Jiangning Museum

Jiangning Museum

Jiangning Museum is located by the Qinhuai River in Zhushan Park, Chengdongshan Town, Jiangning District, Nanjing. The main building is a traditional-style structure nestled among green hills and clear waters, offering a serene environment. Jiangning is home to numerous cultural relics and historic sites, with 66 officially designated protected heritage sites at various governmental levels, making it one of China’s counties rich in cultural heritage. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, nearly 10,000 artifacts have been unearthed from ancient ruins and tombs in the area, including renowned national treasures such as the fossilized skull of the "Nanjing Man," the Southern Dynasties celadon lotus-shaped zun, the celadon mythical beast zun, the blue-and-white plum vase with the "Xiao He Chasing Han Xin under the Moon" design from the late Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty underglaze red plum vase, and the drunken man agate cup. Most of these treasures are now housed in the Nanjing Museum and the Nanjing Municipal Museum in Jiangsu Province.

Jiangning Museum currently houses a collection of about 2,000 cultural relics, primarily including a Western Han bronze fang, a Western Han bronze tripod with an ox-shaped knob and three legs, a large Han Dynasty jade bi disk, a Han Dynasty painted lacquer bowl, a land deed from the first year of the Tianci era during the Eastern Wu period, a Buddhist mirror from the Eastern Wu, a chicken-head pot from the Eastern Jin, a frog-shaped water dropper, a celadon-glazed porcelain pillow from the Song Dynasty, a bronze weighing weight from the Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty glazed architectural components, as well as a large number of bronze mirrors, pottery funerary objects, and jade artifacts. These relics vividly reflect the creativity and daily life of people throughout Jiangning’s history, serving as powerful educational tools for patriotism and historical and artistic learning today. Many of Jiangning’s relics were excavated in areas such as Xiaodanyang, Hushu Town, Moling Town, Jiangning Town, and the outskirts near Nanjing, indicating that these modern towns—once administrative centers of various dynasties—still retain abundant historical relics. These areas remain a focal point for the museum's future work. The museum also places strong emphasis on collecting modern and contemporary artworks, particularly pieces by local Jiangning artists. On July 1, 1997, to celebrate Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, the museum organized a special “Celebrating the Handover Art Exhibition” and acquired several exhibited works for its permanent collection.

The museum places great importance on publicly displaying its collections, ensuring that cultural resources are shared with society. The “Jiangning Historical Relics Exhibition” is open year-round, with exhibits regularly updated. Temporary exhibition halls also host art shows featuring calligraphy and paintings. These exhibitions have received widespread acclaim from all sectors of the community. In 1995, the Jiangning County Party Committee Propaganda Department designated the museum as a “Patriotic Education Base.”

Further Reading:

· National Second-Class Museum of China