Shandong Century Textbook Museum

Shandong Century Textbook Museum

Situated in Zibo City, the ancient capital of the Qi State, the Shandong Century Textbook Museum is located within the Impression Qidu Cultural Industry Park at No. 255 Zhongrun Avenue, High-Tech Zone. With a total area of 22,000 square meters and a collection of over 20,000 books, it is currently Asia’s first, largest single-structure, and most comprehensive interactive experiential textbook museum. Its completion not only fills a gap in China’s museum landscape but also provides valuable documentary resources for the study of the century-long history of textbooks, becoming a new urban landmark that carries cultural memory. “Small textbooks, great wisdom” is the soul of the museum. From the founding of the Imperial Capital Tongwen College in 1862 to today’s multimedia classrooms, the museum showcases the history of textbooks over the past century through ten themed sections—New Schools Emerge, School Days, The Home Front, New China, Commune Glory, Science & Math, Learn from Workers & Farmers, Strive for the Gaokao, The New Century, and New Textbooks—presented via immersive scene reconstructions.

As the only museum in China that uses textbooks as a lens to explore the development of modern and contemporary Chinese culture, the Textbook Museum serves as an ideal venue for patriotic education. It awakens dormant memories and takes visitors on a journey through a century of history. Though the sweeping changes of the past are now behind us, the surviving textbooks carry indelible significance. The solemn imprints engrave the profound upheavals of history; the shifting colors convey messages both distant and clear. Whether for the elderly or children, familiarity and curiosity collide here, sparking new insights. Especially for children, it fosters a deeper understanding of history, reflection on the past, and appreciation for the hard-won comfort and superior learning environments of today. This aligns perfectly with the museum’s mission: to deeply explore the history of education—and the stories behind the textbooks; more importantly, to help us understand ourselves and our future.

In addition to its rich cultural atmosphere and patriotic spirit, the Textbook Museum also offers a variety of engaging, educational interactive activities. These include school enrollment ceremonies, the Study of Tonal Patterns, the First Writing Ceremony, movable-type printing, tie-dyeing, traditional papermaking, DIY pottery, sand art, cloisonné, paper filigree, grain paintings, water marbling, and more—activities beloved by visitors and children alike.

Further Reading:

· National Third-Class Museum of China