Oriental Musical Instruments Museum

　　   The Shanghai Oriental Musical Instruments Museum is the first of its kind among art institutions in China. Its establishment began in the summer of 1985, and it was formerly known as the “Chinese National Musical Instruments Exhibition Room” and the “Oriental Musical Instruments Exhibition Hall.” Inspired by the inscription of Comrade “[Name]” which reads, “Provide first-class music education and achieve internationally advanced standards,” the museum was expanded in 2001 and renamed the “Oriental Musical Instruments Museum,” with the name inscribed by former president He Luting. The current exhibition space covers a total area of approximately 1,200 m². It is divided into four exhibition areas — Ancient Chinese Musical Instruments, Modern Chinese Musical Instruments, Ethnic Minority Musical Instruments, and Foreign Folk Musical Instruments — as well as a multimedia exhibition hall.

　　   The museum currently houses a collection of about 400 musical instruments (sets). Among the ancient instruments, the oldest is the Jiahu Bone Flute, dating back 8,000 years, which already featured a seven-tone scale. Other treasures in the collection include bronze [instruments] unearthed from the Han Dynasty,

　　   bronze drums and percussion, as well as the se and guqin that have been passed down from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The largest instrument on display is a replica of the Zenghouyi Bells. The most eye-catching exhibits are replicas of items from the Shōsōin Repository in Nara, Japan — the four-stringed and five-stringed pipas from the Tang Dynasty. These are inlaid with dazzling mother-of-pearl, jade, and agate, exuding a brilliant, jewel-like splendor and exquisite craftsmanship.

　　   The modern ethnic instruments section showcases the Chinese orchestral instruments currently in use. Through dozens of wind, plucked, bowed, and percussion instruments, it highlights the reform achievements and development trajectory of Chinese instruments since the 1950s.

　　   In the Ethnic Minority Musical Instruments section, visitors can see a colorful array of wind and percussion instruments from various ethnic groups across China. Examples include the kouxian (mouth harp), baguan (octagonal lute), and xiaomendi (small bamboo flute) of the Yi people; the mallet gongs and elephant-foot drums of the Dai people; the zhanxi and lerong of the Jingpo people; the maguhu and bole of the Zhuang people; the lusheng of the Miao people; the danxian (single-stringed zither) of the Jing people; and the bawu of the Hani people. There are also instruments from the Kazakh people of Xinjiang, such as the dombra; from the Uyghur people, the dutar and ajek; from Tibetan monasteries, the dungchen and the folk instrument, the zamnye; the morin khuur (horsehead fiddle) of the Mongolian people; the janggu (hourglass drum) of the Korean people; and the bayan (octagonal drum) of the Manchu people.

　　   The Foreign Folk Musical Instruments section displays traditional and folk instruments from various countries and regions around the world. These include India’s veena, sitar, and tabla; Japan’s shakuhachi, chikuzen biwa, satsuma biwa, and kouxian; Korea’s gayageum, haegeum, ajaeng, and hyeongeum; Thailand’s klong yao, xylophone, and crocodile zither; Indonesia’s angklung; Russia’s balalaika; and Australia’s didgeridoo.

　　   Multimedia Systems and Public Access

　　   In May 2003, with funding from Hong Kong Healthcare Centre Limited, the Oriental Musical Instruments Museum underwent a multimedia information construction project. The main components included: 1. A Chinese and English touch-screen guide system; 2. Audio introduction systems for the exhibition halls in Chinese, English, and Japanese; 3. A multimedia demonstration hall; 4. A “World Ethnic Instruments Information Retrieval” system — a computer research room, etc.

　　   Starting in October 2003, the Oriental Musical Instruments Museum opened a passageway on Fenyang Road and officially began public access.