Nanjing Museum

Nanjing Museum
南京博物院

Address: 321East Zhongshan Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu province
Hours: 9:00-12:00 (Monday, no entry after 11:00)
9:00 -17:00 (Tuesday-Sunday, no entry after 16:00)
Closed on Monday afternoon, Lunar New Year’s Eve, and Lunar New Year’s Day
General admission: Free

Smart minds think alike, though they might not live in the same era.
Rong Qiqi, a mythological folk hero from the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), and the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove (zhulinqixian), a group of seven scholars, writers and musicians living in the Kingdom of Wei (220-265), are a good example of this.

At an imperial tomb dated to the period between the 3rd century and the 6th century near Nanjing, Jiangsu province, molded-brick reliefs were discovered in 1960, depicting both Rong and the Seven Sages sitting at ease on the ground and sharing a relaxing time under gingko trees. These images show respect from later generations, as well as their yearning for ancestors’ free and casual lifestyles. The sages’ graceful bearing were delicately recorded by Lu Tanwei, who was thought to have created the images. Lu was a court artist with outstanding expertise in portraits, usually featuring exquisite styles and giving viewers visual surprises.

The relief-murals are now well preserved at Nanjing Museum. As the earliest surviving portrait of figures dated to China's Wei-Jin period (220-420) discovered to date and the earliest surviving portrait of the Seven Sages discovered so far, it is one of the museum’s most precious treasures.

Nanjing Museum is China’s first large-scale comprehensive museum. It is located in the south of Purple Mountain and north of Zhongshan Gate, with an area of 70,000 square meters. It has two exhibition halls, one for history and one for art,covering a combined area of 35,000 sq m. Both are palatial after the architectural style of the Liao Dynasty (947-1211).

The museum holds over 430,000 items of various types from the Paleolithic period to the contemporary era, including stoneware, earthenware, jade ware, bronze ware, porcelain, painting and calligraphy, embroidery, bamboo carving, folklore and contemporary art.