The Exhibition Building of Anhui Provincial Museum

The Exhibition Building of Anhui Provincial Museum

The Exhibition Building of Anhui Provincial Museum is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Exhibition Building of Anhui Provincial Museum is located within the Anhui Provincial Museum on the north side of Anqing Road in Hefei. Completed in February 1956, it serves as the main structure of the museum, with a construction area of 11,580 square meters and an exhibition area of 7,826 square meters.

The Exhibition Building is designed in a Soviet-style architectural form, featuring a brick-concrete structure, facing south and north, and taking on a U-shaped layout. The central main building has five floors (with the fifth floor being a tower), while the two side auxiliary buildings have two floors that serve as exhibition halls. The architecture is simple yet majestic, with a regular floor plan, axial symmetry, and a solemn and dignified appearance. The main building stands tall and prominent, with gently extending corridors, making it one of the three major buildings constructed in Hefei during the 1950s and bearing distinct architectural characteristics of that era.

Anhui Provincial Museum is the only museum publicly inspected and given important guidance by Comrade Mao Zedong during his lifetime. In 1958, during his visit to the museum, he stated, “Every major city in a province should have such a museum. It is very important for people to understand their own history and the power of their own creativity.” This statement became the guiding principle for the development of museums in New China and led to the first boom in museum construction after the founding of the People’s Republic. Around that time, other veteran revolutionaries including Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, and Liu Shaoqi all inspected the museum, and Marshal Chen Yi inscribed the name of the Exhibition Building. The museum became one of the four model museums nationwide in the 1950s.

In May 2013, the State Council (State Council Document [2013] No. 13) announced the Exhibition Building of Anhui Provincial Museum as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Protected Area: Outside the main walls of the building, extending 5 meters east, 15 meters south, 37 meters west, and 30 meters north.

Construction Control Zone: Beyond the protected area, extending 90 meters east, to the southern red line of Anqing Road to the south, 90 meters west, and 155 meters north.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units