On May 16, after three years of renovation, China Jiangnan Water Town Culture Museum finally unveiled its new look and was officially open to the public. As a branch venue of "Culture and Tourism Market 2022: Hangzhou Amazing Night of Song Dynasty Charm" in Linping, the museum prepared a series of meeting gifts for the long-awaited audience. Liangzhu canoes with a history of over 5,000 years made their debut, the treasures of Baoji Bronze Museum came a long way here, and the painting "Dragon Boat Racing at Jinming Pond" by Zhang Zeduan of the Northern Song Dynasty took you back to a thousand year ago to the royal court of Song Dynasty to watch a lively dragon boat race...
From ancient times to the present, Jiangnan has always been a dream destination for countless literati. "In the sound of sculling and the mist of waves, where is Jiangnan?" Small bridges, flowing water, silkworms, fish and rice... Everyone has a different impression of Jiangnan in their hearts. How did the ancient Jiangnan residents fish and farm? How did the rich land of fish and rice develop? The museum will take you into the real Jiangnan in history.
It is located in People's Square, Linping District, with a total construction area of about 21,000 square meters. The appearance of the museum is a typical representative of Jiangnan style architecture: the appearance of the west hall is based on Liangzhu jade cong, manifesting Jiangnan’s gentleness and warm and watery environment; the newly built east hall is inspired by Wu Guanzhong's paintings of Jiangnan water towns, restoring Jiangnan dwellings with white walls and black tiles. Moreover, the museum also integrates multiple functional areas such as cultural and creative bookstores, leisure bars, and water village workshops to provide tourists with entertainment and interactive experiences and create a veritable comprehensive cultural complex.
Walking into the water town hall exhibition area, everyone’s attention will be caught by the canoe in the huge showcase. Unearthed at Maoshan Site, it was hewn from a whole piece of wood, with a pointed bow and a square stern. It is 7.35 meters long and its side is about 0.02 meters thick. It is the first canoe found in Liangzhu culture and the first time to be exhibited to the public because it is very difficult to preserve. When it was discovered, it was in the silt layer. Once exposed to the air, it would oxidize rapidly and would become very fragile. Therefore, when it was unearthed, it was placed in a giant box together with silt and moved to a warehouse with large equipment before cleaning. And silt was cleaned away before the support frame was installed. After a series of complex processes taking several years such as freezing, dehydration and desalination, this 5,000-year-old boat is finally displayed in front of us.
"Spring Breezes Bring Greenery Back: Jiangnan Water Town Culture Exhibition" in the west hall displays the culture of Jiangnan water towns from five aspects: region, economy, life, culture and reform, and presents a vivid three-dimensional impression of Jiangnan. The five-thousand-year-old canoe of Liangzhu Culture, the cow footprints, the ridges and other precious cultural relics are on display for the first time, bringing the audience a feast of prehistoric civilization.
“A Prosperous Place since Ancient Times: Regional History and Culture Exhibition” consists of five units: The Holy Land Of Oriental Civilization, The Place Where Wu and Yue Meet, The Gateway To The Capital In Southeast, The Southern Port of Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and The Beautiful Land of Jiangnan. A large number of cultural relics and treasures were unearthed at key sites such as Liangzhu Site Group, Linping Site Group, Linping Hefeng Site, Xiaohengshan Ancient Tombs, etc., telling the audience the historical stories and changes of Linping from prehistoric culture to modern development achievements.
There are also two temporary exhibition halls in the museum. Currently two special exhibitions are on display simultaneously including many precious treasures from other museums. "Rhyme & Dynamic: The Cultural and Sports Life Experience Exhibition of Southern Song and Northern Song Dynasties" lasts until the end of August. It displays Zhang Zeduan's painting "Dragon Boat Racing at Jinming Pond," a popular exhibit from Tianjin Museum. On a silk scroll less than 0.1 square meters big, Zhang Zeduan painted the surroundings of Jinming Pond and the scenery and people on the shores vividly. In the pavilion close to the pond, the emperor gave a banquet to the officials and watched the dragon boat race together with them; some civilians on the shores watched the race while some enjoyed a spring outing or made transactions…The painting presents the then prosperous scene vividly in front of the audience.
Song Dynasty has very prosperous commodity economy. On the basis of a wealthy society with sufficient food and clothing, people of Song Dynasty invented all kinds of recreations. Quiet activities include four great arts of elegance: whisking powdered tea, burning incense, arranging flowers and hanging paintings and so on. Dynamic ones include playing cuju (Chinese football), horse ball and chuiwan (Chinese golf) and other fierce confrontation. It was also a graceful thing to do to play Go and dominoes with friends in the spare time.
These cultural and recreational activities and daily life of Song Dynasty not only could be seen in the special exhibitions but also could be experienced. Via the high-tech interactive equipment in the exhibition halls, the audience can travel through time and space to play cuju with Song people in a somatosensory game.
The other special exhibition “Between Complication and Simplicity: The Art Exhibition of Bronze Ornaments Excavated in Baoji” that lasts till August 18th displays a replica of He Zun. It is a ritual bronze vessel made by a royal aristocrat surnamed He in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. Inside the container, at the base, it contains 122 inscribed Chinese characters. Among them, the four characters宅兹中国is the earliest occurrence of the word 中国. It is among the first batch of historical artifacts that can never leave Chinese soil. This national treasure of bronze ware that is not allowed to be taken abroad always causes an upsurge of viewing every time it is displayed. Grab this rare opportunity to see it.
The exhibition also displays many national first-class cultural relics, such as the famous Boge Zun, Boge You, and Shanwufu Pot, as well as many bronze wares with stange shapes – elephant Zun, carp Zun and other animals. The audience will marvel at the exquisite craftsmanship of ancient times. Pay attention not to miss a national treasure when visiting the exhibition.
Museums have always been the second classroom for the youth to gain an in-depth understanding of history and culture and broaden their horizon. In order to enrich the viewing experience of more young people, the museum has specially set up a "Water Town Experience Hall" on the second floor of the east hall, which has many functional areas: the activity area for little kids, the water town workshop experience area, the multi-functional activity area, etc. Interesting courses and production experience activities will be held regularly for kids of all ages so that they can learn while playing and experience the history and culture of Jiangnan water towns by themselves.
During the opening period, the Water Town Workshop Education and Experience Center will launch a series of interesting experience activities. The movable-type printing experience and the children's sand painting art competition held a few days ago brought the kids closer to traditional culture and took them to discover the aesthetics of Song Dynasty and the memory of the water town in their artistic creation.
Moreover, two unique classes that take the kids back to the ancient times will also bright a lot of fun to the kids. Those participating in the classes will turn into Jiang Yicai, a virtual person from Song Dynasty. Kids dressed in Song Dynasty costumes could come to the classes to learn the fashion of Song Dynasty or go to a dinner party of Su Dongpo to experience the food culture of Song Dynasty in Su Dongpo’s poetry. They could also learn to make Song Dynasty green bean cakes in the ancient way… Such an immersive experience of Song people's life will surely give the kids a more intuitive understanding of Song Dynasty elegance.