Hetian Museum

Hetian Museum

Hetian Museum is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction.

The Hetian Regional Museum was established in 1995, housing a collection of 9,066 cultural relics. It has a total floor area of 3,400 square meters, including two large exhibition halls, six small ones, one underground cultural relics storage room, and one academic research and exchange center.

The museum held its opening ceremony on the afternoon of October 29, 2005, in Hetian City on the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang, officially opening to domestic and international tourists. On August 25, 2006, the second-floor Hetian Folk Custom Exhibition opened, attracting widespread attention from people both at home and abroad. It also serves as a base for promoting Hetian, providing patriotic education to visitors, and as an important cultural window for opening up to the outside world.

According to Museum Director Maitekirimu Simayi, the Hetian Museum currently stores 9,499 various cultural relics and exhibits, along with over 600 books. Among these, there is one national-level relic and more than 545 classified as nationally precious relics. Most of these valuable items were excavated by archaeologists in the Hetian region since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, with a small portion donated by local individuals. Therefore, it can be said that the Hetian Museum is a comprehensive museum.

In ancient times, the Hetian region consisted of the territories of the kingdoms of Pishan, Yutian, Qule, Jushi, and Shule, and was the largest oasis on the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert. "The cultural relics housed in the Hetian Museum authentically recreate the splendid handicraft textile techniques, pottery sculpture art, painting art, and Buddhist culture of the Hetian region throughout history," said Aierken Mijiti, Deputy Director of the Cultural Relics Bureau of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Around 3,000 years ago, the kingdom of Yutian was established on the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert. During the Western Han Dynasty (approximately 2,000 years ago), the Yuji family became kings and ruled Yutian. In 60 BC, it came under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate of the Western Regions and was officially incorporated into China’s territory. In the mid-7th century, the Tang government established the Anxi Grand Protectorate south of the Tianshan Mountains, and in 675, set up the Pisha Duhufu in Yutian, which governed ten prefectures. During the Yuan Dynasty, it was part of the fiefdoms of Mongolian princes. Between 1279 and 1289, the Yuan government established the Xuanweisi Yuanweifu here. In the 24th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1759), the Hetian Administrative Commissioner was appointed. In 1884, when Xinjiang was established as a province, the Hetian Direct-Controlled Prefecture was created, governing the counties of Yutian and Luopu. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Hetian region was established, encompassing Hetian City and the seven counties of Hetian, Moyu, Pishan, Luopu, Cele, Yutian, and Minfeng.

Around the BC era, Buddhism was introduced to Yutian. Due to the devout faith and vigorous promotion by King Yuji’s family, numerous temples were built and Buddha statues and murals were created within Yutian. Buddhism attained a supreme status there, making Yutian a sacred land of Buddhism. At the same time, a large number of Mahayana scriptures spread from Yutian to the Central Plains, making it the birthplace of Mahayana Buddhism in China.

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the “Greater and Lesser Yuchi,” who were painters active in Luoyang and Chang’an respectively, brought the Buddhist painting techniques of Yutian to the Central Plains. The “Yutian Painting School” absorbed the shading techniques of India and Central Asia, integrated the lines of Central Plains painting, and added local Yutian elements, forming a unique painting style that profoundly influenced the development of Buddhist art in China.

The land of Hetian is one of the cradles of ancient civilization in Xinjiang and a key town along the ancient “Jade Road” and “Silk Road,” where Chinese and foreign economic and cultural influences converged. Over time, sites gradually became buried by drifting sand. From the late 19th century to the 1930s, foreign “explorers” and “archaeologists” such as Swedish Sven Hedin, British Aurel Stein, Japanese Otani Kozui, German Albert von Le Coq, and others flocked to the area in search of cultural remains and looted relics. This resulted in the destruction of almost all ancient sites within the Hetian region and the dispersal of many exquisite relics overseas—to institutions such as the British Museum in London, the National Museum of India in New Delhi, and the Bremen Museum in Germany—marking a “sad chapter” in the archaeological history of Hetian prior to the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Field surveys have identified approximately 156 cultural heritage sites across the Hetian region, with over 10,000 various cultural relics unearthed. Notable sites include the “Sangzhu Rock Paintings” in Pishan County, the “Shanpula Ancient Tomb Complex” and “Rawak Stupa” in Luopu County, the “Mazatag Ruins” in Moyu County, the “Niya Ruins” in Minfeng County, the “Kaladun Temple” and “Yuan Sha Ancient City Ruins” in Yutian County, and the “Dandan-Uiliq Ruins” in Cele County. The newly built Hetian Museum houses a selection of relics excavated from these sites, providing valuable physical materials for the study of the history of civilization in China’s Western Regions.

On November 27, 2020, the Hetian Museum in Hetian City, Hetian Region, was designated as a national 4A-level tourist attraction.

Further Reading:

· China National Third-Class Museum