National Museum of China - Collections

Collections

The museum, covering Chinese history from the Yuanmou Man of 1.7 million years ago to the end of the Qing Dynasty (the last imperial dynasty), has a permanent collection of 1,050,000 items, with many precious and rare artifacts not to be found in museums anywhere else in China or the rest of the world.

Among the most important items in the National Museum of China are the "Simuwu Ding" from the Shang Dynasty (the heaviest piece of ancient bronzeware in the world, at 832.84 kg), the square shaped Shang Dynasty bronze zun decorated with four sheep heads, a large and rare inscribed Western Zhou Dynasty bronze water pan, a gold-inlaid Qin Dynasty bronze tally in the shape of a tiger, Han Dynasty jade burial suits sewn with gold thread, and a comprehensive collection of Tang Dynasty tri-colored glazed sancai and Song Dynasty ceramics.

• A pastel pierced porcelain vase, from the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty

• Copperplate for printing the Great Ming one string banknote

• Stone carving from the Eastern Han Dynasty, with depiction of a waterside pavilion overlooking a lake full of fish, turtles, and waterfowl

• Bronze two-part pass (paizi) with a four character Tangut inscription inlaid in silver, from the Western Xia

• A bronze vessel in the shape of a bat, from the tomb of Lady Fu Hao, from Shang Dynasty, 13th century BC

• Pottery roof tile ends from the Western Han Dynasty

• Painted stone relief depicting a warrior from the Later Liang Dynasty

• A Western Han Dynasty jade pillow from the tomb of the Prince of Chu in Shizishan, Xuzhou, Jiangsu province

• A bronze seal dated to the 12th year of the Dading era (1172) of the Jin Dynasty

• Red lacquer box from the Qing Dynasty