Tongcheng City Museum

　　The Tongcheng City Museum was established in 1984 and is located within the Tongcheng Confucian Temple, a key cultural relic protection unit of Anhui Province. It covers an area of approximately 7,000 square meters. The museum houses a collection of over 4,000 exquisite cultural relics, including a bronze zun with beast ears from the Spring and Autumn Period, a bronze spear from the Warring States Period, a bronze bell from the Han Dynasty, a tiger-shaped vessel from the Western Jin Dynasty, a lotus society zun from the Six Dynasties, a bronze mirror from the Tang Dynasty, a Longquan-ware washbasin from the Song Dynasty, a porcelain incense burner from the Yuan Dynasty, and a winter melon jar from the Ming Dynasty. The collection is particularly distinguished by calligraphy and paintings by renowned Tongcheng figures from the Ming and Qing dynasties, such as Fang Yizhi, Fang Bao, Yao Nai, Zhang Ying, and Zhang Ruocheng, which showcase distinctive local characteristics. Other notable items include cursive script mid-hall scrolls, couplets by Li Hongzhang, and handwritten works by Yan Fengying, as well as a variety of modern and contemporary relics.

　　Over the past decade, the Tongcheng Museum has independently organized and introduced more than 40 major exhibitions, including the “Exhibition of Fine Porcelain in the Collection,” “Exhibition of Fine Bronze Ware in the Collection,” “Exhibition of Fine Calligraphy and Paintings in the Collection,” the “Pan Yuliang Art Exhibition,” the “Famous Calligraphy and Paintings from the Taipei Palace Museum,” the “Terracotta Army of the Qin Mausoleum Exhibition,” the “Taiping Rebellion History Exhibition,” the “Ancient Coins Exhibition,” the “Eighteen Arhats of the Bao'en Temple from the Ming Dynasty Exhibition,” and the “Marine Life Exhibition.” These exhibitions are known for their high standards and refined taste, and have been highly popular with visitors, attracting an average annual attendance of around 40,000. A delegation from the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, including historical and cultural city inspection group members Luo Zhewen, Zheng Xiaoxie, and Shan Shiyuan, once inscribed at the Tongcheng Museum: “In the past, the city was filled with officials and scholars whose writings were unrivaled under heaven; today, culture rises again to lead the way once more.” In 1991, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Culture of China awarded the Tongcheng Museum the title of “National Advanced Collective in Cultural Work.” In 1994, the National Cultural Heritage Administration awarded it the title of “National Outstanding County-Level Museum.”

　　The Tongcheng City Museum has four permanent exhibition halls. The “Fine Relics Gallery” displays exquisite cultural relics in the collection, including bronze ware, ceramics, calligraphy and paintings, and miscellaneous items. The “Tongcheng School Cultural Relics Exhibition Hall” introduces the founding, flourishing, decline, and key representative figures of the Tongcheng prose school. The “Clay Sculpture Exhibition in the Dacheng Hall” features clay sculptures of Confucius, one sage, four dukes, twelve philosophers, as well as imperial plaques and couplets from the Qing Dynasty. The “Yan Fengying Artistic Career Exhibition” is divided into four sections—From Art, Rebirth, Glory, and Legacy—which collectively illustrate the theme that “Huangmei Opera gave rise to Yan Fengying, and Yan Fengying developed Huangmei Opera.”

　　Among the precious collections are the bronze zun with beast-mask ring-patterned ears and the Longquan kiln washbasin. The bronze zun with beast-mask ring-patterned ears, from the Spring and Autumn Period, is round with a flared mouth, straight neck, sloping shoulders, a converging lower belly, and a ring foot. It has a diameter of 22 cm and a height of 41 cm. Each side of the shoulder is adorned with a beast head. The shoulders and belly are decorated with stylized beast-mask ring-patterned bands. The Longquan kiln washbasin is a standard piece from the Southern Song Dynasty Longquan kiln. It stands 3.9 cm tall, with a flared mouth, thick lip, straight sloping belly, short ring foot, and an unglazed base. The entire piece is free of decorative patterns and coated with a bean-green glaze that is lustrous like jade.