Nankai University Museum

Nankai University Museum

The Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology at Nankai University’s School of History was established through the expansion of the former Museum Studies program within the History Department. The Museum Studies program was founded in 1980, making it the first of its kind among higher education institutions nationwide. During the 1980s, in response to the new landscape brought about by China’s reform and opening-up, Nankai University gradually introduced a series of applied liberal arts programs. To meet the growing demand for professionals in the rapidly developing cultural heritage and museology field, the History Department set up a Museum Studies teaching and research section, which began enrolling undergraduates in its inaugural year, master's students in 1984, and doctoral students in 1998. In 2001, the Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology was officially established, featuring three teaching and research sections—Museology, Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and Art History—as well as the China Museology Research Center. It also houses a cultural relics specimen room, a cultural heritage and museology laboratory, and the Nankai University Museum. Currently, the department offers undergraduate programs in Cultural Heritage and Museology, and master's programs in Museology, Material Culture History, and Ancient Scripts and Antiquities Studies. Doctoral programs include Ancient Scripts and Antiquities Studies, Archaeological Cultural Relics and Museology, and Chinese Painting and Calligraphy & Art History.

At the inception of the program, a core faculty team was assembled from members of the Nankai University History Department and the national cultural relics system. This team included both experts with extensive experience in archaeology and museum work, as well as seasoned educators in historical and cultural relic studies. The first head of the teaching and research section was the renowned pre-Qin historian, Professor Wang Yuzhe.

To strengthen the teaching faculty, the program has engaged numerous distinguished scholars and experts from the cultural heritage and museology field as adjunct professors, including Fu Zhenlun, Shi Shuqing, Sun Ji, Li Xueqin, Yu Weichao, Li Huibing, and Xu Pingfang. Additionally, many other scholars in the field have served as instructors for specialized courses. Currently, the Nankai Museum Studies program has 11 full-time faculty members, including 3 doctoral supervisors, 3 professors, 3 associate professors, and 4 lecturers. Notable figures such as the celebrated painter and art historian Professor Fan Zeng, Professor Zhu Fenghan, Director of the National Museum of China, and Professor Xu Pingfang, a renowned archaeologist and researcher at the Institute of Archaeology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, serve as doctoral supervisors in the department. Over the years, the faculty has grown increasingly robust through sustained academic development.

Over the years, faculty members of the Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology have achieved remarkable results in cultural heritage and museology research through their teaching and practical work. The department has led or participated in multiple national, ministerial, and municipal social science research projects in Tianjin, with numerous treatises and papers receiving awards at national, provincial, and municipal levels. In terms of curriculum materials, the book Chinese Ancient Material Culture, compiled under the leadership of Professor Wang Yuzhe, was designated by the Ministry of Education as a foundational textbook for Museum Studies programs. The department’s publication Museum Studies Research Reference Materials has long been regarded as an authoritative reference for theoretical museology teaching and research. Currently, the department holds significant national influence in areas such as the study of ancient Chinese material culture, bronze and ancient scripts, theoretical museology, and comparative museum studies.

The Nankai Museum Studies program has blazed a trail in exploring teaching methodologies suited to the realities of China’s museums. After nearly two decades of effort, it has developed a comprehensive academic curriculum system grounded in the history of material culture, with core disciplines in Museology, Cultural Relics Studies, and Archaeology. This system has provided constructive experience for curriculum development at peer institutions. Today, the department offers a wide range of undergraduate to doctoral courses, essentially covering all aspects of practical work and scientific research in cultural relics, archaeology, and museology.

Over the past twenty years, the Nankai Museum Studies program has trained hundreds of professionals, including graduates, undergraduates, college-level students, and trainees, for the cultural heritage and museology sector. Many of them have become key figures in cultural relics administration and archaeological research, playing an indispensable role in China’s cultural heritage field.

With the support of cultural heritage and museology institutions across the country, the Nankai Museum Studies program has gradually built essential infrastructure such as a cultural relics exhibition room, specimen room, and cultural heritage and museology laboratory, improving teaching conditions. After years of effort and extensive collection efforts, the cultural relics exhibition room now houses a collection of over 3,000 items, including national first- and second-class relics. These include some original artifacts from Nankai University, donations from individuals and organizations, and more that were acquired through the dedicated efforts of faculty members from various cultural heritage departments nationwide after the program’s establishment. The current quantity, quality, and diversity of relics generally meet the needs of teaching practice. Between 1999 and 2001, with funding from the National 211 Project, the original Museum Studies exhibition room was redesigned, offering an exhibition area of 500 square meters. Conditions for displaying, preserving, and safeguarding relics were significantly improved. On this basis, the Nankai University Museum was established and opened to the public.