In May 2023, the “International Museum Day” Sichuan-Chongqing main venue event and the opening ceremony of the Chongqing Changshou District Museum were officially held in Changshou. This year’s theme is – “Museums, Sustainable Development and Better Life”. Why did this important event choose to be held in the Changshou District Museum? In addition to the activities at the main venue, what other major exhibitions does the Changshou District Museum have?
The birth of “International Museum Day”
Museums are the condensation of human civilization. The museum master George Brown Goode once said: “Museums are not the cemetery of antiques, they are breeding grounds for living ideas, and they are important institutions for enlightening the people.” As a place carrier for recording the history and memory of human civilization, museums The history of its birth can even be traced back to the Greek period, which can be seen in the museum’s English name “Museum”.
This word comes from the Greek “Mouseion”, which means “a place dedicated to the Muses (nine goddesses in charge of learning and art) and engaged in research.” In the 3rd century BC, after the death of Alexander, his general Ptolemy Soto not only established the Ptolemaic dynasty, but also created a “Temple of the Muses” in the port city of Alexandria, which specially collected cultural and artistic treasures. , which is also recognized as the earliest museum in human history. The world’s first modern museum is the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archeology at Oxford University, founded in 1683. So far, “Museum” has become the general name of the museum.
The original museum was built for the royal family or a few wealthy people to watch the collection of rare and exotic objects, and it was not directly open to the public. This can also be seen in the establishment of the British Museum. In order to maintain the integrity of his collection after his death, the British collector Sir Hans Sloan donated more than 80,000 collections to the British royal family, which directly prompted the royal family to decide to establish the British Museum in 1753. Six years later, the British Museum opened to the public on January 15, 1759, becoming the first major museum in the world to be open to the public. Since then, public nature has gradually become the background color of museums, which also gave birth to the birth of the International Council of Museums.
C. J. Hamlin, president of the American Association of Museums, initiated the creation of the International Council of Museums in November 1946, and eventually, the association was established in Paris, France in 1946. After its establishment, the International Council of Museums called on the global museum industry to follow the power of healthy development, making it a public place that can attract the whole society to understand, participate in and pay attention to the museum industry. For this reason, in 1977, the International Council of Museums announced to the world that May 18, 1977 was the first International Museum Day, and determined the theme of the International Museum Day every year.
From 1977 to 2023, people have spent 47 International Museum Days, and the cultural and museum circles at home and abroad have successively held many related promotional activities. In 2021, the Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics commissioned the Chongqing Municipal Museum Association to organize and carry out the 2021 city-wide “Museum Excellent Exhibition” and “Excellent Cases of Practical Education in Cultural and Museum Research”. In order to continue to demonstrate the spiritual and cultural depth of Chongqing, in 2022, the Chongqing Municipal Cultural Heritage System will also carry out the 13th Cultural Heritage Promotion Month from May 18 to June 11, prompting the city’s museums to carry out 168 activities in ten sections . Because of this, in 2023, the Changshou District Museum decided to hold the 2023 “International Museum Day” Sichuan-Chongqing main venue event in Changshou District, Chongqing City and the Chongqing Cultural and Tourism Commission for instructions. The opening ceremony of the Changshou District Museum in the city tried to make the “power of the museum” more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so as to embark on a broad road of sustainable development.
According to Zhang Qichang, deputy director of the Changshou District Museum, the reason why the Changshou District Museum became the main venue of the “International Museum Day” in Sichuan and Chongqing is determined by multiple factors. “On the one hand, this event would have chosen a newly opened museum for the exhibition, and our Changshou District Museum is a very suitable choice; on the other hand, it is because of the vigorous construction of the Sichuan-Chongqing economic circle.” Zhang Qichang said. It is worth mentioning that the “International Museum Day” Sichuan-Chongqing main venue event held in Changshou is also the first offline feast after the epidemic, which has naturally attracted the attention of all sectors of society. Changshou also adheres to the theme of the 2023 International Museum Day – “Museums, Sustainable Development and Better Life”, and serves a cultural feast to the public from different perspectives as much as possible in the activities held.
Wonderful cultural and expo event
In this cultural and museum event, the Sichuan-Chongqing pair of “CP” jointly held the official opening of the Changshou District Museum and “Golden and Jade Love – Excellent Jade and Gold and Silver Ware Exhibition of Sichuan and Chongqing Museums” and Museum Night Talk at the main venue of Changshou — Various activities such as the Sichuan-Chongqing Museum Alliance Annual Conference, public welfare appraisal activities, and the third “Bashan Shushui” Sichuan-Chongqing Museum Cultural and Creative Exhibition will bring a visual feast and cultural influence to the audience.
Before the official arrival of the “International Museum Day”, Changshou District Museum held a museum night talk on May 16 – the annual meeting of the Sichuan-Chongqing Museum Alliance. The alliance was jointly established by 12 museums in Sichuan and Chongqing, including the Sichuan Museum and the China Three Gorges Museum in Chongqing, during the International Museum Day in 2022. 63 cultural and museum institutions in Sichuan and Chongqing have joined the group. In 2023, the right to host the annual meeting of the Sichuan-Chongqing Museum Alliance will be officially transferred from the Yibin Museum to the Changshou District Museum. Naturally, the Changshou District Museum will live up to its high expectations. It will show the Bashu culture to the visitors and tell the story of Bashu culture.
It is worth mentioning that the public welfare appraisal activity held on May 17 in the Changshou District Museum Square is also very interesting. In the early stage of the event, offline registration or online registration is required. After review, experts from the cultural relics appraisal team of Chongqing City and Sichuan Province can conduct public welfare appraisal of the collections of the applicants. This move not only brought popularity to the Changshou District Museum, but also allowed everyone to experience the fun of it. At the same time, the Sichuan-Chongqing Museum cultural and creative IP-based operation and exchange activities held on this day were also very lively. Representatives of museums in Sichuan and Chongqing, related enterprises in the cultural and creative industries, and representatives of intellectual property lawyers gathered in the academic lecture hall on the first floor of the Changshou District Museum to discuss the innovative development and operation mode of museum cultural and creative products and the intellectual property protection system.
At the same time, at the 2023 “International Museum Day” Sichuan-Chongqing main venue event and the opening ceremony of the Changshou District Museum in Chongqing, not only the annual report on the development of Sichuan-Chongqing museums was released, but also the “Golden Jade Marriage – Fine Jade and Gold Collections in Sichuan-Chongqing Museums” was held. Silver Show”. The “Golden Jade Marriage” exhibition collected a total of 15 museums, cultural relics and archaeological institutes in Sichuan and Chongqing’s characteristic jade, gold and silver artifacts. The profound cultural connotation of Changshou District.
From May 17th to 21st, the third “Bashan Shushui” Sichuan-Chongqing Museum Cultural and Creative Exhibition was also held at the Changshou District Museum. This cultural and creative exhibition, in the form of “interaction between two cities”, jointly exhibited cultural and creative exhibits from Sichuan Museum, Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum, Sichuan Guanghan Sanxingdui Museum, Jinsha Site Museum, etc., fully displaying the cultural and creative products of museums in Sichuan and Chongqing Features and achievements of the development.
All these measures are to enrich the content of the on-site activities, let everyone feel the connotation and power of the museum, and connect the regional cultural resources of the Shuangcheng Economic Circle in the Sichuan-Chongqing area. In the process of fully excavating cultural heritage resources and continuously promoting cultural exchanges and cooperation in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, we can see the miniature, continuation and development of a city and a country’s civilization and history.
Listen to the collision of gold and jade in the heart of Chongqing
At this moment, 15 museums and institutes of cultural relics and archaeology in Sichuan and Chongqing, including the China Three Gorges Museum in Chongqing and the Chongqing Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology, gathered in the Changshou District Museum. Each museum selects its own distinctive and elegant jade and gold and silver cultural relic collections to hold the “Golden Jade Marriage” exhibition, hoping to present a wonderful visual cultural feast for the majority of tourists.
Gold, stone and jade wares have been an important part of many categories of Chinese cultural relics since ancient times. As a great country with the reputation of “Jade Country”, people have had a strong interest in and admiration for jade since the Neolithic Age. Objects, the medium of communication between heaven and earth, endow jade with mysterious and sacred colors. Of course, gold, as a natural and precious mineral metal, attracts the attention of modern people with its rare properties and dazzling luster. In fact, as early as the Xia and Shang Dynasties more than 3,000 years ago, gold products were born in the hands of craftsmen. At the same time, the unique attributes and values also endow gold products with titles of rights, nobility, and wealth, making goldware culture emit a unique light on the road of production and development.
With the continuous enrichment of people’s spiritual and material world, the aesthetic concept is also constantly improved. Chinese jade, gold and silver artifacts are closely related to social development and economic prosperity, and represent the life and artistic feelings of the ancients. Today, more than ten museums and institutes of cultural relics and archaeology from Sichuan and Chongqing, with their most representative “treasures”, gather at the Changshou District Museum to reproduce the long and splendid history and culture of the Chinese nation. It is reported that a total of 179 pieces (sets) of cultural relics were exhibited in this “Golden Jade Match” exhibition, including 116 pieces (sets) of precious cultural relics, and 71 pieces (sets) of cultural relics were exhibited for the first time in Chongqing, which is enough to show that the museums in Sichuan and Chongqing are very supportive. The importance attached to this exhibition also shows the material value of the cultural relics in the exhibition hall and the rich humanistic value contained in this exhibition.
The brilliance of time watching
The exhibition of “Golden Jade” is divided into six parts, including gold and jade in the same splendor – sacrificial rituals in Sichuan and Chongqing collections, ritual and moral jade and gold wares (including the two parts of worshiping heaven and gold belt and jade pendant), gold and jade in the hall – Sichuan and Chongqing Collection of Jade and Gold and Silver Wares, Gold Branches and Jade Leaves——Jade and Gold and Silver Jewelry from the Sichuan and Chongqing Museums, Gold Makeup and Jade Building—A Brief Discussion on the Technique and Decoration of Jade and Gold and Silver Wares (including two parts: the beauty of heaven and the feelings of nature) Four units . The Changshou District Museum differentiates the themes of these treasured cultural relics through cultural relic types, styles, uses, materials and other elements, and each unit has its own highlights.
In the first unit, the Shang Jin mask of the Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, Sichuan, and the bronze head of Shang and related cultural relics exhibited by the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology are particularly eye-catching. The Shangjin mask was unearthed from the No. 3 “sacrifice pit” of the Sanxingdui site, and its restoration process can be said to be tortuous and full of legend. At that time, after the archaeologists slowly took out a piece of bronze ware, a group of severely deformed gold objects appeared in front of people. This cultural relic, which was crumpled like a piece of manuscript paper and whose shape is difficult to discern, took less than a week in the hands of the restoration staff to present a complete golden mask that shocked the world. The gold mask is hammered out of gold leaf. The eyes are hollowed out, the nose is protruding, and there are sharp edges. According to the researcher’s guess, it may have been attached to the face of a certain bronze figure head, and then fell off after time weathering. This cultural relic is the most complete gold mask unearthed in the archaeological excavation of Sanxingdui so far, and it also adds another great evidence to the worship of gold in the ancient Shu civilization. As for the head of Shang Bronze Man, readers who often “surf” the Internet are no strangers. This head is flat-topped, with hair combed back and braids hanging behind the head. The hair style, the eyes of the head portrait are slightly protruding, and the face is majestic, giving people a sense of authority and holiness.
In the second unit, the Ming “Xiwang Appreciation” gold coin exhibited by the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology also shines through the millennium. If you want to understand the story behind this collection, you have to mention Zhang Xianzhong, the leader of the peasant uprising army in the late Ming Dynasty. In 1644, Zhang Xianzhong proclaimed himself King of Daxi during the Sichuan Uprising, and established Daxi Kingdom in Chengdu. Influenced by the third-class meritorious service system in the Ming Dynasty, he ordered people to cast gold, silver, and copper three-quality Xiwang meritorious service coins, which were used as rewards for meritorious deeds in wars, and meritorious deeds were rewarded according to meritorious deeds. In 1646, Zhang Xianzhong led his troops to rush south along the Minjiang River. In addition to an army of more than 100,000 troops, he also carried the gold and silver treasures he had looted along the way. At the mouth of the Pengshan River, Zhang Xianzhong’s troops were ambushed by the general Yang Zhan of the Ming Dynasty, and the huge wealth he carried with him sank to the bottom of the river. The king rewards us with gold coins and silver coins. The shape of these coins is round on the outside and square on the inside. The body of the coins is relatively thin, the outline is flat, and the outline on the back is slightly wider than the outline on the face. Since the currency was not used for circulation, but was used for rewards, and the Onishi regime quickly collapsed, not many people were rewarded, so these coins are rare and rare.
In addition, in the second unit, the golden chrysanthemum bowl of the Song Dynasty, the silver pot with folded shoulders of the lotus cover of the Song Dynasty, and the long-necked silver vase of the Song Dynasty exhibited by the Pengzhou Cultural Relics Protection and Management Institute remind people of the elegant life of the Song people. The chrysanthemum bowl is one of the most common shapes of gold and silver wares in the Song Dynasty. This gold bowl uses the bottom as the stamen and the wall as the petals. It organically combines the decoration of the utensil with the shape of the utensil. , the bowl foot and the bowl body are made separately, and then welded together, so that the bowl body looks like a blooming chrysanthemum, which can be described as an exquisite bionic device. The discovery process of these cultural relics is also legendary. In November 1993, a total of 350 pieces of cultural relics unearthed in West Street, Pengzhou City, which had been dusty for many years, were also very rare in China. The aesthetics of life, reappearing in the world, is the largest gold and silver hoard discovered in the country so far, representing the highest level of gold and silver wares in the Song Dynasty, and is known as “the world’s first gold and silver hoard”.
It is worth mentioning that the China Three Gorges Museum in Chongqing also brought long-preserved gold and jade wares to the “hometowners”. Among them, the first-class cultural relics-the stone sculptures of Daxi culture in the Neolithic Age are absolutely heavy. This cultural relic was unearthed at the ruins of the People’s Hospital of Wushan County, Chongqing City. It is matched with a three-dimensional round sculpture. It is shaped like two figures, one large and one small, with simple facial features. The adult is in a squatting posture, with his head slightly turned to one side, his back slightly forward, his arms bent, and his hands resting on his thighs. There is a little man lying on his back, resting his head on the right shoulder of the adult, looking forward. The villain’s chest and buttocks are close to the adult’s back, and the waist and abdomen are bowed backward, forming an oval hole with the adult’s back. This kind of sculpture with interactive plots is relatively rare in prehistoric times, and it is really precious.
Sichuan and Chongqing join hands, the future can be expected
It can be seen that the holding of the “Golden Jade Marriage” exhibition brings together the high-quality conditions of the right time, place and people, gathers the strength of collections from Sichuan and Chongqing, and presents Chinese jade and gold and silver artifacts to the public. Its materials reflect the essence of ancient life. Fufu, its shape contains rich charm and aesthetics, reflects the social customs and political ups and downs at that time, represents the life interest and artistic feelings of the ancients, and is one of the most convincing evidences of the long and splendid history and culture of the Chinese nation.
Although these jade and gold and silver wares from various museums and cultural relics and archaeological institutes have a history of nearly a thousand years, they have listened to the neighing of iron horses from the ground for a long time, and were quietly buried in the long river of history. Underground, but today they gather here and reappear in front of the world. I have seen the gold and iron horses and iron blood in the past, and I also appreciate the peace, beauty, tranquility and tranquility of today. There will be more beautiful expectations for the future!
Comments