Hangji Toothbrush Museum

Hangji Toothbrush Museum

According to historical records, in the sixth year of the Daoguang reign during the Qing Dynasty, or 1826 AD, Liu Wanxing, a resident of Hangji, was inspired by the wooden hairbrushes traditionally used by brides to style their hair—brushes that applied a sticky solution made from soaked paulownia wood shavings to set their hairstyle. He replaced the wooden handle with one crafted from ox bone and manually inserted white horsehair to create a toothbrush, branding it as “Three-Star.” This product was the first of its kind in Hangji, Yangzhou, and gradually evolved into an item presented as a tribute to the imperial court. The techniques also spread to well-known modern Chinese toothbrush manufacturers. This shows that China’s modern toothbrush manufacturing industry originated in Hangji Town, Yangzhou, and has been passed down through generations continuously to this day.

The Toothbrush Museum is located within Hangji Town, Hanjiang District, Yangzhou City—the "Toothbrush Capital of China"—on the south side of Sanxiao Avenue. It was built on the excellent foundation of the Hangji Central Plaza and Hangji Cultural and Sports Center, which involved a total investment of 100 million yuan. Covering an exhibition area of over 800 square meters with a total investment of nearly 10 million yuan, the museum was constructed over the course of more than a year by the local government to preserve toothbrush-making craftsmanship, enhance regional cultural identity, and establish Hangji Town’s leading position in the global toothbrush industry. It is the only museum in China and the world named after and dedicated to the toothbrush industry. It has been open to the public free of charge since May 2010.

The Toothbrush Museum houses a collection of over 40 historical toothbrush artifacts, including two Tang Dynasty toothbrushes and two Liao Dynasty toothbrushes of significant historical and archaeological value, as well as toothbrush specimens from various historical periods. The exhibits are arranged according to toothbrush manufacturing techniques, displaying both the production processes of primitive bone-handled toothbrushes and those of modern toothbrushes. The museum also uses wax figures to recreate authentic scenes of toothbrush production at the time. Additionally, hundreds of renowned brands from Hangji’s unique toothbrush industry are showcased, along with the highest-quality toothbrush products representing the current state of the industry. Original documents conferring the title of “Toothbrush Capital of China” are also displayed, narrating the journey of Hangji’s toothbrush industry from adversity to glory.

In addition, the museum has set up a local industrial product exhibition hall covering an area of over 100 square meters, displaying representative products from other special industries in Hangji Town such as hotel sundries, hygiene products, new packaging materials, specialty wires and cables, as well as woodblock printing. Notably, the woodblock printing section showcases the traditional exquisite craftsmanship of the “Hangji Yangbang,” which has been recognized as a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage. It also houses valuable woodblock-printed books such as Mao Zedong’s Commentaries on the Twenty-Four Histories and the Imperially Commissioned Complete Library of the Four Treasuries.

The Toothbrush Museum provides an excellent platform for the development of distinctive industrial culture and also serves as a great destination for local residents and visitors from all walks of life to explore cultural and museum venues.