The mountains and rivers are all in the Yang, hence the name Xianyang (III): Xianyang Museum
Xianyang Museum, located in the middle section of Zhongshan Street, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province, is a regional comprehensive museum.
Xianyang was the capital of the Qin Dynasty and the location of many Han Dynasty tombs. Therefore, the cultural relics in the Xianyang Museum are mainly from the Qin and Han dynasties, among which the 3,000 painted terracotta warriors and horses from the Western Han Dynasty are the most famous.
The Xianyang Museum was built by repairing and expanding the Confucius Temple built in the fourth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty. It was renamed Xianyang Museum in 2015 and consists of the Xianyang Confucian Temple Museum and the Xianyang Ancient Ferry Site Museum.
The Xianyang Confucian Temple itself is a national protected ancient building. The gorgeous wooden bracket archway sparkles in the morning sun. The quaint and quiet four-courtyard complex is the location of the Xianyang Museum, which houses several exhibition rooms, including the Qin Xianyang Civilization Exhibition, jade collections, fine cultural relics, Buddhist cultural relics, and the Western Han Dynasty Legion.
The museum’s collection of jade artifacts includes many exquisite pieces, including the “Jade Repelling Evil Spirits” and the “Jade Immortal Galloping Horse”, which have appeared on stamps issued by China Post. The latter is also the inspiration for the museum’s logo.
The "Western Han Army" was unearthed from the Changling Tomb of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty in Yangjiawan, Xianyang, which was excavated in 1965. Nearly 2,000 infantry figurines and nearly 600 cavalry figurines formed a huge "three thousand soldiers and horses" formation. Except for being half the size of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang, this underground army from the Western Han Dynasty was finely made, brightly colored, and had a strict military appearance, which is equally amazing. The stone stele cultural relics exhibition area is divided into two stele corridors, east and west, which display steles, epitaphs and other cultural relics from the Northern Zhou Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The "Dou Lu'en Stele" is known as one of the three famous steles. The "Zhang Cong Stele", "Shun Shun Fragmented Stele", "Stele Record of the Reconstruction of Xianyang County City" and "Stele Record of Wang Chongyang's Immortal Traces" are all rare art treasures.
The Xianyang Museum is not big, but it is cleverly designed, with a beautiful environment, quiet and elegant, and peace in the midst of bustle. Strolling along the tree-lined avenue, the green trees are shaded by the rich fragrance, and the weight of history and the Qin and Han styles come into view.
As for everything in the world, reading can nourish the mind. The small cultural and historical library in the museum is like a clear stream, adding color and luster to this noisy, vulgar and impetuous natural world, making people fascinating and thought-provoking.