Jintan Museum

　　　    Although Jintan County has only a history of a little over 1,400 years, human habitation in the area dates back much earlier. The Xigang Sanxing Village site, discovered during the 1985 cultural relics survey, was jointly excavated six times by the Nanjing Museum and the Jintan Cultural Relics Management Committee. These excavations revealed that this Neolithic site dates back between 5,500 and 6,500 years. Over 4,000 cultural relics were unearthed at the Sanxing Village site, including the largest jade ? of its kind from the same period in China, and the earliest and most complete battle-axe ever found in the country. The archaeological findings were honored as one of the “Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries in China in 1998,” filling a significant gap in the research of Neolithic culture in China.

　　　　        The richness of the Jintan Museum’s collection also owes much to Zhang Lüjun, a contemporary Jintan-born banker and cultural relics collector. A lifelong enthusiast of antiquities, he spared no expense to acquire fine pieces whenever he encountered them. In 1987, while seriously ill, Zhang resolutely donated 136 precious cultural relics—carefully collected over more than half a century—to his hometown of Jintan. After evaluation by national and provincial cultural relics experts, seven of these items were designated as first-class national relics, including a blue-and-white ‘Three Friends of Winter’ plate inscribed with the reign mark of the Ming Xuande Emperor, a blue-and-white Persian-script plate from the Zhengde era, and Yuan Yao’s "Scenic View of Yangzhou East Garden," a masterpiece of Qing Dynasty boundary painting. Twenty-two items were classified as second-class national relics, and the rest as third-class. The total market value of this collection exceeds 100 million yuan.

　　　　        Designed by Professor Pan Guxi of Southeast University, the Jintan Museum is located in the southern scenic area of Jintan City, forming a tripartite complex with the Duan Yucai Memorial Hall and the under-construction Hua Luogeng Memorial Hall. The museum features a simple, elegant, and dignified architectural style, spread across two floors with six exhibition halls. In addition to the “Light of Antiquity” and “Eternal Devotion” halls, which showcase the splendid culture of Sanxing Village and the donated relics of Zhang Lüjun respectively, there is an introductory “Prelude Hall” presenting the long and rich history of Jintan. Other halls include “Exquisite Craftsmanship” and “Flowing Elegance of Ink,” which display the museum’s exquisite cultural relics and calligraphy and painting collections. There is also a space reserved for “Foreign Treasures” brought in by international exchanges, currently featuring wood carvings from southern Hunan.

　　Porcelain

　　Total height: 47.5 cm; diameter of the jar body: 28 cm

　　Unearthed in 1972 in Tangwang Township, Jintan County, Jiangsu Province

　　　　    It is understood that the cultural relics in the Jintan Museum span a wide range of historical periods and are displayed according to four phases: Pre-Qin, Qin-Han, Sui-Tang, and Song-Yuan-Ming-Qing. Most of the thousand (sets of) relics on display are making their first appearance in Jintan. These include fine blue-and-white porcelain pieces from the Ming Yongle and Xuande eras as well as the Qing Dynasty, top-tier ceramics from the Yue Kiln of the Tang Dynasty, the Zhangzhou Kiln and Dehua Kiln of the Ming Dynasty; masterpieces such as Lei Qilong’s "Thirty-Two Manifestations of Guanyin" from the Qing Dynasty, calligraphy scrolls by the Ming Dynasty masters Mo Shilong and Dong Qichang, and Zhang Daqian’s landscape four-panel screens from modern times; as well as other fine relics unearthed throughout Jintan’s history.

　　　　        The Jintan Museum invested over 10 million yuan, took three years to build, and houses a collection of more than 10,000 cultural relics. Its construction scale and the quality of its collections rank among the best among county-level cities in the province. The completion of the Jintan Museum fully reflects the care and attention given by the Jintan Municipal Party Committee and government to the cause of cultural relics. It provides an important platform for reflecting on history and promoting traditional culture. The museum aims to leverage the profound cultural significance of its collections to continuously strengthen its role in social education, making it an important base for patriotism and moral education, a key vehicle for fostering national spirit and spreading advanced culture, and a major window showcasing the charm of Jintan.