Shangqiu Museum

Shangqiu Museum

Shangqiu Museum is located in the southwest urban new district of Shangqiu. It collects, displays, and exhibits historical relics from various dynasties in Shangqiu, the city’s evolution, and the history of Chinese Shang culture. The main body of the museum consists of three stacked floors of exhibition halls, surrounded by water features and courtyards. Beyond the water and courtyards are terraced green spaces that step down progressively, with raised embankments on the outer edges (featuring outdoor exhibition corridors underneath), while the cultural relics, operational, and office spaces form an L-shaped volume situated on the embankment in the northwest corner. There are four entrances to the museum—north, south, east, and west—with the main entrance located at the south gate. The other three gates serve purposes such as VIP access, temporary exhibitions, and offices.

The overall layout and spatial sequence of the museum reflect and reproduce the typical form and characteristics of flood-prone ancient cities, represented by the Guide Ancient City of Shangqiu, making the museum akin to a miniature ancient city. The vertically stacked main structure symbolizes the archaeological stratification of “city upon city,” and also reflects the exhibition layout from bottom to top, ancient to modern.

Visitors ascend to the embankment via grand steps and ramps facing Ebao Road, then cross a bridge over the water to enter the “city” through the central introductory hall on the south side. Moving upwards, they follow the ramps in the central cruciform hall (symbolizing the main cross street of the ancient city) to visit each exhibition hall in sequence, eventually reaching the rooftop platform. From the viewing platforms at each corner of the building’s main structure, visitors can gaze toward famous historic sites in different directions—such as the Ebao Terrace, Guide Ancient City, and the ruins of the Sui-Tang Grand Canal dock—reflecting on the past and present.

The surrounding sunken landscape terraces simulate the excavation of cultural relic sites, giving the impression that the main building has been unearthed. The ancient pictograph for “Shang” means “descendants of the Zi clan living on high terraces.” The stepped embankments, platforms, and visitors on the museum form the imagery of “descendants of the Zi clan on high terraces,” recreating the ancient meaning of the character “Shang” and bridging history with the present.

The museum extensively uses an affordable type of “Lu Grey” stone as the primary material for interior and exterior surfaces. Inspired by the museum’s collection of Han Dynasty stone reliefs, each stone slab is treated with a beveled edge and a sand-blasted center, arranged in offset joints to create refined details. Resin-coated solid wood panels are added indoors, using the same standard size of 100cm x 50cm as the stone, enhancing the warmth and comfort of the interior space.

Attraction Location

No. 183, Kaishe Middle Road, Liangyuan District, Shangqiu City, Henan Province

Phone

0370-2514486

Further Reading:

· National Second-Class Museum of China