National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature

中国现代文学馆
National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature

Address: No 45 Wenxueguan Road, Chaoyang district, Beijing
Opening hours: 9 am-4:30 pm (last entry 4 pm)
Closed Mondays
General administration: Free (valid identification required)
Tel: (86-10) 57311800

The National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature is a key national cultural institution and currently the world's largest literature museum.

It was originally established in 1985 at Wanshou Temple in Haidian district, Beijing, under the initiative of the literary giant Ba Jin (1904-2005). On May 23, 2000, the museum opened its new branch in the Shaoyaoju neighborhood of Chaoyang district, complete with red exterior walls and blue tiles and adorned with intricate reliefs of blooming flowers.

Today, the museum is housed in three buildings, providing ample space for exhibitions and research. Over the years, it has hosted more than a hundred exhibitions, both independently and in collaboration with other institutions. A notable highlight is the recreation of the original studies of renowned modern and contemporary writers, including those of Ding Ling (1904-1986), Yao Xueyin (1910-1999) and Yang Mo (1914-1995), allowing visitors a glimpse into the personal spaces of these literary giants.

The museum's collection consists of approximately 900,000 items, including books, manuscripts, photographs and letters. Special literary repositories, named after the authors who donated their materials in bulk, have been established, such as the Ba Jin Library and the Bing Xin Library. These archives, totaling more than 100, represent writers from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and the global Chinese diaspora.

As a comprehensive center for modern and contemporary Chinese literature, the museum has an exhibition hall, library, archive and research hub. Through free public lectures, modernized management of literary resources and attentive reader services, the museum guides literature enthusiasts in appreciating the brilliance and achievements of 20th-century Chinese literature.