Jinyun County Museum

Jinyun County Museum

Jinyun County Museum is a comprehensive history and art museum, classified as a national third-grade museum. It is located at No. 140 Huanglong Road in the new urban district of the county town, covering an area of 5,375 square meters with a construction area of 3,780 square meters. It was officially put into use in 2003, officially opened to the public in December 2006, and has been open to all free of charge since January 1, 2008. The museum includes exhibition halls (6), cultural relics storage, a central control room, a stele corridor, a foyer, offices, and other facilities. It houses three permanent basic exhibitions: the "Jinyun History Exhibition," the "Li Zhenjian Art Exhibition," and the "Exhibition of Artistic Masterpieces from the Museum’s Collection of Stone Rubbings." The museum's cultural relic collection is abundant, totaling over 1,800 items across more than ten types such as ceramics, jade artifacts, calligraphy and paintings, stone rubbings, historical documents, ancient books, folk relics, and revolutionary relics. The collection is particularly characterized by the calligraphy and paintings of Li Zhenjian, including nine second-grade precious relics and 157 third-grade precious relics.

The layout of the museum draws inspiration from the three “lines” found in traditional ancient residences—the central axis, the through-line, and the auxiliary corridor line: The central axis serves as an underlying guideline for the arrangement of the exhibition halls, directing visitor flow while also meeting the ceremonial requirements of the architecture; the through-line is repurposed as a passageway for internal office use on the north side, emphasizing simplicity and efficiency; the auxiliary corridor line acts as a temporary exhibition route parallel to the central axis, connecting the temporary exhibition halls, the public rest area, and the stele corridor. With a more relaxed and casual atmosphere, it complements the serious themes of the central axis. This flowing whole, created by straight points, lines, and planes, is full of vitality, extending and expanding the originally limited space.

At the museum entrance, there is a long rectangular water pool with a flat bridge. On the east side of the bridge’s outer wall is carved a rectangular shallow relief in stone. The relief condenses the essence of Jinyun’s cultural relics, adding cultural elements to the otherwise plain facade and enhancing its sense of gravitas. The interior public areas are paved with black polished tiles, while the inner walls and ceilings are painted white with latex paint. The contrast between black and white continues the traditional aesthetic of white walls and black tiles found in local residences. The dark, shiny floor subtly reflects the walls and columns, resembling the appearance of traditional stone-paved lanes. This effect is further enriched by the traditional-style door frames on the lounge’s decorative wall and the circular stone openings, infusing every corner of the exhibition halls with the ambiance of a Jiangnan ancient town.

From the foyer up to the second floor, the south side features a corridor leading to the terrace, while the north side houses the main exhibition area of the museum in a “回” (square-shaped) layout, divided into three main sections.

The eastern section is the history exhibition hall, with a floor paved in bluish-gray rough stone and walls and ceiling in a light sky-blue tone. The display cases are glass cabinets with natural wood-colored bases, featuring top and bottom lighting with cool, light-toned sources. Background music such as the “Yellow Emperor Temple Sacrificial Music” and “Jiangnan Silk and Bamboo Music” plays softly, reflecting Jinyun’s identity as the southern ancestral temple of the Yellow Emperor, the progenitor of Chinese civilization. The exhibits follow a chronological arrangement, divided into four parts: early culture, Tang-Song culture, Yuan-Ming-Qing culture, and modern revolutionary struggles.

The western section is a reconstructed scene of Mr. Li Zhenjian’s former studio. The setup is neat and minimalist, featuring a painting desk, a writing desk, a bookshelf, a rattan chair, and the stationery tools he used during his lifetime, fully reflecting the artistic character of a modern artist. All items were personally used by Mr. Li and arranged by his wife, even the placement of ornaments on the bookshelf, the order of books inside, and the arrangement of stationery on the painting desk follow his original habits. Apart from a desk lamp by the painting desk, natural light is used throughout the studio.

In the center of the “回”-shaped exhibition area is the museum’s main exhibition hall—the “Li Zhenjian Art Hall.” The entire hall is designed plainly yet artistically, combining cool tones with a simple yet moving residential style, surrounded by naturally lit exhibition corridors. Upon entering, visitors are greeted by a blue-brick wall, with a row of warm-toned lights at the top and the golden characters “情系翰墨” (Emotion Bound to Ink and Brush) inscribed below. At the center of the wall is a golden relief portrait of Mr. Li Zhenjian. The ceiling decoration features a grid-like design, and the central axis of the floor is paved with bluish-gray small square bricks, forming the exhibition pathway and exuding the simple, serene atmosphere of ancient streets. Around the edges, scattered milky-white lime particles are spread evenly with the bluish-gray bricks, adding a sense of space and fluidity to the hall. The exhibition walls use exposed gray steel plates as the basic framework, paired with gray display panels. The upper and lower parts of the back of the panels are lit with soft blue lights, while the upper part of the front panels is illuminated with localized warm lighting. The rear exhibition area uses transparent vertical glass display cases, extending the spatial feel of the hall. The simple bluish-gray tones, elegant light blue hues, and the scattered milky-white lime particles blend together like ink washes in Chinese painting—both hazy and distinct. To preserve the longevity of the artworks, this hall hosts periodic thematic exhibitions, primarily showcasing over a hundred works by Mr. Li Zhenjian. Most of the paintings and calligraphies are framed in glass, facilitating their display and transport.

The Jinyun Museum’s collection spans over ten types, including ceramics, jade artifacts, calligraphy and paintings, stone rubbings, historical documents, ancient books, folk cultural relics, and revolutionary relics. The collection is particularly characterized by the calligraphy and paintings of Li Zhenjian. The museum features two permanent basic exhibitions: the Historical Relics Exhibition and the Li Zhenjian Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition. Temporary exhibitions are also frequently organized. The Historical Relics Exhibition, titled "Jinyun Becomes Cloud, Its Blessing Long Lasting," mainly displays Jinyun’s historical culture, divided into four parts: early culture (prehistoric – Sui and Tang dynasties), Tang-Song culture, Yuan-Ming-Qing culture, and modern revolutionary struggles. Multimedia displays present texts, images, and information about Jinyun’s history, culture, and figures. Its rich content best showcases the value of the relics. The Li Zhenjian Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition highlights the lifetime artistic achievements of Mr. Li, featuring texts and images introducing his life and accomplishments, a reconstruction of his study, and a focus on showcasing fine works of calligraphy and painting from various periods in his collection.

Precious Collections of Jinyun Museum Include:

Tang Dynasty Bronze Mirror with Clouds, Dragons, Two Magpies Holding Ribbons, and Moon Palace — Diameter: 15.1 cm. The surface of the bronze mirror is glossy and black. The edge of the back is raised in an octagonal lotus pattern. The main design features traditional motifs: at the top, a jade rabbit in the moon palace pounding medicine with lifelike expression; on the sides, two magpies holding ribbons flying wing to wing toward the moon palace; at the bottom, a leaping dragon amid waves, flanked by two stylized lingzhi cloud patterns. The mirror has a round knob in the center with a hole for a cord.

Yuan Dynasty Celadon Water Dropper — 8.5×5.5 cm, excavated. It has a small round mouth, sloping shoulders, a slanted belly, and a conical base, with hexagonal feet extending from the mid-belly to the bottom. On one side of the body is a standing frog-shaped figure, with hands placed flat on the shoulder of the vessel as if holding a fishing basket, rendered in a lifelike manner. The green glaze is even and lustrous. The shape is unique, with smooth lines.

Li Zhenjian’s Figure Painting "Tranquility" — Ink on paper, mounted as a handscroll. On the right side of the scroll is an Indian girl, gazing downward with affection, her facial tones delicately rendered, hair outlined and shaded, and garments depicted primarily through outlines using calligraphic strokes, with ink varying between dry and wet. The upper part of the scroll contains an inscription written horizontally: “Tranquility depicts the life sentiment of Indians. Written in Singapore in the past year of Xīnmò, by Zhenjian, who remembers.” It bears a white-seal inscription of the characters “Zhenjian.”

Further Reading:

· National Third-Grade Museum of China