Fangcheng County Museum

Fangcheng County Museum

The Fangcheng County Museum was founded in 1984 as a state-owned cultural relics exhibition hall that combines collection, display, and research. It has a collection of 1,945 cultural relics, including 619 classified as valuable. The collection spans from Mesozoic paleontological fossils to modern revolutionary artifacts, with a particular emphasis on relics from the Han and Song dynasties. These are divided into 11 categories such as bronze, pottery, porcelain, bone, wood, ivory, and jade. The new museum building covers a construction area of over 7,000 square meters, with an exhibition space of 2,618 square meters. Since its opening in November 2016, it has welcomed a total of 400,000 visitors, playing a significant role in improving public cultural services, enriching cultural life, and promoting the development of the cultural industry.

The Fangcheng County Museum is located on the north side of Shiyi Road, Xiguan, in the county town, covering an area of 3,697 square meters. It was originally a memorial temple dedicated to Zhang Shizhi, the Grand Minister of Justice of the Western Han Dynasty. Its exact founding date is unknown, but it was rebuilt and restored during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The existing structures include a three-room dining hall, a three-room ancestral hall, and a three-room rear sleeping quarters. Zhang Shizhi is buried near Hugang Village, two kilometers northwest of the county town. During his tenure as Grand Minister of Justice, he was known for his strict enforcement of the law and unwavering integrity, earning the praise, "When Zhang Shizhi serves as the Minister of Justice, there are no wronged people under heaven." Both Sima Qian's "Records of the Grand Historian" and Ban Gu's "Book of Han" speak highly of him. It is designated as a county-level cultural relics protection unit.

Climbing the fifteen steps in front of the gate and passing through the vermilion doors, a neat and tranquil ancestral courtyard comes into view: directly ahead is the "Han Minister of Justice Temple Stele," erected by imperial decree in the sixth year of the Hongzhi era of the Ming Dynasty. The stele stands over two meters tall and is about one meter wide, with a mythical Bixi creature (a legendary animal, the eldest son of the dragon, resembling a turtle and known for carrying heavy loads) raising its head at the base, and a coiled dragon-adorned stele top with the clear inscription "Record of the Han Temple of Minister Zhang." To the left, right, and front of the stele are three stone lions forming a triangle. In the northwest corner, facing south, is the main hall of the ancestral temple — a three-room, single-eave, flush-gable structure with straw-tiled eaves and a connected front and back section. The statue of Zhang Shizhi, once enshrined here for public reverence, was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. On the west side is a painted corridor, beneath which is an illustrated exhibition detailing the life and related deeds of Zhang Shizhi. The east side houses the office rooms, while the south side contains the exhibition hall. Looking around, one sees lush pines and bamboos, flowers and trees, simple buildings, and majestic memorial steles.

Further Reading:

· National Third-Class Museum of China