Wenzhou Museum, tracing the footsteps of 5,000 years of history

Wenzhou Museum is located in Century Square, Shifu Road, Lucheng District, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, and is a comprehensive local museum. The museum covers an area of about 26,000 square meters, with a total exhibition area of 12,000 square meters. The building is a standalone enclosed structure, with the entrance hall directly connected to the central circular courtyard hall, which is more than ten meters high and has walls inlaid with multiple giant copper relief works. Wenzhou Museum has more than 20,000 cultural relics, including ceramics, bronzes, colored sculptures, brick carvings, lacquerware, calligraphy and paintings among 20 categories. The collection highlights include the Ou kiln celadon gourd-shaped pot with lid, Ou kiln celadon cup-mouthed pot, Northern Song Dynasty colored sculpture of a Bodhisattva, manuscript of 'Zhou Li Zheng Yi' by Qing Dynasty's Sun Yirang, and the letter to Song Shu by Xia Zengyou from the modern era, among others. Wenzhou, formerly known as Dong'ou, has a long history and a rich cultural heritage. More than 5,000 years ago, our ancestors labored and lived on this land. Over 2,200 years ago, the King of Dong'ou governed and established his capital here. The Ou River, flowing between the mountain cities, has nurtured prosperity on both banks and witnessed the enduring and striving spirit of the people of Wenzhou over thousands of years. Wenzhou Museum's core exhibition hall is the History Hall, which showcases the 5,000-year historical footsteps of the 'Wenzhou people', and also includes six major exhibition halls: the Calligraphy and Painting Hall, the Ceramics Hall, the Natural History Hall, the Craft Hall, and the Temporary Exhibition Hall. The History Hall consists of four major sections: 'The Kingdom of Dong'ou', 'Dong'ou under the Central Dynasties', 'After the Port Opening', and 'Wenzhou Today'. The theme is 'The Story of Wenzhou People, a Tale of Survival and Development'. The Calligraphy and Painting Hall focuses on the museum's collection of fine calligraphy and paintings, supplemented by outstanding works of Wenzhou-born calligraphers and painters from various periods. The Ceramics Hall is arranged chronologically according to the development of ceramics, with the emergence, development, and decline of the Ou kiln as the main thread of the exhibition. The theme of the Craft Hall is 'The Story of the White Elephant Pagoda'. In 1965, the White Elephant Pagoda, built during the Northern Song Dynasty and severely tilted, was dismantled. Unexpectedly, despite the underground palace having been looted, over a thousand exquisite Song Dynasty cultural relics were still discovered within the walls of the pagoda. In 2004, Wenzhou Museum was named a provincial-level patriotic education base, and in May 2009, it was rated as a national second-level museum. On May 18, 2017, it was promoted to the third batch of national first-level museums. 📍Detailed address: Century Square, Shifu Road, Lucheng District, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Opening hours: 09:00—17:00 Ticket price: Free ⏳Time reference: 2 hours