Museum tells history through treasures

In the three years since it opened its doors to the public on Sept 15,2023, the Chinese Archaeological Museum in Beijing has become a key hub for tracing the origins of Chinese civilization and showcasing its progress over the centuries through the nation's archaeological heritage.

To mark the museum's third anniversary, experts from 55 museums and archaeology institutes nationwide gathered on Tuesday at the venue for a symposium on better integrating archaeology and museum work in the new era.

On June 2, 2023, President Xi Jinping visited the Chinese Academy of History and walked into the Chinese Archaeological Museum within the academy.

Later that day, at a symposium on cultural inheritance and development, Xi highlighted the integral role of archaeology in deepening understanding of the rich and profound Chinese culture, and emphasized the significance of conducting research and providing interpretations regarding the origins of Chinese civilization.

Xi also outlined five prominent features of Chinese civilization, emphasizing its continuity, innovation, unity, inclusiveness and peaceful nature.

When it opened in 2023, the museum featured more than 6,000 exhibits — the result of decades of scientific excavations — in a 7,000-square-meter exhibition space. Since then, it has witnessed over 1.8 million visits, including more than 100 groups of foreign dignitaries and international scholars.

Liu Guoxiang, director of the museum, said in a keynote speech on Tuesday that "the Chinese Archaeological Museum has become an important national-level cultural window and platform for displaying and disseminating the chronological sequence of the origins of Chinese civilization with the most complete exhibition content, the richest displays, the most cutting-edge research results and technologically advanced exhibition methods".

For many visitors, the relics on display at the museum's permanent exhibition appear like pages from a Chinese history textbook brought to life.

Among the signature pieces, a 3,700-year-old turquoise mosaic dragon from the Erlitou site in Luoyang, Henan province, invites visitors to admire the emergence of early royal authority; a pottery flat flask inscribed with red characters from the Taosi site in Xiangfen, Shanxi province, dating back about 4,000 years, shows the prototype of Chinese writing; and exquisite bronze wares from the Tomb of Fuhao — a queen and battlefield heroine of the Shang Dynasty (c.16th century to 11th century BC) — in Anyang, Henan province, illustrate the power and craftsmanship of the era.

A permanent exhibition at the museum was inscribed by the National Cultural Heritage Administration on the annual list of China's top 10 museum exhibitions for 2023.

Liu said that based on practices of Chinese archaeology, China has its own criteria for identifying civilizations — the appearance of cities, the division of society, and the rise of kingship and the state.

"The theory could contribute Chinese wisdom to studies of the world's early-stage civilizations," he added.

According to Liu, the museum has coordinated with other institutions nationwide to better present the origins of Chinese civilization.

One such effort was the exhibition Origins of Chinese Civilization from an Archaeological Perspective, which was co-organized by the museum and 16 other institutions nationwide, drawing relics from 120 heritage sites to turn academic research into something tangible and perceptible for the public.

First opened in November 2024 for the inaugural World Conference of Classics in Beijing, the exhibition later became a key platform for public education on archaeology. A total of 147 related public lectures have since been organized, attracting over 25,000 attendees.

"Henan was a core area where Chinese civilization took shape and evolved," said Gu Wanfa, executive president of the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology, which is among the program's 16 partners.

"Organizing the event was key to helping museums make better use of archaeological resources," Gu said.

Guan Qiang, head of the China Museums Association, said: "Museums are the crucial platform for archaeology to reach the public. We thus need more professionals who can comprehensively integrate archaeological excavations, academic research and exhibition organization."

Several other major institutions have followed suit to bring archaeology closer to the public.

As noted at Tuesday's symposium, the National Museum of China plans to upgrade its permanent exhibition, which has been on display since 2011. More than 2,700 relics will be featured, about 700 more than before.

"Our guiding mindset has shifted from showing exquisite artifacts to presenting a complete history of Chinese civilization," said Zhang Weiming, deputy director of the museum, adding that major recent archaeological findings will be included.

In the Palace Museum in Beijing — China's imperial palace from 1420 to 1911, which is also known as the Forbidden City — recent archaeological findings on the palace grounds have been opened to visitors. An archaeological exhibition running from November to March drew nearly 600,000 visitors.

At the China (Hainan) Museum of the South China Sea in Qionghai, Hainan province, the launch of a joint deep-sea archaeology laboratory has yielded new finds from two Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) shipwrecks.

"We refresh our exhibition every two to three months," said Xin Lixue, head of the museum. "It's like a dynamic interpreter of our deep-sea findings."