Shanghai Museum

Shanghai Museum 上海博物馆
Shanghai Museum, founded in 1952, is home to 120,000 historical artifacts, considered one of the finest collections of art in China. In 1996, the museum was relocated to the People’s Square in the center of the city and was reopened to the public. The new building was designed to symbolize the ancient Chinese concept of tianyuan difang (“round sky, square earth” viewpoint). It has five levels above ground and two below. Its 11 principal galleries contain bronzes, sculptures, ceramics, jades, paintings, calligraphy, seals, numismatics, furniture of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and arts and crafts by Chinese minority ethnic groups. The displays are arranged in chronological order, with exhibit items including weapons, cauldrons, utensils, tools, and ceramics from the Neolithic era to the present include examples of Longshan Black Pottery. Also on display are life-size terra-cotta statues of a horse and two warriors from the tomb of the Qin emperor Shihuangdi from the northeast of Xi’an (Sian). Pottery from the Tang dynasty and fine blue-and-white Ming vases are also on exhibit, as are tools used in painting and calligraphy, and scrolls preserved from the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties.

Field Trip Information

HIST101 Ancient China: The ancient bronzes and other collections in the museum represented the historical periods that students were studying in the course, tying to Ancient China as cultural artifacts. The multitude of displayed items span several dynasties and are well-preserved, thus they provided students with the opportunity to visually connect history to life.
HIST217 Ancient and Imperial Chinese Art: The field trip guided students to examine ancient and imperial Chinese art at the Shanghai Museum. By viewing these artifacts, they learned to understand how artwork is essential to both art and historical learning as the art people create in these eras can inform art historians about the time period itself.