Jiangyan District Museum

Jiangyan District Museum

The Taizhou Jiangyan District Museum (formerly known as the Jiangyan City Museum) is a comprehensive museum under the jurisdiction of the Jiangyan City Cultural Bureau. It was established in May 2000 through the transformation of the former Jiangyan City Cultural Relics Management Committee Office. The official opening date was May 2000. The museum is housed within the Qujiang Building at No. 219 South Street, Jiangyan City. Covering an area of 826 square meters, the Qujiang Building is a two-story, Huizhou-style structure with a front and rear section and a covered corridor layout.

The Taizhou Jiangyan District Museum was originally built around 1840 as the Qujiang Hotel, opened by the Ling family of Jiangyan. In the early years of the Republic of China, it was taken over by the Ding family of Jiangyan and reopened as the New Traffic Hotel and Yongting Teahouse. It earned the name Qujiang Building due to its location at the bend of the Tongyang River. In the summer and autumn of 1940, as the New Fourth Army advanced eastward to resist the Japanese invasion, they liberated the key town of Jiangyan in central Jiangsu on September 13. From September 14 to 30, the New Fourth Army’s Northern Jiangsu Command set up headquarters in the Qujiang Building, with Commander and Political Commissar Chen Yi staying on the upper floor. In 1986, with the support of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Government, the Jiangyan Municipal People's Government carried out restoration work on the Qujiang Building on its original site. A plaque inscribed with the name “Qujiang Building,” written by the former Secretary of the CPC Taixian County Committee, was newly hung under the front eaves. It is now a cultural relics protection unit (county/city level) and serves as a patriotic education base for Jiangsu Province and Taizhou City. In April 1996, the Jiangyan City Cultural Relics Management Committee Office moved into the Qujiang Building. Former directors of the office include Liu Zhaogang and Wang Zhengkui (serving as deputy director in charge); former museum directors include Wang Zhengkui (serving as deputy director in charge), Dou Yaping, and Wang Zhengkui. The museum’s main activities involve collecting, researching, and exhibiting cultural relics from various historical periods in the region, as well as promoting and popularizing knowledge about cultural heritage.

The Taizhou Jiangyan District Museum features three permanent exhibition areas (primarily focused on revolutionary historical materials): the first is on the west upper floor, displaying historical materials and some cultural relics related to the New Fourth Army’s eastward advance and resistance against Japan; the second is on the east upper floor, showcasing the site of the “Meeting of Representatives of the Eight Counties’ Military and Civilians” and the bedroom of Commander-in-Chief Chen Yi; the third is on the east lower floor, exhibiting historical materials on the revolutionary struggles of the people of Jiangyan from 1926 to 1948. The displays mainly consist of panels with color-printed images and text, along with cultural relics exhibited in display cases. The total area of the exhibition rooms is 285.81 square meters, featuring 101 sets of exhibits (important and distinctive items are shown in attached Image 2). These three exhibition areas serve both as basic and thematic displays.

Further Reading:

· National Third-Class Museum of China