Sichuan Song Porcelain Museum

Sichuan Song Porcelain Museum

The Sichuan Song Porcelain Museum is a national AAA-level tourist attraction, as well as a science education base and a patriotic education base.

The Sichuan Song Porcelain Museum is located in Suining, Sichuan. Its exterior is modeled after a Southern Song Dynasty celadon ovoid vase. The jade-like celadon glaze shimmers softly under the spring sunlight, while the dome-shaped ovoid construction subtly embodies the inclusive philosophy of “greatness lies in inclusiveness,” making it a classic design for a museum of its kind. According to reports, this 5,000-square-meter museum, with a total investment of over 18 million yuan, is currently the only specialized museum for Song porcelain in China. Taking a market-oriented approach to build a state-owned museum is a fresh endeavor for the institution.

The old museum was located at Tian Shang Gong in the city center of Suining. It was a courtyard house built during the Xianfeng era of the Qing Dynasty and covered only 2,000 square meters. The facilities were inadequate, and the layout was unsuitable for exhibiting cultural relics. Both exhibitions and preservation efforts faced significant limitations. The entire venue more closely resembled a noisy teahouse — exquisite porcelain was locked away inside a room, under supervision but inaccessible to visitors. Historical treasures were left collecting dust. These beautiful ceramics lay quietly waiting for someone to clean them off, and that wait lasted 12 years.

The call for developing Suining's tourism through Song porcelain finally woke this decade-long dream. However, for a central Sichuan hilly city primarily relying on agriculture, with limited government finances for large-scale investments, building a decent public-interest-oriented professional museum was simply beyond reach.

The site of the original old museum, Tian Shang Gong, was located in the city center and surrounded by high-rise buildings, which hindered both the protection of cultural relics and the potential expansion of the museum. The idea of operating the city provided new insight into the museum’s expansion: to relocate and restore the original structure elsewhere, while auctioning off the original site. On November 9, 2002, at a special auction for the museum's former location, the land sold for 3.59 million yuan per mu (approx. 666.67 m²), setting a record price for real estate in Suining at the time. This brought in 10.9 million yuan from the sale of land use rights — a vital funding source for constructing the new Song Porcelain Museum. Meanwhile, the original Qing Dynasty building of Tian Shang Gong was relocated as a whole to the new site, preserving its architectural style intact. Moreover, seizing the opportunity of urban development, the team actively developed a mere 4-meter-wide idle plot of land adjacent to Tian Shang Gong — an unexpectedly successful move that earned approximately three million yuan in economic returns. Even a dilapidated ancient building known as Bai Fu Yuan, often overlooked, became a highly sought-after asset. By using market strategies, they acquired its property rights and gained an additional one million yuan in revenue.

Unveiling the “hidden gem” of Song porcelain, giving it a platform, tapping into the exhibition market, and maximizing the social and economic value of these cultural relics, proved to be a win-win solution for preservation. After countless efforts, Suining’s Song porcelain pieces participated in a series of national and regional exhibitions, including the "Roots of Bashu" Fine Cultural Relics Exhibition at the Fifth China Art Festival in Chengdu, the “China Fine Cultural Relics Exhibition” and the “Fiftieth Anniversary of the Founding of PRC Archaeological Achievements Exhibition” in Beijing, the “China Fine Cultural Relics Exhibition” held in Hong Kong for the handover of Hong Kong, and the “China Cultural Relics Masterpieces Exhibition” in Macau for the return of Macau. In addition, the international exhibitions market was further expanded. Over 130 pieces of Song porcelain were selected for a nine-month touring exhibition in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Yamaguchi Prefecture’s Akune City, generating nearly two million yuan in income — an important milestone in financing the museum’s construction.

Extended Reading:

· National Second-Class Museum of China