Guangxi Museum

Guangxi Museum

The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Museum (hereinafter referred to as Guangxi Museum) is a provincial (autonomous region)-level comprehensive museum of history and art, and also one of the first national first-class museums in China. Its collection includes over 70,000 cultural relics (including ancient books), spanning a time period of more than 800,000 years. Situated in the political, cultural, and commercial center of Nanning, the museum covers an area of over 40,000 square meters. In addition to its exhibition building, there is also an ethnically distinctive Cultural Relics Park, making it one of the first museums in China to adopt the model of integrating indoor exhibitions with outdoor park spaces and combining dynamic and static displays.

Guangxi Museum has weathered the transitions of two different eras. During the turbulent years of war, it underwent several relocations, name changes, and periods of stagnation, with a large number of relics lost and its development halted. It wasn’t until after the founding of the People’s Republic of China that the museum began to recover, and saw rapid development in the new century. After 81 years of trials and tribulations, it has now reached its current scale and achievements.

In the 1930s, Mr. Li Renren, a member of the Guangxi Provincial Government of the Republic of China and head of the Education Department, proposed to the provincial government the establishment of the Guangxi Provincial Museum in Nanning, the provincial capital, to promote cultural and educational development, protect and promote ethnic culture, and prevent the loss of relics. The goal was to “gather a wide array of objects, collect rare and precious items, bring them together under one roof, and provide the public with opportunities for appreciation.” On July 1, 1934, the Guangxi Provincial Museum was officially established.

During the eight-year War of Resistance against Japan from 1937 to 1945, the museum’s development fluctuated dramatically with the changing tides of war, like a drifting weed in stormy waters. In March 1937, the Guangxi Provincial Government renamed the Guangxi Provincial Museum as the Nanning Provincial Museum. On April 1, 1944, it was reorganized into the Guangxi Provincial Science Museum, and the museum was separated from the science museum in 1946. Through eight years of war and three years of civil war, the museum’s collections were repeatedly forced into evacuation and hiding, resulting in the loss of many relics, and museum operations remained stagnant for a long time.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the cultural heritage sector gradually recovered. In February 1956, the office building of the museum, located in Nanning People’s Park, was completed, and the Preparatory Office of the Guangxi Provincial Museum was established. In August, the Preparatory Office was renamed the Guangxi Provincial Museum, marking the reconstruction of the museum. Operations gradually resumed, business slowly returned to normal, and the “Guangxi Natural Specimens and Unearthed Cultural Relics” exhibition, featuring both historical and natural content, was opened to the public, attracting large crowds. In March 1958, with the establishment of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Guangxi Provincial Museum was renamed to its current title. During the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, the museum suffered severe disruption, with most operations forced to halt and relics heavily damaged. In 1977, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Autonomous Region, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Government allocated special funds to build a new museum building in Minzu Square, Nanning. In December 1978, the new museum exhibition building was completed, becoming the current site of Guangxi Museum. In 1988, the Natural History Department was spun off from Guangxi Museum to form the Guangxi Natural History Museum. In the same year, the Guangxi Ethnic Cultural Relics Park was opened to the public, serving as an extension and supplement to the indoor exhibitions and becoming a major feature of Guangxi Museum, which had a significant impact both domestically and internationally. In 2006, Guangxi Museum transferred several thousand ethnic cultural relics to the newly established Guangxi Ethnic Museum. On March 26, 2008, Guangxi Museum officially opened to the public free of charge. In the same year, it became one of the first national first-class museums announced by the National Cultural Heritage Administration, and the first such museum in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Further Reading:

· China's National First-Class Museums