The Shenyang Palace Museum

The Shenyang Palace Museum
沈阳故宫博物院

Address: 171 Shenyang Road, Shenhe district, Shenyang, Liaoning province
Websites: en.sypm.org.cn (En)
www.sypm.org.cn (Cn)
Hours: 8:30 - 17:30 (April 10-Oct 10, no entry after 16:45),
9:00 - 16:30 (Oct 11-April 9, no entry after 15:45)
Closed Monday mornings (until 13:00; Except for national holidays, July and August)
E-mail: webmaster@sypm.org.cn
General admission: 60 yuan

The Shenyang Palace Museum is a history museum exhibiting artworks and cultural relics from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and is the only existing imperial palace in China outside the Forbidden City in Beijing.

The museum is located in the well-preserved imperial palace of the Later Jin (1616-1636) period–a precursor to the Qing Dynasty - and the early period of the Qing from 1636 to 1644. Construction of the palace complex started in 1625 by Nurhaci(r. 1616-1626), founder of the Later Jin. In 1636, his eighth son and successor, Hong Taiji (r. 1627-1643) who assumed his father's mantle, expanded the palace and changed the regime title from Jin to Qing. The imperial family did not leave Shenyang for the new capital city, Beijing, until 1644. Nurhaci and Hong Taiji were both founding emperors of the Qing Dynasty.

The Shenyang Palace Museum was formerly called the Fengtian Palace Museum, then the National Shenyang Museum. It was officially renamed the Shenyang Palace Museum in 1954. In 1961, the State Council designated it as one of the nation’s foremost-protected cultural heritage sites. The architectural complex was listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 2004 and it is now the most popular and renowned tourist attraction in Shenyang.

Covering more than 60,000 square meters, it consists of more than 500 rooms and can be divided into three sections – the eastern, middle and western routes. Each route boasts unique characteristics.

The eastern route is representative of the whole palace, including the Hall of Great Affairs (Dazheng dian) where emperors ascended the throne and enacted imperial edicts.

The Shenyang Palace Museum established its collection on the basis of the imperial collection and the paraphernalia of the Qing court in its early period, before the imperial capital was redesignated from Shenyang to Beijing in 1644. It houses ancient cultural relics, such as Nurhaci's sword and Hong Taiji's broadsword. There are also many artworks on display, such as paintings, calligraphy, ceramics, sculptures and lacquer ware.