Chengdu Bashu Han Pottery Art Museum

Chengdu Bashu Han Pottery Art Museum

The Bashu Han Pottery Art Museum is located near Wenshu Monastery and is the first privately owned museum in Sichuan Province to be open to the public free of charge. The museum delves deeply into and vividly displays the development of Han pottery culture in Chengdu and across China through multiple dimensions—its origins, craftsmanship, artworks, and societal context—bringing back the splendor of the ancient Shu region's deep connection with Han pottery.

The museum has two treasured masterpieces: a pair of 120-centimeter-tall stone horses and a "Three Phoenixes Facing the Sun" money tree. One horse is being led by a groom, with a carriage behind it and serene figures seated inside. On closer inspection, the horse’s head, body, and tail are not made from a single mold but are crafted in three separate parts and then assembled into one. The horse’s head is held high, capturing the dynamism of the entire scene.

Next to the pottery horse stands what people often refer to as the "money tree." The entire money tree is made of bronze, standing 1.73 meters tall including its base, and consists of five tiers. Its designs primarily feature dragons, phoenixes, beasts, and human figures—especially the phoenix tails on the top tier in the "Three Phoenixes Facing the Sun," whose intricate details are so fine that some gaps are only as wide as a strand of hair. As the name suggests, the "leaves" of the money tree are all square-holed copper coins, densely hanging from the branches. So numerous are they that many visitors fail to notice them until someone points them out, upon which they exclaim in delight, "So this is what a money tree really looks like!"

The exhibition hall also showcases scenes of livestock breeding among the Han people of Shu during that era—majestic guard dogs, crouching sheep, field animals, chickens, ducks, and more. A gray pottery hen and chicks unearthed from Mianyang depict the mother hen sheltering four chicks under her wings and carrying another on her back. She and a nearby rooster crane their necks, vigilantly watching the sky as if guarding against an eagle attack—a scene rendered with remarkable lifelikeness.

Address: No. 9, Jiangyuan Gongsuo Street, Qingyang District, Chengdu

Type: Museum

Recommended visiting time: About 2 hours

Phone: 028-86918387

Opening hours:

9:00-17:00

Ticket information:

Free admission.