed, and comprehensive displays were replaced by thematic exhibitions, establishing four specialized displays—bronzes, ceramics, paintings, and ancient sculptures—with over 1,400 exhibits covering 3,400 square meters. Starting in 1986, an investment of 6.2 million yuan was made to renovate the four exhibitions, giving them a completely new look. With the full completion of the new museum in 1996, there were dedicated galleries for Bronzes, Ceramics, Calligraphy, Painting, Sculpture, Jade, Coins, Furniture, Seals, Ethnic Minority Crafts, as well as the Hu Huichun Porcelain Donation Gallery—Temporarily Gained Tower Ceramics Gallery—and three temporary exhibition halls, with a total exhibition area of 12,000 square meters, three times larger than that of the old museum.

Suggested Visit Duration

For those interested in museums, it is recommended to set aside at least 6 hours for your visit.

Transportation: Subway Lines 1, 2, and 8 to People’s Square Station; Buses 574, 112, 123, 71, 934, 145, 46, 167, 18, Tunnel Line 6; City Sightseeing Bus Lines 1 and 2.

Admission

Free. Chinese audio guide: 20 RMB per unit for 6 hours, requires a valid ID and a deposit.

Opening Hours

9:00–17:00, last entry at 16:00. Starting October 9, 2017, Shanghai Museum is closed every Monday (see Shanghai Museum announcements at http://www.shanghaimuseum.net/museum/frontend/articles/I00004092.html).

Location

201 People’s Avenue, Huangpu District, Shanghai (near Wusheng Road)

Further Reading:

· National First-Class Museum of China