Handan Museum

Handan Museum

Handan Museum is a cultural heritage conservation unit and a patriotic education base in Hebei Province.

Handan Museum is situated in the central section of Zhonghua Street in the city center, facing the “Zhaowulingwang Congtai” (Terrace of King Wuling of Zhao), and features a grand and imposing structure. In October 1999, it was named a Provincial Patriotic Education Base by the Hebei Provincial Party Committee and Government. In January 2017, it was awarded the status of a National First-Class Museum. The museum building is now a Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit of Hebei Province, covering a land area of 18,000 square meters with a building area of 11,000 square meters. The museum currently has 20 exhibition halls of various sizes, with an exhibition area of 5,500 square meters, capable of hosting large-scale permanent exhibitions and various temporary displays.

Handan Museum currently hosts five major thematic permanent exhibitions: “Cishan Culture,” “Zhao Culture,” “Exhibition of Chinese Cizhou Kiln Porcelain,” “Exhibition of Chinese Historical Coins,” and “Handan Ancient Stone Carving Art.”

1. General Introduction Hall

The north, east, and south walls of the first-floor lobby of the museum are adorned with three large forged copper murals, designed by Professor Wang Huaiqi, former chairman of the Hebei Artists Association and president of the Provincial Academy of Fine Arts. These are among the largest indoor forged copper murals in China. The mural on the front (east wall) depicts the grand scene of King Wuling of Zhao in Hu-style attire shooting on horseback; the north wall mural reflects the living scenes of the Cishan Culture, while the south wall mural showcases the Wei-Jin cultural style of Ye City, the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties.

In the center of the lobby stands a 3-meter-high bronze galloping horse group sculpture, created based on the Warring States bronze horses unearthed from Tomb No. 2 of the Zhao Kings’ Tombs. It integrates with the background mural “King Wuling of Zhao in Hu-style Attire Shooting on Horseback,” symbolizing the spirit of Zhao culture: “pioneering, reforming, and striving upward.”

2. Exhibition of Cishan Culture

The Cishan Culture dates back approximately 8,000 years and was discovered in 1972 in Cishan Town, Wu’an City, Handan. It represents the first prehistoric early Neolithic cultural remains found in North China. Archaeological excavations uncovered not only house foundations, ash pits, and grain storage cellars but also more than 6,000 artifacts and botanical and zoological specimens including pottery, stone tools, domestic fowl and livestock, and carbonized millet. Among them, the discoveries of “millet,” “walnuts,” and “domestic chicken bones” are currently the earliest known records in the world. The Cishan Culture exhibition displays over 100 cultural relics, covering aspects such as agricultural cultivation, fishing and hunting, livestock breeding, primitive handicrafts, primitive art, and beliefs, comprehensively presenting the life scenes of the Cishan ancestors.

3. Exhibition of Chinese Cizhou Kiln Porcelain

The Cizhou Kiln got its name from its location in the ancient Cizhou region and is one of China’s great ancient folk kiln systems. It has been in continuous production since the Northern Dynasties, spanning the Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties to the present day, earning the title “A Thousand-Year-Old Kiln, Everlasting.” The Cizhou Kiln is world-renowned for its white-glazed porcelain, characterized by strong contrasts between black and white, striking patterns, and the combined use of carving, incising, scraping, and filling techniques, pioneering a new approach to ceramic painting and decoration in China. It was once celebrated with sayings such as “Jingdezhen in the south, Pengcheng in the north” and “Pengcheng within a thousand li, yielding gold by the bushel every day.” It was one of the six major kiln systems during the Song, Jin, and Yuan dynasties and still ranks among China’s eight major porcelain production areas today. The exhibition displays 327 cultural relics from various periods, comprehensively reflecting the thousand-year journey of the Cizhou Kiln’s emergence, development, and prosperity.

4. Exhibition of Handan Ancient Stone Carving Art

Stone carving art is a splendid part of China’s cultural and artistic heritage, and Handan’s stone carving tradition has a long history. As early as 8,000 years ago, the Cishan people created primitive stone carving forms such as stone grinding plates and stone grinding rods. During the Northern Dynasties, Ye City became a center of Buddhism in northern China, leaving behind the cave carvings of the Northern and Southern Xiangtang Mountains and numerous individual stone statues, giving rise to the “Northern Qi style” of Buddhist statuary art. The exhibition focuses on individual Buddhist statues unearthed in Handan in recent years, among which the white marble statues from Ye City and the red sandstone statues from Changle Temple are the most exquisite. The exhibition also presents the grotto statue art within Handan through photographs.

5. Exhibition of Zhao Culture

In 386 BC, King Jinghou of Zhao moved the capital to Handan, ruling for 158 years through eight generations of monarchs. King Wuling of Zhao promoted “Hu-style attire and horseback archery,” worked diligently to govern, leading to unprecedented economic prosperity in the Zhao region. The region enjoyed rich and diverse culture and arts, vibrant academic thought, and flourishing music and dance, making Handan the political, economic, military, and cultural center of the vast area north of the Yellow River. Within the vast region encompassing central and southern Hebei, most of Shanxi, parts of Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, Henan, and Liaoning, the Zhao Culture was formed. It is uniquely characterized by the duality of Central Plains Huaxia culture and northern steppe culture, holding an important place in Chinese history. The exhibition displays over 150 cultural relics including bronzes, pottery, and stone tools, deeply reflecting the essence of Zhao culture.

6. Exhibition of “The World of Round and Square – Chinese Historical Coins”

Chinese historical coins are diverse and rich in content, closely tied to social life. The “World of Round and Square – Chinese Historical Coins” exhibition primarily features precious historical relics collected by Handan Museum over the years, supplemented with necessary auxiliary materials. Through perfect artistic forms and modern display techniques, it strives to comprehensively and three-dimensionally present ancient coins from various historical periods from the Shang to modern times, coin minting techniques, and aspects of folk customs and cultural features. It depicts the development of Chinese coins, popularizes monetary and financial knowledge, and reveals the rich political, economic, and cultural connotations behind the coins. At the same time, as Handan is a historic and cultural city, many coins were minted in connection with this ancient city, with special emphasis placed on showcasing coins related to local Handan history, such as those from the Zhao State, Eastern Wei and Northern Qi, the pseudo-Qi regime, and the modern Jinan South Bank.

The exhibition aims to provide a comprehensive display of the development of Chinese coins to audiences at home and abroad, to popularize basic numismatic knowledge among the general public, and does not focus on displaying rare coins. It also educates the public about outstanding traditional culture and patriotism, demonstrating the diligence, wisdom, and great creativity of working people through each exquisite historical relic.

Since opening free of charge in 2009, Handan Museum has adhered to the philosophy of “people-oriented, open management,” strengthened service awareness, implemented the “Three Closeness” principle, actively followed President Xi Jinping’s directive to bring cultural relics to life, and focused on the requirements of free admission. Significant progress has been made in museum management, exhibitions, cultural relic research, international cultural exchanges, social education, volunteer services, and public cultural activities. The museum receives nearly 300,000 visitors annually, achieving excellent social benefits.

Further Reading:

· National First-Class Museums of China