Jiaxing Museum

Jiaxing Museum

Located at the intersection of Jianqian Road and Hexing Road in the city center, it was established in December 1958 on the former sites of the Jiaxing City God Temple and the Fire God Temple. The museum has a total floor area of 3,000 square meters, including one cultural relics storage building and one exhibition hall. The museum houses nearly 6,000 precious cultural relics, including calligraphy and paintings, stone tools, bone artifacts, ceramics, jade artifacts, and others.

The "Exhibition of Historical Relics of Jiaxing" is the museum’s permanent exhibition. This display was reorganized and reopened on December 30, 1997. Centered around the large sculpture "Source of Hé" as a symbol, the exhibition follows a chronological sequence, showcasing Jiaxing’s 7,000-year-long splendid civilization from ancient times to the modern era within a 300-square-meter exhibition space. It highlights the Majiabang Culture, Liangzhu Culture, Wu-Yue Culture, and the culture of notable historical figures. Among the exhibits, over 430 cultural relics—including a jade huang from the Majiabang Culture and a human-headed pottery bottle from the Songze Culture—as well as more than 100 photographs focusing on Lu Zhi, a prominent Tang Dynasty politician, and Mao Dun, a renowned modern literary master, collectively present Jiaxing’s unique cultural history and scenic heritage.

Among them, the national first-class relic, the human-headed pottery bottle, is a Neolithic late Songze-period artifact excavated from the Dafen site in Daqiao Township, Xiuzhou District. With a female figure as its theme, it symbolizes the Earth Mother Goddess. The piece is divided into three sections: shoulder, chest, and abdomen. It is an exquisitely shaped, smoothly lined, and profoundly meaningful cultural treasure.

In 1993, it was selected for the China Fine Cultural Relics Exhibition and featured on the cover and first page of the "Collection of China’s Finest Cultural Relics." Another highlight is the bronze statue of Master Zhibai, also considered a rare and unique artifact. Originally housed in the former Lingyan Temple in Jiaxing (located north of the current museum site, which was the publishing place of the Buddhist canon "Jiaxing Tripitaka"), this statue of the eminent monk Zhibai was cast in the seventh year of the Ming Dynasty’s Wanli reign. The figure is seated in the lotus position, with a dignified posture, a plump face, and exquisitely detailed carving. Other notable pieces include a polychrome wood-carved Guanyin from the Liao and Song periods, a blue-glazed lotus-leaf-lidded jar from the Yuan Dynasty, a plain tri-colored porcelain boat from the Ming Dynasty, a “Hui Mengchen One-Drop Teapot,” a hanging scroll of "Fern and Rock Painting" by Lan Ying, a stele from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period in the Qing Dynasty marking the division of routes, as well as inscribed stelae from Yong’an and Changle Fortresses, and letters handwritten by Wu Changshuo. These are all considered masterpieces of cultural relics, famous both in China and abroad. In addition, Jiaxing Museum also houses a large collection of calligraphy and paintings by local artists throughout various dynasties, such as those by Shen Zengzhi and Pu Zhuying.

Boasting a rich collection, Jiaxing Museum is a microcosm of Jiaxing’s history. Therefore, it can be said that one cannot truly understand the history of Jiaxing without visiting Jiaxing Museum.