National Museum of China | Symbols of China

The National Museum of China is located on the East side of Tiananmen Square. It was formerly called the Museum of Chinese History and Museum of Chinese Revolution. It is China’s supreme establishment that collects, researches, displays. The Museum interprets China’s fine traditional culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture. The Museum is 313 meters long, 149 meters wide, and 40 meters high, covering an area of 69,000 square Meters.

The building is one of the “Ten Great Constructions” for the 10th Anniversary of the People’s Republic of China in 1959. After four years’ Renovation and Expansion, the New National Museum Re-opened on Apr. 1st, 2011 Which is the largest Museum in the world. It is one of the largest museums in the world. With 7.4 million visitors in 2019, the NMC was in second place in the world, just after the Louvre.

Established: 2003
Location: Beijing
Type: Art museum, history museum
Collections: Chinese art
Collection size: 1.3 million
Visitors: 7,390,000 (2019)
Director: Wang Chunfa
Owner: Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China

The museum covers Chinese history from the Yuanmou Man of 1.7 million years ago to the end of the Qing Dynasty (the last imperial dynasty in Chinese history). It has a permanent collection of 1,050,000 items. Among the most important items in the National Museum of China are:

• The “Simuwu Ding” from the Shang Dynasty (the heaviest piece of ancient bronzeware in the world, at 832.84 kg).
• The square-shaped Shang Dynasty bronze zun decorated with four sheep heads.
• A large and rare inscribed Western Zhou Dynasty bronze water pan.
• A gold-inlaid Qin Dynasty bronze tally in the shape of a tiger.
• A comprehensive collection of Tang Dynasty tri-colored glazed sancai and Song Dynasty ceramics

History

The history of the China National Museum can be traced back to 1912 when the Preparatory Office of the National Museum of History was founded. In September 1969, the National Museum of Chinese History and the National Museum of Chinese Revolution merged to form the National Museum of Chinese Revolution and History. The renovation and expansion of the Museum were begun in 2007. In March 2011, The new National Museum of China opened to the public.