Hubei Provincial Museum

( travelchinaguide.com, chinatravel.com )

Updated: 2011-11-16

Standing by the beautiful East Lake, the museum was opened in 1956 to showcase some of Hubei’s incredible archaeological finds. (nipic.com)

Hubei Provincial Museum is one of Wuhan’s most famous and impressive attractions. Standing by the beautiful East Lake, the museum was opened in 1956 to showcase some of Hubei’s incredible archaeological finds. It is also the only provincial comprehensive museum in the province.

The museum is built on a massive scale. It covers an area of more than 51,000 square meters and has over 9,000 square meters of floor space. A 170-strong staff team makes sure that everything runs smoothly.

The museum collects, protects, and exhibits the cultural relics discovered in the province. Since 1953, the museum has collected over 200,000 cultural relics, including pottery, porcelains, jade, bronze vessels, ancient weapons, and ancient musical instruments. Among these cultural relics, 812 are listed as first-class relics of China, and 16 are considered national treasures.

It is the only provincial comprehensive museum in the province.

This museum is divided into three parts: the Chime Bells Exhibition Hall, the Chu (a state in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC)) Culture Exhibition Hall, and the Comprehensive Exhibition Building.

The Chime Bells Exhibition Hall contains two parts: the Exhibition Hall and the Music Hall. In the Exhibition Hall, you can see many cultural relics that have been unearthed from the tomb of Yi (the king of the Zeng Sate in the Warring States Period (476 - 221 BC), such as the exquisite bronze vessel known as 'Crane Standing on the Antler', ancient halberds, triangle-shaped swords called Shu, and the bamboo slips that were used for writing on in ancient times. The most famous treasure is the Chime Bells, which is the largest bronze musical instrument ever discovered. With a set of bells of different sizes, it can play various tones of the musical scale, and the timbre is quite beautiful. There are about 3,000 ancient Chinese characters on the bells, describing the music and the owner of this instrument. In the Music Hall, musicians wearing ancient clothes play a replica of the Chime Bells two times a day, at 11:00 and 16:00. You will surely be enchanted by the ancient beautiful music, which has been played overseas on many occasions.

The chime bells displayed in the Chime Bells Exhibition Hall. They are the largest bronze musical instrument ever discovered.

The Chu Culture Exhibition Hall features the regional culture of the Chu State. Most of the cultural relics displayed here are bronze vessels, lacquer works, bamboo and wooden artifacts, and silk knitted products. You can also see various ancient weapons of the Chu State such as the sword of Gou Jian (the king of the Yue State in the Spring and Autumn Period) and the shaft of Fu Chai (the king of the Wu State in the Spring and Autumn Period). In 2002, archaeologists discovered pieces of chariots and horses of the Chu State. After careful restoration, some of the chariots and horses are now displayed in this hall. In addition to the unearthed cultural relics, some restored models of the houses in which Chu people lived are shown to the visitors to give them more direct impression of the ancient Chu people's lives.

People are going around in the exhibition hall.

If you want to get a taste of Hubei’s rich history, be sure to pay a visit to the Provincial Museum when you are in Wuhan.

There are also antique stores in the museum. After you visit the two exhibition halls, you can buy some souvenirs if you like.