Current Exhibitions
Changsha Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tombs Exhibition
3rd Floor
Permanent Exhibition
Free admission
The excavation of the three Western Han Dynasty Tombs at Mawangdui, Changsha, which took place between 1972 and 1974, was one of the world’s most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. The fully preserved tomb structure as well as a wealth of funerary items serve to fully embody everyday life and funeral concepts during the Han Dynasty. Over 700 exquisite lacquer items with intricate workmanship reflect the brilliant accomplishments of Han Dynasty lacquerware, and over 500 exquisite textile garments fully attest to the “Kingdom of Silk” (Seres) in the Western historical records. More than 50 bamboo slips and silk manuscripts serve as “encyclopedias”, demonstrating the knowledge and wisdom of the ancient sages. Strange and bizarre coffin paintings embody the fantasies of people in the Han Dynasty ascending to the heavens and longing for external life, while the dreamlike face of a deceased woman is a testament to extraordinary preservation techniques. The Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tombs are renowned as the exemplar of the history and civilization in the early Han Dynasty, providing a window to understand society in China over 2,100 years ago.
Hunanese
2nd Floor
Permanent Exhibition
Free admission
Hunan, located in the central Chinese hinterland, is bounded in the north by the waters of Lake Dongting, embraced on three sides by majestic mountains, and crisscrossed by the four rivers, Xiang, Zi, Yuan, and Li. The province, known as the “Land of the Hibiscus” since Tang Dynasty, is blessed with rich resources and a temperate climate. The region was settled almost 500,000 years ago by people who have welcomed migrants over various periods with open hearts. The descendants of these original settlers and generations of migrants make up the “Hunanese” we know today.
From the earliest domestication of wild rice to the breeding of rice cultivars and finally to the growing of the hybrid rice of today, Hunan has always been grounded in rice farming. Over the generations, the diligent and wise people of Hunan, with their practical minds, have engaged in mutual help and built a comfortable pastoral home for themselves. In the process, they created a land abundant with food, which is known as “the Granary of China”. From eating rice with fish to enjoying spicy and hot flavors, the people of Hunan practice a way of life that has been passed down through the generations and seek a way of life that is above and beyond the mere utilitarian. Shang and Zhou (1600--256 B.C.) ritual music instruments made out of bronze, lacquered-wood vessels from the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.--220 A.D.), the popular Changsha ceramics in the Tang Dynasty (618--907 A.D.), and the well-educated farmstead family of Ming and Qing periods (1368--1912A.D.): these are all reflections of Hunanese customs and beliefs, and the Hunan way of life.
For thousands of years, due to deep immersion in the culture of the Central Plains, patriotic thoughts, strong scholastic heritage, and modern ideological agitations cultivated the generations of great men who have emerged from Hunan. The people of Hunan are bold, fiercely patriotic, and deeply loyal.
Contemporary Exhibition-Special Exhibition
Infinite Purity and Beauty-the Single Colour Glazed Porcelain Exhibition
Themed Exhibition Hall, 3F
In all ages, single-colour glazed porcelain has been an important category of Chinese porcelain, representing the most traditional Chinese aesthetic concept. Pure and elegant single-colour glazed porcelain greatly won chinese ancient royalties' and literati's appreciation.
After more than a thousand of year's development, single-colour glazed porcelain thrives today. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, mature celadon, brown porcelain and early white porcelain were fired in southern China. Subsequently, the techniques of firing white porcelain were lost, black porcelain was created based on brown porcelain, and celadon flourished and was introduced to the north in the late Southern Dynasty. The techniques of firing celadon were greatly improved in the northern part of China, which paved the way to create mature white porcelain, gradually, the situation of "Southern Celadon and Northern White Porcelain" was formed during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. In Tang Dynasty, there were green porcelain, yellow porcelain and red porcelain, the green porcelain kept developing, and the techniques of firing yellow porcelain were lost and innovated in Ming Dynasty. The red glaze was accidentally fired, and the firing technology was mastered in the Yuan Dynasty. During Ming and Qing Dynasties, single-colour glazed porcelain ushered in the peak of development, and glaze varieties emerged one after another.
Looking back at the development of single-colour glazed porcelain, the firing techniques have been inherited and innovated, while there have been setbacks and losses. The process is complex and tortuous, reflecting the wisdom and arduousness of the Chinese porcelain craftsmen in promoting the evolution of glaze colour. In the infinite purity and beauty of glaze, the brilliance and glory of Chinese civilization are shining.
Exhibition of the Sanxitang Shiqubaoji Model Calligraphy
Themed Exhibition Hall, 3F
The Sanxitang Model Calligraphy was carved in 1747. Emperor Qianlong ordered officials including Liang Shizheng and Jiang Pu to carefully select from, copy and carve the famous calligraphy works of various dynasties in Shiqubaoji, which took them 7 years. The model calligraphy got its name because it contains Emperor Qianlong's three favorite calligraphy works – A Sunny Scene After a Quick Snow by Wang Xizhi, Mid-Autumn by Wang Xianzhi and Letter to Boyuan by Wang Xianzhi – all of them were collected in Sanxitang, the West Warm Room of Yangxin Hall. After the Sanxitang Model Calligraphy was engraved, Emperor Qianlong specially built Yuegulou Building in Beihai Park to store these stone carvings. He also entitled “Yan Yun Jin Tai” (calligraphy of different forms) and a seven-character poem, which shows how much they were treasured.
The Sanxitang Model Calligraphy contains works from the Wei and Jin dynasties to the end of the Ming Dynasty, including almost all the excellent calligraphy scripts in the Ming Dynasty, such as Tingyunguantie and Yugangzhaitie. Some of the original scripts have been destroyed or lost, such as Zhong Yao’s Jianjizhibiao, Wang Xianzhi’s Songlitie, and Zhao Mengfu’s Wanshanfu. Fortunately, with the Sanxitang Model Calligraphy, we can see the copies of them.
With numerous volumes, strict selections, excellent carving copies and large scales, the Sanxitang Model Calligraphy is of great historical, artistic and academic value. With a collection of works from 135 masters, 340 pieces of calligraphy, more than 200 prefaces and postscripts, over 1600 seals, 32 classifications, 495 pieces of stone carvings and more than 90,000 characters of inscriptions, it is one of the best calligraphy stone carvings.
Hunan Museum has a rich collection of paintings, calligraphy and inscriptions. At the beginning of the new year, we carefully selected the collection of the Sanxitang Model Calligraphy series and planned this exhibition for visitors, from whom valuable suggestions are welcomed.
Squares and Circles—Bronze Mirrors in the Collection of the Hunan Museum
Themed Exhibition Hall, 3F
Bronze mirrors are unique, outstanding, and fabulous among ancient Chinese bronzes. Modern master of Chinese culture Luo Zhenyu ever wrote in his book The catalogue of Ancient Chinese Mirrors, “Ancient Chinese bronze mirrors have exquisite decorations, magnificent and rarely-seen inscriptions, and elegant connotations. It is hard to find these three merits in any other artifact. ” Bronze mirrors are more than that. After the end of the Bronze Age, ding, gui, zun, and other bronze ritual objects gradually disappeared in temples, ancestral shrines, and other special places while bronze mirrors, bronze coins and other small items with expanded production scales were gradually used by ordinary people. Bronze mirrors developed over time. After the prosperity in the Han Dynasty and the first decline in the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties, bronze mirrors reached its peak of development in the Tang Dynasty, followed by the steady development of the Song,Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and gradually declined in the mid-and-late Qing Dynasty after the emergence of glass mirrors in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. For thousands of years, bronze mirrors have evolved with the times in terms of casting techniques, shapes, ornaments, and inscriptions, and have been upgraded in various ways, which can be considered the only remaining living example with continuous growth among different kinds of bronzes.
Bronze mirrors, as an indispensable utensil in the daily life of the Chinese people, carried many symbolic meanings such as religious beliefs and good wishes, and were frequently shown in poems and songs, legends and other literary works through the ages, such as the widely circulated stories,”a broken mirror made whole again” and “regarding other person as a mirror”, making bronze mirrors irreplaceable literary imagery, and forming a "mirror culture".
The exhibition includes more than 200 bronze mirrors in the Hunan Museum's collection, and each one is exquisite in form and style in its respective era, basically covering the main kinds of mirrors ranging in date from the Warring States Period to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The exhibition aims to reflect the development of bronze mirrors, reveal the vigorous vitality of bronze mirrors that have lasted for thousands of years, and explore their cultural connotation through the display of the casting techniques, shapes, ornaments, and inscriptions of bronze mirrors in different periods.
Look at the mirror, you will know yourself; learn about the past, you will know the present.For modern people, bronze mirrors are just like square or round windows from which we can glimpse ancient Chinese people’s life, technology, art and aesthetic. Through the world of squares and circles, we can observe the lives of ancient Chinese people and know the vicissitudes of history, and understand transience and eternity in the culture core, which will illuminate us in the present day.
Special Exhibitions
