Huai'an Museum

Huai'an Museum

Huai'an Museum is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction.

Huai'an Museum was first established in March 1959 as a comprehensive history museum and serves as the city’s center for cultural relic collection, exhibition, and archaeological research. The first phase of the new Huai'an Museum covers an area of seven acres with a construction area of 5,000 square meters, located at No. 146-1 Jiankang West Road, Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province. It was completed in October 1997 and opened to the public. It is a modern building that blends classical charm with contemporary style. The main building of the new museum has four floors, with parts extending to five, clad in marble, with forty-eight grand steps leading directly to the second floor, giving it a majestic, clean, and elegant appearance. To ensure the safety of cultural relics, all exhibition halls and storage rooms are equipped with modern anti-theft alarm systems, closed-circuit television surveillance, automatic fire alarms, and firefighting equipment. The museum's name was inscribed by Mr. Aisin-Gioro Pujie.

As a municipal-level comprehensive history museum, the institution has a sound management structure, strong capabilities in scientific research and field archaeology, and has achieved fruitful academic results. Over 80 academic papers and archaeological reports have been published in national, provincial, and municipal cultural and museum journals such as China Cultural Relics News, Chinese Archaeology, and Southeast Culture, including “Iconographic Interpretation of Bronze Ware from the Guozhuang Tomb of the Warring States Period in Huaiyin,” “Feather Banners of the Warring States Period,” “Bronze Vehicle Ornaments from the Guozhuang Tomb of the Warring States Period in Huaiyin and Related Issues,” “Pre-Qin Gold Fittings in Archaeological Records,” “The History of Huai'an City,” “Jiangsu Cultural Relics Atlas – Huai'an Volume,” “Huai'an Epigraphy Record,” and “The Fan Family Portrait Stone Tomb at Dagudun in Siyang.” Among them, “Bronze Vehicle Ornaments from the Guozhuang Tomb of the Warring States Period in Huaiyin and Related Issues” won the Third Prize for Outstanding Academic Achievement in Philosophy and Social Sciences in Jiangsu Province for the years 1999–2000.

To support major national, provincial, and municipal infrastructure projects and protect underground cultural relics, Huai'an Museum has carried out archaeological surveys, explorations, and rescue excavations for eight major projects: the Huaihe River into the Sea Channel, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the three-line ship locks of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the Yihuaijiang Expressway, the Yihuai Railway, the Ningsuxu Expressway, the Suhuaiyan Expressway, and the Ninghuai Expressway. A total of 165 cultural heritage sites were discovered, including ancient ruins, tombs (clusters), stone carvings, and ancient wells. Rescue excavations were conducted on 17 sites from the Neolithic Age, Western Zhou Dynasty, and Han-Tang periods, 30 ancient wells from the Han to the Tang-Song periods, and over 300 ancient tombs from the Warring States to the Ming-Qing periods. Nearly 3,000 cultural relics and specimens were unearthed, including 128 classified as national treasures, adding valuable physical materials for the study of Huai'an’s ancient history.

First Floor Conference Center: Lavishly decorated and elegant, it is equipped with a large central air conditioning system, sound, and lighting facilities. It has hosted hundreds of important events, including the municipal “Two Sessions” (People’s Congress and CPPCC), with warm and considerate service that has received unanimous praise from the municipal government and event organizers. The courtyard displays some typical locally unearthed stone reliefs, steles, and stone carvings.

Second Floor Exhibition Hall: Hosts various temporary exhibitions of cultural relics, paintings, calligraphy, and other categories at any time. It has previously hosted exhibitions such as the “Pan Yuliang Artworks Exhibition,” “Qing Dynasty Imperial Artifacts Exhibition from the Palace Museum,” “Marine Life Specimen Exhibition,” “Through Thick and Thin – National Painting and Calligraphy Exhibition,” “Glorious Twenty Years Achievements Exhibition,” “Centennial Commemoration Art Series Exhibition,” “National Defense Education and Space Science Popularization Exhibition,” “Chinese Family, Women, and Children Painting Exhibition,” “Diplomatic Gifts of Founding Leaders Exhibition,” “Science Popularization Exhibition of Northern Jiangsu Cooperative Region,” as well as major temporary exhibitions designed and produced by the museum itself, such as the “National Anti-Drug Large-Scale Photo Exhibition” and “For Tomorrow – Huai'an Youth Crime Prevention Legal Education Exhibition.” The museum organizes or hosts over ten temporary exhibitions annually, receiving nearly 100,000 visitors (including domestic and international dignitaries, experts, scholars, and friends), earning high praise from all sectors of society and generating positive social impact. In addition, through active exchanges, the museum reaches out and invites participation, strengthening ties with all sectors of society and museum colleagues, organizing various thematic exhibitions, and hosting or co-hosting temporary exhibitions reflecting Huai'an’s achievements in the Three Civilizations (material, political, and spiritual).

Third Floor Cultural Relics Exhibition Hall: Features two main permanent exhibitions – “Exhibition of Huai'an Historical Relics” and “Exhibition of Huai'an Cultural Relics Masterpieces.” With a long history and rich cultural legacy, Huai'an has yielded an abundance of cultural relics. The bronze round pot of Chen Zhang from the Warring States Period, unearthed in 1982 in Modian Township, Xuyi County, is considered a national treasure. Among them, the engraved bronze ware and bronze chariot ornaments from the Guozhuang Tomb of the Warring States Period in Gaizhuang, unearthed in 1978 in the southern part of the city, are rare among similar domestic finds. The museum’s collections span categories such as ceramics, jade, bronze ware, coins, and paintings, with nearly 700 relics on display, including over 130 masterpieces.

Fourth Floor Painting and Calligraphy Exhibition Hall: The permanent exhibitions include the “Exhibition of Paintings and Calligraphies Donated by Mr. Xu Bopu” and the “Exhibition of Modern Paintings and Calligraphies from Huai'an in the Museum Collection.” The 110 donated artworks by Mr. Xu Bopu include genuine works by 48 renowned modern figures such as Yu Youren, Zhang Daqian, Xu Beihong, Qi Baishi, Chen Shuren, Lin Fengmian, Liang Shiqiu, Yang Zhongzi, Wang Yachen, Pan Tianshou, and Li Keran. The collection of such a comprehensive and high-caliber selection of modern masters has become a hallmark of the museum’s holdings. Among them, Yu Youren’s “Eight Pages of Family Letters,” calligraphy by Zheng Xiaoxu and Liang Shiqiu, landscape scrolls by Zhang Daqian, Lin Fengmian, and Huang Junbi, oracle bone script couplets by Dong Zuobin, Shang Yanliu, and Yang Zhongzi, Xu Beihong’s “Standing Horse” and “Sparrow,” Pan Tianshou’s “Lotus,” Lü Fengzi’s “Maiden,” and Li Keran’s “Herding Cattle” are all rare artistic treasures. The “Exhibition of Modern Paintings and Calligraphies from Huai'an in the Museum Collection” showcases works by nearly 100 modern artists from Huai'an.

Huai'an Museum is also recognized as a “Patriotism Education Base,” “Science Education Base,” and “Legal Education Base” in Huai'an. It serves as an important window and model for the city’s spiritual civilization construction and as an artistic destination for both domestic and international visitors to Huai'an.

In the future, Huai'an Museum will continue to strive for innovation, provide civilized services, maintain standardized management, and fully leverage its strengths — a rich and distinctive collection, beautiful environment, and comprehensive facilities — to offer visitors a serene and traditional setting with warm and hospitable service. Through appreciating the cultural relics, guests can experience the ancient civilization of Huai'an, a historic city, and witness its subtle changes over time, thus achieving moral cultivation and aesthetic enjoyment. We warmly welcome all sectors of society, experts, scholars, and friends from home and abroad to visit and provide guidance.

Further Reading:

· National Second-Class Museum of China