[2025 Nanyang Attraction] Travel Guide for Painting Museum of Han Dynasty (Updated Apr)

Visiting the Nanyang Han Gallery in Nanyang City, Henan Province 1. Address: The Nanyang Han Gallery is located at the southern end of Wolonggang, Nanyang City. 2. Transportation: Conveniently located in the Wolonggang area, it is easily accessible by various means of transportation. 3. Admission: Free. 4. Exhibition Area: The entire exhibition building has a sense of history. It is "T"-shaped, with a total area of 6,000 square meters and an exhibition hall area of 2,400 square meters. 5. Exhibition Overview: There are nine main exhibition halls. More than 200 exquisite stone carvings are displayed, categorized by content: production and labor, architectural art, historical stories, social life, astronomy and mythology, wrestling, dance and acrobatics, and auspicious omens and ascension. The exhibition halls display both stones and rubbings, providing clear viewing. 6. History of the Nanyang Han Gallery: Originally built in 1935, the original gallery was located in the backyard of the Wolong District Broadcasting Station. In 1957, the Henan Provincial Government allocated 28,000 yuan to build this Han Gallery on the east side of the Marquis Wu Temple in Wolonggang, Nanyang. It houses a collection of over 500 portrait stones. 7. Current Status: Two large Han Dynasty round stone carvings, Tianlu and Bixie, are placed in front of the gallery, along with a stele inscribed with "The Story of the Han Gallery's Creation and Renovation." 8. Recognition: In 2000, the Nanyang Han Gallery was awarded one of the "Top Ten Exquisite Exhibitions" among museums nationwide. In 2008, it was designated as a "National First-Class Museum" by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. 9. Current Scale: The gallery now boasts a collection of 3,000 stones, achieving a considerable scale. 10. Academic Research: The Nanyang Han Gallery has hosted numerous prominent figures for academic research, contributing to the exploration of the historical context and cultural significance behind the Han portrait stones. 11. Significance: Visiting the Nanyang Han Gallery highlights two key aspects: first, it is the earliest established, largest, and most comprehensive museum of Han Dynasty portrait stone carvings in China; second, it holds significant value in academic research and cultural heritage preservation.

Nanyang Han Painting Museum was built in the 24th year of the Republic of China. It is the earliest, most extensive and largest Han Dynasty stone carving art museum in China. The new museum was officially opened to the public in 2009. The Han Painting Museum is located to the north of the famous Wuhou Temple and to the south of the Baihe Scenic Area, with an elegant environment! The basic display of Nanyang Han Dynasty stone reliefs on the first floor is divided into nine exhibition halls. Classified by the content of the stone reliefs, the halls display more than 200 fine stone reliefs, which are divided into eight major parts: production labor, architectural art, historical stories, social life, astronomy and mythology, wrestling, dance and music, and auspicious signs and ascension to heaven. The prosperous scenes of the past have disappeared in the long river of history, and only the stone reliefs unearthed from the ground silently tell the story of the splendid culture of the Han Dynasty. The funeral custom of treating the dead as if they were alive gave birth to the unique art form of Han Dynasty stone reliefs, which mainly use shallow relief techniques to depict their life portraits on the thick and rough stone, showing the prosperous scene of singing and dancing in the Han Dynasty. The life, art, science, customs and beliefs of Han Dynasty society are concretely and vividly reflected in Han paintings. The treasure of the Han Painting Museum is the "Stone Portrait of Xu Aqu Watching Dance and Enjoying Music" (Painted 10). The stone portrait was unearthed in 1973 from a small and simple Three Kingdoms tomb in Lixianggongzhuang, east suburb of Nanyang City. The stone portrait is divided into two sections, the upper and lower sections. In the upper section, on the left, a child is sitting on a couch, with the three characters "Xu Aqu" engraved in the blank space in front of him. On the right, three children are playing games for Xu Aqu to watch and entertain. The lower level features five people performing dance, music and acrobatics. On the left side of the portrait is an inscription in Lishu script of 136 characters, which tells that the tomb owner Xu Aqu died at the age of five in the third year of Jianning in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and his family was very sad. The stone relief is rich in content and vivid in images, especially the scenes of children playing with dove carts and flying swords and jumping balls, which are extremely rare in Nanyang Han paintings. This stone relief was exhibited in Japan in March 2008 at the "Three Kingdoms" exhibition. [House]Address: No. 398 Hanhua Street, Wolong District, Nanyang City [Metro] Transportation: Take bus No. 9/18/26/33 and get off at Hanhua Museum Station [Compass] Time: 8:30-17:00 in winter, 8:30-17:30 in spring, summer and autumn, closed on Mondays [Purse] Per capita: Free

The Nanyang Han Fresco Museum is located in the birthplace of Chu-Han culture in China - the suburbs of Nanyang City, Henan Province. It is nestled to the north against the historic site of Zhuge Liang's seclusion, the Wulonggang of Nanyang, and to the south near the Baihe scenic area of Nanyang city. With an elegant environment and beautiful scenery, it is the first museum in China dedicated to the collection, display, and research of Han Dynasty fresco carvings. The Nanyang Han Fresco Museum was established on October 10, 1935, and was rebuilt twice in 1959 and 1976. It houses over 1,500 pieces, including 150 first-class items, mainly featuring Eastern Han large-scale round sculptures - 'Tianlu, Bixie' and the Eastern Han Jian Ning three years (AD 170) 'Xu A'qu's Tomb Epitaph Fresco', which are treasures of Han Dynasty art. It is the earliest established, largest in scale, and richest in collection among the Han Dynasty fresco carving art museums in China, and is also the largest research center for Han Dynasty fresco carvings in the country. In 2000, the Nanyang Han Fresco Museum was honored as one of the 'Top Ten Exquisite Exhibitions' museums in the country, and in 2008 it was rated as one of the first batch of 'National First-Class Museums' by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. The Han frescos collected by the Nanyang Han Fresco Museum have been honored as a 'National Business Card' on multiple occasions. These Han fresco carvings are exquisitely crafted with rich content, including astronomical achievements of the Han Dynasty such as charts of the sun, moon, and stars; depictions of Han Dynasty music, dance, and acrobatics; luxurious life scenes of Han Dynasty rulers with grand mansions, carriages, and horseback riding, feasts, and games of pitch-pot; as well as depictions of the Han Dynasty ruling class's favor of Taoism, witchcraft, ascension to immortality, and mythological legends. Stepping into the Han Fresco Museum, one feels as if they have traveled back a thousand years in a daydream.