Quanzhou Maritime Museum

Quanzhou Maritime Museum

The Quanzhou Maritime Museum is a base for patriotic education.

China’s only museum dedicated to maritime history

Abbreviated as the “Maritime Museum,” its old building houses an Ancient Ships Exhibition Hall within the Kaiyuan Temple, displaying a Song Dynasty ship unearthed in 1974 at Houzhu Port—the earliest and largest of its kind found in China—along with a large number of accompanying artifacts. It stands as one of the most significant discoveries in the history of natural science in China. The new museum is located east of Donghu Park in downtown Quanzhou, resembling a grand sailing ship. It houses four exhibition halls: the Quanzhou Maritime History Exhibition, the Quanzhou Religious Stone Carvings Exhibition, the Ancient Chinese Ship Models Exhibition, and the Quanzhou Folk Culture Exhibition. With a collection of over 10,000 items, it boasts numerous world-renowned cultural treasures. Among them, the stone sculpture of the Hindu god Vishnu is the only one of its kind in China, serving as a witness to the cultural exchanges between China and India in the 14th century and is particularly precious. The museum also displays inscribed stones and tablets related to Islam, early Christianity, Hinduism, and Manichaeism, serving as valuable historical materials for the study of religious history in China. In addition, there is a large number of artifacts reflecting the folk culture of maritime trade, bearing witness to the development history of Quanzhou, the “largest eastern port” of the medieval era, as well as China’s maritime trade and friendships with countries across Asia and Africa.

In 1959, under the advocacy of Minister Zheng Zhenduo of the Central Ministry of Culture and Director Wang Yeqiu of the National Cultural Relics Bureau, the Quanzhou Maritime Museum (hereinafter referred to as the Quanzhou Maritime Museum) was established.

It marked the beginning of China’s maritime history entering the sacred hall of museums. With the splendid Chinese maritime civilization, it presents to the world a magnificent historical panorama of the Chinese people’s conquest of the sea.

Over the past nearly 50 years, the Quanzhou Maritime Museum has grown from nothing, expanding from small to large, and has developed into today’s center for showcasing China’s maritime history and a research base, as well as a national “Patriotic Education Demonstration Base,” enjoying a high reputation both at home and abroad.

The Quanzhou Maritime Museum currently has three specialized exhibition halls: the Quanzhou Maritime History Exhibition Hall, the Ancient Export Ceramics Exhibition Hall, and the Religious Stone Carvings Exhibition Hall. The museum has established the “China Maritime History Research Center,” a national academic research organization that publishes the journal *Maritime History Studies*.

(Image source: Official website of the Quanzhou Maritime Museum)

Address: No. 425, Donghu Street, Fengze District, Quanzhou City, Fujian Province

Type: Museum

Recommended visiting time: 1–2 hours

Phone: 0595-22100561

Opening hours:

8:00–17:00, closed on Mondays except public holidays. (The museum is currently closed and will reopen on August 15, 2017)

Ticket information:

Free admission.

Information source: Fujian Provincial Department of Tourism Development

Further reading:

· National First-Class Museum of China