Xiuhua Mountain Museum

Xiuhua Mountain Museum

The Xiuhua Mountain Museum is a national AAA-level tourist attraction.

Located in the city center of Zhangjiajie, the Xiuhua Mountain Museum is China's first Tujia ethnic museum. Here, the long-standing Tujia cultural art and vibrant folk performance arts achieve a high degree of harmonious unity, earning it the reputation as the "Soul of the Tujia Ethnicity" and the "Epitome of Western Hunan Culture."

The Xiuhua Mountain Museum boasts Tujia-style ethnic architecture, with graceful and distinctive designs. Its living quarters are simple and elegant, while the garden landscape is poetic and expansive—representing the perfection of traditional Tujia architecture. The museum houses and preserves a large number of fine ethnic artworks from the Western Hunan region, the result of over twenty years of dedicated collecting by its owners, Mr. Chen Chuhua and Mrs. Gong Daosiu. The collection primarily features luxurious and elegant ancient furniture from the Ming and Qing dynasties, along with an array of Tujia ethnic costumes, folk attire, embroidered items, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, ancient wood carvings, and more. Arranged in a homestyle layout, the exhibits are rich in content. The museum also offers Tujia ethnic cultural performances. Visitors can engage in activities within the Tujia-style courtyard, try on elaborately embroidered Tujia clothing for photos and videos, burn incense and candles to pray for blessings from ancient deities at the Tujia spirit altar, or even participate in a unique Tujia wedding following local customs—experiencing traditions such as riding in a flower sedan chair, paying tribute to ancestors, bowing to heaven and earth, and lifting the bridal veil.

The Tujia woodcarving art at Xiuhua Mountain Museum is truly exceptional. The woodcarvings are divided into three main categories: architectural carvings, furniture carvings, and decorative handicrafts. Architectural carvings include hundreds of pieces of Tujia furniture collected by the museum, such as beds, tables, chairs, cabinets, screens, clothes racks, washbasin stands, and dressing boxes—especially the Tujia drip-water beds, which feature novel patterns, exquisite craftsmanship, unique styles, and are incredibly beautiful. The themes of the Tujia woodcarvings at the museum are diverse. Aside from a small number of abstract patterns, most are derived from things beloved by the Tujia people, mainly falling into three categories: first, auspicious motifs such as “Abundance of Joy,” “Bumper Harvest of Five Grains,” “Dragon and Phoenix Bringing Prosperity,” “Pine and Crane Symbolizing Longevity,” as well as symbols of fortune, prosperity, longevity, and happiness, all expressing people’s beautiful wishes through symbolism and metaphor. Second, ancient heroes, opera characters, mythological legends, and fables. Third, themes depicting Tujia daily life, living conditions, and productive labor. There are also numerous carvings of birds, animals, livestock, plants, and flowers. The woodcarving materials mainly include poplar, camphorwood, pearwood, and boxwood. The carving techniques vary, encompassing relief carving, openwork carving, and round carving.

The Xiuhua Mountain Museum houses thousands of exquisite and practical Tujia textile works, including embroidery series, drawn thread work series, and woven brocade series. Examples include the items displayed in the “Embroidery Hall,” such as eave hangings, curtain headers, quilt covers, clothing ornaments, pouches, and pillow strips; the woven brocade series, featuring quilt covers, foot covers, and skirt overlays; and the drawn thread work series, including handkerchiefs and cloth wraps. These items reflect the unique textile artistry of the Tujia people.

The Xiuhua Mountain Museum combines sound and silence, static and dynamic elements to explore the Tujia people’s unique cultural arts, including songs and dances, music, birth, death, marriage, religious practices, and history. It stages a variety of traditional Tujia programs such as Maogusi, Baishou Dance, Dongdongkui (a wind instrument), Dulzi (percussion ensemble), as well as Tujia mountain songs and flower lantern performances—achieving a harmonious unity between captivating artistic performances and rich ethnic customs.