Why is Hubei Provincial Museum special?
Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan is the only provincial comprehensive museum in Hubei province. The museum collects, protects, and exhibits the cultural relics discovered in the province. Since 1953, the museum has collected over 200,000 cultural relics, including pottery, porcelains, jade, bronze vessels, ancient weapons, and ancient musical instruments. Among which, 812 are listed as first-class relics of China, and 16 are considered national treasures.
Hubei Provincial Museum is divided into three parts: the Chime Bells Exhibition Hall, the Chu (a state in the Spring and Autumn Period (770BC-476BC)) Culture Exhibition Hall, and the Comprehensive Exhibition Building.
Hubei Provincial Museum Highlights
Chime Bells Exhibition Hall
The Chime Bells Exhibition Hall consists of two parts: the Exhibition Hall and the Music Hall. In the Exhibition Hall, many cultural relics that have been unearthed from the tomb of Yi (the Emperor of the Zheng Sate in the Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC) are displayed, such as the exquisite bronze vessel known as “Crane Standing on the Antler”, ancient halberds, triangle-shaped swords called Shu, and the bamboo slips that were used for writing on in ancient times. The Chime Bells, which is the largest bronze musical instrument ever discovered, is the most famous relics in the museum. It can play various tones of the musical scale due to the different sizes of bells, and the timbre is quite beautiful. In the Music Hall, wearing ancient clothes, musicians play a replica of the Chime Bells twice a day.
Chu Culture Exhibition Hall
The Chu Culture Exhibition Hall features the regional culture of the Chu State. Most of the cultural relics displayed are bronze vessels, lacquer works, bamboo and wooden artifacts, and silk knitted products. Various ancient weapons of the Chu State, such as the sword of Gou Jian (the Emperor of the Yue State in the Spring and Autumn Period) and the shaft of Fu Chai (the Emperor of the Wu State in the Spring and Autumn Period) are exhibited. In 2002, pieces of chariots and horses of the Chu State are discovered by archaeologists. After careful restoration, some of the chariots and horses are now displayed in this hall. In addition to the unearthed cultural relics, some restored models of the houses in which Chu people lived are shown to the public, in order to give them a more direct impression of the ancient Chu people's lives.