[2024 Jiaxing Attraction] Travel Guide for Jiaxing Museum (Updated Nov)
Military Sites
Museums
Address:
Haiyantang Road, Nanhu District, Jiaxing 314000, China
Opening times:
Opens at 09:00-17:30Open
Recommended sightseeing time:
1-2 hours
Phone:
0573-83677080,0573-83677092
A must-visit in Jiaxing!
One of the most famous attractions in Jiaxing, known for its beautiful scenery and the historical significance of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
📍Yuehe Historical Block: Located in the city center of Jiaxing, the ancient buildings and bustling commercial scenes on both sides of the canal will take you through time and space to experience the charm of ancient Jiaxing.
📍Xitang Ancient Town: One of the six ancient towns in Jiangnan, known as the "living thousand-year-old town," and has been included in the tentative list of World Heritage Sites.
📍Nanbei Lake: A famous tourist destination in China, known for its beautiful lakes, spectacular mountains, and rich cultural heritage.
📍Meihuazhou: Home to famous attractions such as the thousand-year-old temple, thousand-year-old ginkgo tree, and Sanbu Liangpan Bridge.
📍Jiaxing Museum: A comprehensive museum that integrates collection, exhibition, research, and promotion, showcasing the history, culture, and art of Jiaxing.
EpicJourneys789
The legend of Chang'an, the most prosperous international metropolis.
Shaanxi was known as Yongzhou and Liangzhou in ancient times, and was also known as the land of Sanqin (Shaanbei, Guanzhong, and Shaannan). There were 14 dynasties including the Western Zhou, Qin, Western Han, and Tang dynasties that established their capitals in Shaanxi. The region is rich in cultural relics and is one of the important birthplaces of Chinese civilization.
The Tang Dynasty's capital, Chang'an, is not just a city, but a legend. Chang'an is the starting point of the Silk Road, which connects Europe, Asia, and Africa. It was the largest and most prosperous international metropolis in the world at that time.
Chang'an City was built in the second year of Emperor Wen of Sui's Kaihuang era (582 AD) and the outer city wall was completed in the fifth year of Emperor Gaozong of Tang's Yonghui era (654 AD), taking a total of 72 years. The total area is 84 square kilometers, making it a model of a closed city in China.
The central area in the north is the palace city and the imperial city: the palace city is where the emperor lives, listens to politics, and meets with officials; the imperial city is divided into the Altar of the Earth and Grain, the Temple of Heaven, and the central senior official residence.
Inside Chang'an City, Taiji Palace (West Inner), Xingqing Palace (South Inner), and Daming Palace (East Inner) are the largest, known as the "Three Great Inner". Daming Palace is the largest and is located on the Longshouyuan in the northeast of Chang'an City. It was built in 634 AD and was originally named "Yong'an Palace". Daming Palace has a city wall on the east, west, and north sides, and is connected to Xingqing Palace by a complex road.
There are eleven north-south streets and fourteen east-west streets in the Li Fang area, dividing the outer city into a checkerboard pattern, with 108 squares and two markets in the east and west.
During its heyday, Chang'an City was home to millions of people, including a large number of foreigners, making it a true Eastern capital.
Oops, I seem to have found my ideal retirement life.
Taking advantage of the weekend to relax, I unexpectedly discovered my ideal retirement life here. Just an hour's drive from Shanghai, Jiaxing is a treasure travel destination overlooked by many. It boasts scenery comparable to Hangzhou and Suzhou but with far fewer tourists.
Jiaxing Museum offers free parking. Currently, there is an astronomy-themed exhibition called 'Stargazing,' which is both educational and entertaining, making it worth visiting with kids. The permanent exhibition on Jiaxing's history is also worth seeing. Both the South and North Halls are spacious. You can enter directly with an ID card or make an on-site reservation. Note that the museum is closed on Mondays.
Jiaxing has seven pagodas, and I highly recommend visiting Haogu Pagoda, the only one in Jiaxing that you can climb to the top. From there, you can enjoy a panoramic view of this beautiful Jiangnan town.
Jiaxing Mansion is also worth a visit. There is a night market in the evening, and during the day, it is not crowded. The Tang-style wooden buildings, along with large areas of greenery and ancient trees, make for picturesque scenes. You can even explore it as if it were a small Nara.
Not far from there, you can visit the Wensheng Monastery. The twin-tower building has a large green area in front, which exudes a European charm.
For accommodation, you can drive to Puyuan. Yuan She Puyuan is highly recommended. As its name suggests, it combines an eco-friendly environment with homestay living, allowing you to truly immerse yourself in rural life. Most of the furniture in the rooms is made of natural wood and straw, providing a deeply healing experience for the body, mind, and soul. Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, you can enjoy the summer breeze, surrounded by the lively sounds of insects and birds. With a cup of tea and a book, you might be surprised at how easily you can set your phone aside and finish an entire book in an afternoon.
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Chang'an Thirty Thousand Miles
Chang'an Thirty Thousand Miles
——Essence of Tang Dynasty Relics from Shaanxi
Jiaxing Museum is hosting the exhibition 'Chang'an Thirty Thousand Miles——Essence of Tang Dynasty Relics from Shaanxi'. Since you're here, take a look
From pottery to tri-colored ceramics, from Hejia Village silverware to Zhaoling painted pottery, it is indeed a collection of fine pieces. Many items are old friends; one glance and you know which museum's collection they belong to. There are also some exquisite pieces from county museums that I am seeing for the first time. Five exhibits from Hejia Village are on display; three of them I have seen many times at the Shaanxi History Museum's Hejia Village Treasures Exhibition, but there are two small items I haven't seen before. One is a 'Gilded Lotus-shaped Silverware' (Picture 3), and the other is a 'Gilded Rhombus-patterned Silver Lock'.
Tri-colored ceramics remain the essence of the Tang Dynasty. The wildly splashed colorful patterns strongly convey the creator's unrestrained, free, and uninhibited spirit. Such casual and free creation only appears in a stable life with spiritual freedom. From objects, one can observe people; from people, one can observe life; from life, one can observe society. How deeply and broadly one can observe objects depends on one's skill. When one can integrate knowledge from various fields, observing objects can lead to observing the world. Through the exquisite Tang Dynasty relics, I enjoy looking at the prosperous world behind them. Freedom, abundance, inclusiveness, grandeur, elegance, sophistication, romance, poetry, and cuteness are all words I read from the relics. I can also see from the eunuch's furrowed brows, prominent cheekbones, sunken cheeks, hair at the temples, and serious expression that this eunuch holds a high position but walks on thin ice. I am moved by the gaze of a camel. This is the power of art, piercing through millennia to touch the heart.
LEONA GARNER
A Grand Appreciation of Ming and Qing Dynasty Bronze Mirrors, a treasure of Chinese bronze art
Mirrors are used for grooming, adjusting headwear, self-reflection, and also serve purposes such as exorcising evil spirits, praying for blessings, giving gifts, weddings, funerals, and divining auspiciousness ('mirror listening'), and they are witnesses to the rise and fall of eras. Brides are required to kneel and bow to the bronze mirror and jade, with bowing to the mirror symbolizing a prayer for peace.
The Qin King's mirror also reveals the political function of bronze mirrors in distinguishing loyalty from treachery and deterring officials. During the Tang Dynasty, chariots, palaces, and temples also hung bronze mirrors, and it is recorded that the Da Ming Palace's Qingsi Hall in Chang'an City used a large number of bronze mirrors for decoration.
The practice of inscribing messages on the back of mirrors began in the Han Dynasty, with cryptic phrases, prayers for ascension to immortality, and the Taoist concept of eternal life becoming common themes in mirror inscriptions.
The Shangfang Ming mirror was an imperial mirror from the Han Dynasty, extremely popular during the Xin Mang and early Eastern Han periods. The inscription 'Ri You Xi' was a common auspicious phrase used in the late Western Han Dynasty's connected arc pattern bronze mirrors. Sunlight mirrors commonly have two types of inscriptions, 'Seeing the light of the sun, the world is bright' and 'Seeing the light of the sun, never forget each other'.
The Zhaoming mirror was a type of Han mirror popular from the reign of Emperor Xuan of Han to before the Xin Mang. The inscriptions often read 'Inner purity and quality to illuminate brightly, radiance resembling the sun and moon, the heart soars with loyalty, yet remains discreet and does not leak.'
Bronze mirrors with story themes began in the Han Dynasty, with Han Dynasty divine figure mirrors often depicting myths of Dong Wanggong and Xi Wangmu to pray for ascension to immortality. Holding the position of one of the Three Excellencies was the ultimate goal for those seeking glory and wealth.
During the Tang, Song, Jin, and Yuan dynasties, bronze mirrors often depicted historical allusions to illustrate the principles of being in the world. Examples include 'The Ox of Wu Panted at the Moon', 'Bo Ya and Zi Qi', 'Xu You and Chao Fu', 'Zhenzi Flying Frost (Hou Jin Playing the Guqin)', and 'Five Sons Ascending the Exams (Dou Yujun)'.
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Explore the tombs of the prestigious Li family of Meili in Jiaxing and witness a luxurious Ming Dynasty fashion show!
Jiaxing Wangdian, also known as Meili or Meihui Li, is a family of distinction. The Li family of Meixi is a prominent clan, on par with the Zhu family represented by Zhu Yizun.
The ancestors of the Meili Li family migrated from the end of the Yuan Dynasty and flourished at the end of the Ming Dynasty. The Li family produced many scholars, with Li Xiang being known for his loyal and righteous writings in early Jiangnan, famous for poetry and rites after the early Qing Dynasty, and renowned for classical studies by the mid-Qing Dynasty.
Using glutinous rice paste and rammed earth to seal tombs was a major feature of Ming Dynasty burials. The Li family's tomb is a four-chambered joint burial, with M1 being a brick vaulted tomb and the other three being brick chamber tombs with stone slabs, the main chamber being a double burial.
Li Xiang also engaged in agriculture and commerce, valued family harmony, and was charitable and generous. His son Li Fang, born to a concubine Chen, later became a successful imperial scholar, achieving remarkable results in capturing bandits, managing farmland, setting corvée duties, and dredging rivers.
The attire of Li Xiang and his wives and concubines after their death was extremely luxurious. Li Xiang wore a Zhongjing crown, which is a rank official's swallow-tailed dress, aimed at encouraging officials to be loyal and to reflect on their mistakes when retreating. He wore a wide-sleeved robe, a cross-collared embroidered robe, and a lined garment. The sleeves and the length of the garment were two feet and two inches, with silk being the main fabric, and the patterns were cloud or crane motifs.
After being posthumously awarded the title of Seventh Rank Wenlin Lang, his principal wife, Lady Li, was decreed the title of Ruiren, and her embroidered shoes featured ring braiding.
Ming Dynasty clothing regulations stipulated that officials of the third rank and above wore cloud patterns, while those below the fourth rank wore plain fabrics with blue-green edges, decorated with original patterns on the front and back. In the first year of Hongwu, the official uniform was set as 'black gauze cap, round-necked robe, sash, and black boots.' The use of patches was an important symbol of the development of the Ming Dynasty's official clothing system, with civil officials using birds and military officials using beasts.
Ming Dynasty court attire was uniformly red. Public service uniforms used a spread-footed cap, with crimson for ranks one to four. Ranks five to seven commonly used blue, while ranks eight to nine used green.
According to 'Ming History, Carriage and Dress Records,' the patch patterns for dukes, marquises, sons-in-law, and earls were qilin and bai ze; civil officials embroidered birds to symbolize culture and enlightenment; military officials embroidered beasts to show fierceness; miscellaneous officials used magpies; and the wind and constitution officials used xiezhi.
Damask originated in the Song Dynasty and began to replace brocade's traditional status in the Ming Dynasty. The Ming system stipulated that plain silk could be worn by ordinary merchants. In the sixteenth year of Jiajing (1537), it was decreed that only officials of the fourth rank and above, as well as fifth-rank officials and lecturers at the imperial banquet, were allowed to wear gauze, silk gauze, and spun silk.
The highest-ranking phoenix crown of the Ming Dynasty was the gold-inlaid, pearl-studded, kingfisher-feathered dragon and phoenix crown, which was part of the empress's ceremonial attire.
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The graceful attire of the Meri clouds reveals the ceremonial dress of the prestigious families
Jiaxing is a silk town, and the skills of decorating flowers, weaving gold, kesi, and embroidery have also reached an extremely high level.
The 'Yuer Jin' produced in the mid-Tang Dynasty was famous in Wu Zhong and was exported to Guangzhou. By the Northern Song Dynasty, Xiuzhou Liao had become an imperial tribute. The saying 'endless Wei Tang yarn' became a common saying, and the Puzhou silk 'produced ten thousand pieces daily'. Wang Jiangjing was known as 'clothing the world', and the fame of the silk prefecture remained undiminished.
During the Ming Dynasty, the production of cotton cloth was thriving, with most of the summer cloth being used for summer clothing or mosquito nets. Ramie fabric was mainly used in summer, while cotton fabric was the main choice in winter.
Ming Dynasty clothing is a model of ancient Chinese clothing art. Based on 'inheriting from the Zhou and Han dynasties and drawing from the Tang and Song dynasties', a series of strict crown and dress systems were established.
Represented by the Ming Dynasty clothing from Wangdian Li's tomb in Jiaxing, with its gorgeous patterns, bright colors, and rich accessories, it represents the development level of the weaving industry in the Jiaxing area during the Ming Dynasty. It also reflects the distinctive style, fashion taste, and aesthetic orientation of Ming Dynasty clothing while displaying its nobility and elegance.
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The Meili Yunshang at Jiaxing Museum
On the second floor of the museum, there is a very good Ming Dynasty Li family costume exhibition. Be sure to check it out when you visit the museum !
MAVERICK ZIMMERMAN
Jiaxing, the city of grain prosperity, the source of culture
Taking advantage of the warm weekend, I traveled to Jiaxing for a vacation and checked in at the Jiaxing Museum. Jiaxing is the core of Majiabang culture, Songze culture, and Liangzhu culture. In the exhibition hall on the second floor, it detailedly introduces the historical development and cultural relics of the Majiabang culture 7000 years ago, the Songze culture 6000 years ago, and the Liangzhu culture 5000 years ago. The collections are detailed and the process of human development is clear. On a wall at the entrance, many famous people from Jiaxing are engraved in different fonts: Mao Dun, Jin Yong, Xu Zhimo, Wang Guowei, Chen Xingshen, Feng Zikai, Zhang Leping, Zhang Yuanji and other masters. Suddenly a young man asked me, do you recognize all these characters? I confidently told him that I basically recognized them, and these characters are all celebrities in the Jiaxing area... I patiently read them to him, he was thoughtful and suddenly enlightened. After years of travel, I have traveled countless places in China, and reading thousands of books is better than traveling thousands of miles. There are not many people, the exhibition hall is quiet, it is a good opportunity to learn. It's worth the trip.