Anqing Museum

Anqing Museum

The Anqing Museum was established in 1978. Together with the Anqing Revolutionary Cultural Relics Exhibition Hall & Huang Zhen's Life and Deeds Exhibition Hall and the Anhui China Huangmei Opera Museum, it operates under one institution with three names. It is a comprehensive museum primarily focused on local historical relics, especially those related to modern revolutionary and theatrical history. The museum is housed in the provincial-level key cultural relic protection unit “Xiong-Fan Two Martyrs Memorial Shrine” and is now recognized as a national key museum and a national second-grade museum. It undertakes comprehensive functions such as the collection, exhibition, and research of cultural relics in Anqing, as well as cultural relic surveys and rescue archaeological excavations.

The Anqing Revolutionary Cultural Relics Exhibition Hall & Huang Zhen's Life and Deeds Exhibition Hall is located at No. 102 Linghu South Road, Anqing. Established in September 1993, it mainly collects and displays exhibits related to the life and deeds of Comrade Huang Zhen and the local revolutionary history of Anqing. It is currently a provincial-level patriotic education base, provincial-level national defense education base, provincial-level integrity education base, and provincial-level Young Pioneers education base. It also serves as the Anqing Municipal Integrity Education Activity Center and the Municipal Party Member Activity Center.

The Anhui China Huangmei Opera Museum is located at No. 6 Huzhong Middle Road, Anqing. It is the only thematic museum dedicated to Huangmei Opera in China. Established in October 2009 and opened to the public free of charge, it has collected over 4,000 items related to Huangmei Opera. The museum integrates professionalism, fun, and visual appeal, serving as an important cultural window for Anqing and a center for the collection, exhibition, and research of Huangmei Opera artistic heritage.

The Anqing Museum currently has 50 staff members, including 30 permanent employees, 3 with senior professional titles, and 15 with intermediate titles. It consists of several departments: the Conservation Department, Research Department (Information and Documentation Center), Exhibition Department, Archaeology Department (Cultural Relics Conservation Center), Huang Zhen's Life and Deeds Exhibition Hall Management Office, Huangmei Opera Museum Management Office, General Office, and Security Section. The three museums collectively house over 10,000 cultural relics, mainly including paintings and calligraphy, ceramics, bronzes, miscellaneous objects, theatrical relics, and revolutionary relics. Representative items include: a Neolithic stone-carved human face statue, a Warring States-period sword belonging to King Goujian of Yue, a large Tang Dynasty bronze mirror adorned with two parrots and tassel patterns, Taiping Rebellion sacred treasury weights and flamethrowers, iron cannons and other weapons, tomb epitaphs of 1911 Revolution martyrs, late Qing Dynasty handwritten Huangmei Opera librettos, Republic of China-era engraved Huangmei Opera libretto printing blocks, credentials of Comrade Huang Zhen from the Xinxiang Negotiations, as well as calligraphy and paintings by renowned artists such as Deng Shiru, Zheng Shan, Zheng Lin, Yu Chan, and Chen Ruomu. The museum has been awarded honors including “Anqing Municipality Advanced Unit in Summer Education Work,” “Anqing Municipality Advanced Unit in Production Safety,” “Anqing Municipality Advanced Collective of Youth Volunteers,” “Advanced Collective in Cultural Activities of the 3rd China Anqing Huangmei Opera Art Festival,” “Anhui Province Model Unit for Archiving Museum Collections,” “Anhui Province Advanced Collective in Cultural Work,” “Outstanding Contribution Award of the 5th China Anqing Huangmei Opera Art Festival,” “Second Prize in the Publication Category of the China Calligraphy Lan Ting Prize,” and “Top Six Exhibition Awards for Museum Display in Anhui Province.”

The construction project of the new Anqing Museum was approved by the Municipal Development and Reform Commission. The project site covers an area of 4.0397 hectares, with a building area of 31,634 square meters and a total investment of 260 million yuan. It is one of the municipal leadership’s key projects under the “3231” initiative and is among the priority projects for the protection and construction of our city’s historical and cultural city. It has been included in the national “11th Five-Year Plan” for the construction of rescue cultural relic protection facilities and ranks third among 50 projects in the province. The new Anqing Museum is a modern, intelligent museum with complete functions, advanced facilities, and an elegant environment. It serves as an important venue for patriotic and revolutionary tradition education in our city and is a landmark project in the development of advanced culture. The design of the new museum fully incorporates elements of Anqing. In terms of architectural appearance, aside from a dignified black-and-white color scheme, parts of the exterior walls will feature modern multimedia technology (LED display walls) combined with traditional relief craftsmanship to showcase three major themed cultural walls: Ancient Wan Huizhou Style, the Entry of Hui Troupes to Beijing, and the Defense of Anqing, reflecting Anqing’s deep historical and cultural roots. Inside the museum, visitors can also see a “Huizhou-style Courtyard” inspired by the outline of the ancient Anqing city. Its six city gates will lead visitors into different exhibition halls for a journey through history.

Further Reading:

· National Second-Grade Museum of China