Ming and Qing Dynasties Fengbang Stone Window Art Museum

Ming and Qing Dynasties Fengbang Stone Window Art Museum

The Ming and Qing Dynasties Fengbang Stone Window Art Museum is located in Toutou Village, Xiaowangmiao Subdistrict, Fenghua City.

The museum was completed and opened to the public on October 1, 2003, with a construction area of 2,000 square meters. Its exhibition corridor is inlaid with a total of 108 stone windows, mainly featuring exquisite stone windows from the Ningbo area during the Ming and Qing periods. These are divided into five major series: figures, animals, plants, symbolic patterns, and characters, and come in various shapes including square, rectangular, circular, oblong, octagonal, diamond, and fan-shaped—offering a dazzling array that is a feast for the eyes.

Among them, the “Four Dragons Holding a Lotus Window with a Longevity Character,” from the mid-Ming period, is the finest piece in the museum. This window originally came from the “Floating Raft Pavilion” in the home of Fenghua scholar Wu Minglei and has remained exquisitely preserved for 400 years. The four vivid dragons and the bold “Longevity” character in the center, along with the swirling vines on the side panels—graceful as flowing clouds and water—demonstrate exceptional craftsmanship. Such finely made stone windows are rarely seen today, and this one is hailed as the “finest window” in the Stone Window Museum.

In addition, there is the also mid-Ming period “Nine Lions Window,” carved with nine lions in diverse poses. The lions' bodies and manes are arranged with varied density, creating an ornamental charm. The “One Vine Window” from the late Qing period is an abstract design based on floral and plant motifs, symbolizing endless vitality and everlasting prosperity. The “Grassflower and Peach Window” from the mid-to-late Qing period features a “Longevity” character in various script styles, integrating the traditional designs of “Longevity” and “Peach.” There are many other beautiful stone windows on display.

These stone windows were painstakingly collected over more than ten years by Fenghua collector Lin Xin. Lin Xin also owns the earliest extant stone window from China’s Song Dynasty, as well as the largest ancient stone window in China—a single piece measuring 3.2 meters in length and 1.1 meters in width. His collection of ancient Chinese stone windows numbers around 1,000 pieces, the largest such collection in China.