Besides Yellow Crane Tower, Hubei Provincial Museum is another must-visit in Wuhan. Even if you are not a museum buff, it is worth spending a few hours in one of the best known museums in China. The 3-storey museum houses 200,000 pieces or sets of historical relics. Out of this collection, 1,000 pieces or sets are considered to be First Grade Cultural Relics, ranking it in the forefront of China’s provincial museums.
Admission to the museum is free for all but do remember to bring along your passport as it will be checked at the entrance and also go through security checks.
Though I did not have much time at the museum, I managed to look at quite a bit of their extensive permanent collection. Maybe it’s the history student in me, I love visiting museums and marvel at the creations of early men from thousands of years ago. Below are some of the permanent exhibitions I saw during my visit.
The Art of Earth and Fire – Ancient Porcelain
The invention of porcelain was a contribution of ancient Chinese people to civilisation. It differs from pottery in the use of porcelain clay as raw material and baking temperature of over 1,200 degC. In Hubei, the appearance of primitive porcelain could be traced back to the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. The exhibition is divided into 2 parts; one on excavated relics from before Song Dynasty and part 2 on the collection after that.
Left: Primitive celadon dou (原始瓷豆) dated back to Western Zhou (11th century-771 BC); Right: Primitive porcelain jar from Warring States Period (475-221 BC).
Partial reconstruction of the archaeological site of Qingshan Kiln, a Song Period porcelain kiln scientifically excavated in Hubei. Original materials from the site are used for the model.
A large blue plate with yellow cloud and dragon design from Qing Period during Kangxi Reign (1662-1723).
Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng
One of Hubei Provincial Museum’s must-see is the collection from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng on 1st storey of the museum. The tomb was made in early Warring States Period at around 433 BC. It is one of the handful of ancient Chinese royals’ tombs to have been discovered intact and excavated using modern archaeological methods in 1978.
Divided into 4 chambers, more than 15,000 objects had been unearthed from the tomb of total area 220 sq.m. Besides Marquis Yi, there were also bodies of 21 young women buried in the tomb. Below are some of the items from the collection that embodies the art and musical advancement from that era:
A drum base with 16 intertwined dragons.
Intricately-crafted bronze wine vessel with an accompanying water vessel (zun and pan).
Suitcase with patterns of 28 constellations which was used to keep clothes
The most famous discovery from the tomb is a set of 64 two-tone bells known as Bianzhong or 曾侯乙编钟. These bells are hung on two sets of wooden racks, arranged by their sizes which suggest their tunes. Each bell can play two tones due to its shape and had its tones engraved on it. The entire set is said to have likely required 5 person to play. A set of replica is now used for regular performance.
Catch 25 min performances with replica Bianzhong, which I missed. Tickets cost RMB30/pax and schedule are as follows:
- – Mar to Nov: Tue to Fri at 10.30am, 2pm and 3pm
- – Mar to Nov: Sat and Sun at 10.30am, 11.30am, 2pm and 3pm
- – Dec to Feb: Tue to Fri at 11am and 3pm
- – Dec to Feb: Sat and Sun at 11am, 2pm and 3pm
On the upper floors, there are collections of objects from Prince Liangzhuang’s tomb, Paleolithic sites in Hubei and porcelain from early ages. However, due to time constraint, I was regrettably unable to finish viewing all the collections. To view all the exhibitions at a leisurely pace, I believe it will take around half a day.
Prince Liangzhuang’s Tomb
Prince Liangzhuang (1411-1441) was the ninth son of Ming Dynasty Emperor Hongxi. The prince lived during the reigns of Yongle, Xuande and Zhengtong Emperor. During this time, the Ming Court sent eunuch admiral Zheng He on his voyage to the West. Prince Liangzhuang’s tomb contained items from the West as well as luxury items during this Ming era.
Top left-right: gold bullion made by one of the court yamens of Ming Dynasty, a court apparel belt decorated with jade cloud and dragon patterns. Bottom right-left: gold flower and peach-shaped gem-inlaid gold filigree hairpins, hat top decorated by gold-mounted gemstone.
Brief Introduction to Yunxian Man
This exhibition focuses on the study of human evolution through human fossils with exhibits from Paleolithic sites in Hubei. These includes the two below: Yunxian Man Cranium I and Hangyan man skull fossil. Yunxian Man was a species of early Paleolithic Homo erectus discovered in the middle reaches of the Yangtze. The exhibit on the left is the first complete fossil of ancient human cranium of archaic humans who lived as early as 300,000 to 1.5 million years ago. The Hangyan Man skull on the right is dated from some 20,000 years ago.
Qujialing Exhibition Hall
Qujialing has 4 out of the top ten prehistoric culture in the middle reaches of Yangtze River. It has the largest ancient town (1,200,000 sq.m), the largest and best preserved Neolithic house, the largest pottery vessel and the earliest lacquer articles.
The exhibition hall with a model of a Neolithic house (5100～4500 years ago) in the foreground.
Part of the pottery collection:
From the brief introduction to the museum’s collection above, it is not difficult to see why it is a must-visit while in Wuhan. Many of the displays have English translations too.
More information at the museum’s official website, but unfortunately most information are in Chinese