Taicang Museum

Taicang Museum

The new building of Taicang Museum is located at No. 100 Shanghai East Road, Taicang City. It borders Dongting South Road to the east, Banjing Road to the west, and the Taicang Administrative Center to the north. With a total investment of 126 million yuan and a construction area of 14,000 square meters, the new museum features an overall design in the shape of a “round granary.” While toning down the literal image of a “grain storage building,” it captures the essence of a “container,” embodying the profound Chinese cultural value of “greatness lies in inclusiveness,” and showcasing the long-standing historical legacy and humanistic essence of Taicang.

Established in 1987, Taicang Museum is among the first county (city)-level museums founded in Jiangsu Province and is the only local comprehensive museum in Taicang. The museum houses a collection of over 2,000 items, including ceramics, bronzeware, calligraphy and paintings, and jade artifacts. Among them, five national first-class relics—including the Ming Yongle blue-and-white “Floral Scroll” sunflower-shaped plate, the Ming Letter-Paper Selection Volume, the Ming Ancient and Modern Examination Volume, the Ming Household Essentials Classified Collection Volume, and the handwritten album pages from the tomb of Shi Zhenshi and his wife—are considered national treasures. Other historically significant and regionally unique artifacts related to Zheng He’s voyages and maritime history include the epitaph of Shang Houshengyuan, a Ming military officer, and that of Lady Zhang. Additionally, the museum holds many other rare and precious items such as a Yuan Dynasty Longquan celadon lidded jar, a Ming Dynasty calligraphy scroll by Gui Zhuang titled “Cursive Script Presented to Wang Yankè,” a Qing Dynasty painting by Sheng Dashì titled “Rain-Cleared Mountains and Streams,” and a Qing Dynasty blue-and-white doucai plate featuring sea dragons.

The basement level of the new museum houses the cultural relics storage area, processing workshop, space for large equipment, and an underground parking lot. From the first to the fourth floor, the layout includes: two temporary exhibition halls on the first floor; six permanent exhibition halls on the second and third floors (featuring thematic displays such as “Collection of Cultural Relics,” “Collection of Calligraphy and Paintings,” “Special Exhibition on the Loudong Painting School,” and “Taicang Cultural History Exhibition”), and three planned exhibition halls on the fourth floor, totaling 11 exhibition halls with an exhibition area of approximately 7,000 square meters.

The museum also manages two cultural heritage sites: the Former Residence of Zhang Pu and the Former Residence of Wang Xijue. Among them, the Former Residence of Zhang Pu was designated as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit by the State Council in June 2006, while the Former Residence of Wang Xijue is a Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Further Reading:

· China's National Second-Class Museum