Hubei Province Museum
– ancient ceramics, bronze and treasures of Marquis and

Hubei Province Museum is located in the city of Wuhan – the capital of the province. Here is a gorgeous collection of ancient ceramics, bronze products and household items. Also, artifacts from the Tomb of the Marquis and, which is considered to be one of the most important archaeological finds in China, inferior in its meaning only by the excavations of the terracotta army and the opening of the underground palace.

The main buildings of the museum are made in the traditional architectural style of the Chinese Palace. The outlines of the main building resembles the High Harmony Hall in the Forbidden City. It can be seen that the museum buildings were designed rather for visitors than for exposure. On the upper floors of the museum there are balconies with benches, and visitors to the museum can relax in the fresh air.

In the main building, two main floors, on the first floor there is a collection of ceramics, a bronze collection is displayed on the second. Treasures of the Tomb of the Marquis and are in a nearby building on the left, which, unfortunately, did not fall into the photo in the photo.

The courtyard of the museum is also made in traditional style, with a pond in the middle. As in many ponds in China in these ponds are divorced by fish.

In the halls of the first floor of the museum exhibited the collection of ceramics. The number of exhibits is just huge, we cannot accommodate all photos within the article itself. Let’s focus on the most interesting.

This collection of tea cups dated by the 15th century of our era. Despite the honorable age, ceramics are perfectly preserved due to the high quality, which the Chinese masters have reached already at that time. Each cup corresponds to its month, and on each cup is drawd a drawing of a tree or an animal directly associated with this month from the Chinese 15th century. Also on each cup applied poem. Ceramics of these products are very thin and drawing shifted, if you look at it from the inside.

Traditionally, the ceramics created vessels for storing various foods. Naturally, most of the exhibits of the museum in the ceramics hall are a variety of vases.

The most ancient patterns of ceramics in the collection of the museum are dating 2-3 centuries to our era. At that time, vessels for wine and oil in the form of animals were very popular. An example of such a vessel you can see on the photo on the left.

In 2-3 centuries, drawings on ceramics were not so popular. Basically, the ceramics of this period has a natural brown color. During this period, the master was paid much more attention to form and small details in the product. And indeed, this product is already over two thousand years old, but it has been perfectly preserved and looks very beautiful.

Products in the form of animals characters for this period. In those days, the optimal forms for dishes were not yet chosen. Craftsmen used imagination and were not afraid to experiment.

For ceramics of ancient China, a variety of forms. Vessels made similar on different animals, both home and wild.

In addition to storing oils and wines, ceramic products for the storage of spices. This chest contains three layers with separations of different sizes, presumably for storing different spices.

In each layer there is a large rectangular central office and ten small.

This chest is also dated 2-3 centuries to our era.

Similar vaults of spices in ancient China and to this day are more often made of wood. This exhibit is interesting because he is ceramic. Ceramic production is based on the technology of the "pottery circle", and the casket for spices does not have any round in itself. Other rare technologies were used here.

The paper was invented in China in the second century, but what was used to record texts up to this point? The Museum’s Hall Hall is dedicated to the ancient technologies for the manufacture of lettering material from bamboo sticks. This stand shows the full cycle of this technology. Such sheets of bamboo sticks were used in ancient China everywhere.

Also in the Museum of Hubei Province there are examples of other methods of recording texts Ancient Chinese – leather, clay and stone signs.

The second pride of the Hubei Museum – a collection of decorations. It is difficult to immediately guess what kind of exhibit you see on the photo on the left. Try guessing.

This belt. Of course, the leather base is not preserved to this day, and these are decorations that were laughed on top of the foundation. The decorations for the belt were very popular in men in ancient China. These decorations are made of gold with rubies and other precious stones. Only a very rich man could own such a belt.

The expensive belts in ancient China were more often performed from silver than gold. The main stone was more often jade.

The third pride of the museum is a collection of ancient bronze products. Especially worth noting a very rich collection of weapons. By the number and quality of military exhibits, the Hubei Museum exceeds the Shanghai Museum and even the National Museum in Beijing on Tiananmen Square.

Some exhibits are distinguished from the total mass.

For example, an ax on a combat ax in the photo on the right. This exhibit is the most colorful in the "Bronze" Museum of Hubei Province. He has a very big weight, and only a very strong warrior could fight such a combat ax. Given the high price of the metal in those days, this ax was also very expensive. It turns out that his owner possessed the extraordinary strength of the hands and the wallet at the same time.

Do not think that there are no other items from bronze in the museum, except weapons. Bronze made vessels for oils and wines, including ritual destination. Also in the museum you will see elegant stands for drums.

On the photo on the left presented a collection of VAZ from bronze. Naturally, bronze vases were at times more expensive than ceramic. It is for this reason that they are in large quantities are in burials. In the afterlife tried to take all the best.

Bronze in ancient times was available in much smaller quantities. Find copper and tin much more difficult than clay. Bronze Product Production Technology was much more complicated. Ceramic dishes can be buried and burn, and bronze casting requires the preparation of a stone form.

In a separate building, the museum presented finds from the Tomb of the Marquis and. This tomb dates back to 433 a year BC.

The most valuable find is an ancient musical bell tool (in the photo below). It consists of 65 bells, and for the game it took five people. This is the only similar tool that has survived to this day completely. This "Pearl" of the Hubei Museum.

The bell tool takes the whole hall, and you can consider it from all sides. The tomb of the marquise and contained many musical instruments of various size and form. Probably marquis and was a real Meloman.

In the tomb there was a large number of foundations for drums of very elegant work. An example is such a find you can see on the photo on the right.

It is accurate to say for sure why it was the base for the drums produced by artisans with so much decor? Chinese historians explain this by the fact that the drums were symbols of management, and the beauty of their grounds is the symbol of the rule of the ruler.

In the center of such a foundation there is a hole for bamboo pole, the drum itself was attached to this pole.

In the tomb there were many products from jade, mostly decoration. Also a separate tomb Hall contained a weapon: arboretum tips, Alebard axes and copies.

In those days, China has not yet been a single state. The association occurred after 200 years in 210 BC Emperor Qin Shihuandi. Then China was fragmented, and this territory belonged to the southern kingdom of Chu. All kingdoms constantly fought with each other, and an abundance of weapons in the Tomb of Marquis and is not surprising.

Another "Pearl" Collections of the Museum of Hubei Province – Sword of the Kingdom Yu. This sword belonged to one of the kings of the ancient state of Yui, but it is not known who. Often it is called "Gowjiana Sword" by the very famous of these kings.

This sword was found in hermetic sheath covered with black varnish. It is for this reason that he is very well preserved. His uniqueness is in this. Guides say that it cuts silk fabric, if it sketches on top on the sword.

To slowly get around the whole museum, it takes about 4 hours of time. If you look only the most interesting, then you can meet even in 1 hour.

If you do not plan to go to Hubei, but you want to view exhibits, then we recommend our photo galleries: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5. But of course, we recommend visiting this place personally, and enjoy the subjects of ancient Chinese art.

We wish you a pleasant time in the museums of China, and read our articles about this country (Links below).