Zhejiang Provincial Museum — Hangzhou guide

Overview

The Zhejiang Provincial Museum was founded in 1929 and is the largest comprehensive museum in Zhejiang Province, with a collection of more than 100,000 items. It operates across two campuses: the Gushan Branch, set on Lone Hill by West Lake in a classic Jiangnan garden style, and the Zhijiang Branch, which opened in 2023 and is organized around a "1-5-9" framework — one permanent history exhibition, five thematic exhibitions, and nine interactive experience exhibitions. Admission is free year-round (special exhibitions may require a separate ticket). Opening hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 9:00 to 17:00; closed on Mondays. The museum's ten crown treasures span seven thousand years of history, tracing the arc of Zhejiang's ancient civilization stretching back ten thousand years. Visitors are advised to begin at the Zhijiang Branch with the "Ten Thousand Years of Zhejiang" permanent history exhibition, work through the thematic and experience galleries, and then head to the Gushan Branch for paintings, calligraphy, and Leifeng Pagoda relics.

Section One: Zhijiang Branch — Permanent History Exhibition

1. Ten Thousand Years of Zhejiang: A History and Culture Exhibition

Located on the second and third floors of the Zhijiang Branch, this is the centerpiece of the museum. The exhibition follows a chronological thread, using nearly 2,000 artifacts to trace ten thousand years of Zhejiang's history — from the origins of rice cultivation in the Shangshan culture and the dugout canoes of the Hemudu culture, to the jade ritual objects of the Liangzhu civilization, the refined bronzework of the ancient Yue state, the prosperity of the two Song dynasties in the southeast, and the founding voyage of the Red Boat in the modern era. Highlights include a twin-bird ivory disc from the Hemudu culture, the Liangzhu jade cong king, and a bronze sword of Zhe Zhi Yu Ci, King of Yue, from the late Spring and Autumn period. Through artifacts, reconstructed scenes, and immersive film, visitors gain a vivid sense of Zhejiang's central place in Chinese civilization.

Section Two: Zhijiang Branch — Five Thematic Exhibitions

2. Secret Hues of Jiangnan: A Zhejiang Celadon Culture Exhibition

Located on the third floor of the Zhijiang Branch. Zhejiang is the birthplace of celadon. The exhibition traces the craft in four stages: the primitive wares of the Shangshan culture, the mature celadon of the Eastern Han dynasty, the peak of the Yue and Longquan kilns in the Tang and Song dynasties, and the close of the imperial kiln tradition in the Ming and Qing periods. It presents three great systems: the Shanglinhu Yue kiln, the Longquan kiln, and the imperial kiln. The highlight is a Yuan-dynasty Longquan celadon boat-shaped water dropper — a window onto ancient waterway life and the heights of ceramic craftsmanship.

3. The Sea Lies to the East: A Zhejiang Maritime Culture Exhibition

Located on the third floor of the Zhijiang Branch. Zhejiang faces the East China Sea, with a long coastline and numerous islands. The exhibition follows the theme of "embracing the sea and leading the tide," presenting the history of how the region's ancient people held back the tides, reclaimed land from mudflats, opened sea routes, and developed overseas trade. The highlight is a Warring States bronze house model depicting music and ritual — the only known pre-Qin bronze building model in existence, symbolizing the ceremonial life of early maritime culture.

4. The Song Spirit: A Zhejiang Song-Dynasty Culture Exhibition

Located on the third floor of the Zhijiang Branch. The Song dynasty represents the high-water mark of traditional Chinese culture. The exhibition traces three threads — civil official governance, the literati spirit, and everyday urban life — to present Song-dynasty Zhejiang's political institutions, refined aesthetics, and the texture of ordinary life. Exhibits include imperial celadon, Song-dynasty calligraphy and painting, woodblock-printed books, silk textiles, and everyday utensils, all conveying the "elegant yet lively" spirit that defines Song-dynasty taste.

5. Protecting the Land, Sheltering the People — Qian Liu: A Zhejiang Figures and Culture Exhibition

Located on the third floor of the Zhijiang Branch. The exhibition focuses on Qian Liu, founder of the Wuyue Kingdom in the Five Dynasties period, and the reigns of three generations and five kings of the Qian family. The Qian rulers "maintained good relations with the central court and kept the people safe," building waterworks, developing the capital, and expanding overseas trade to make Wuyue a haven in the southeast — laying the foundation for the Southern Song to make Hangzhou its capital. Highlights include a gilded-silver Ashokan stupa from the Wuyue Kingdom and relics excavated from the underground palace of Leifeng Pagoda. The Qian family's code of conduct, the Qian Family Maxims, has guided their descendants for over a thousand years.

6. One Continuous Tradition: A Zhejiang Calligraphy and Painting Chronicle

Located on the fourth floor of the Zhijiang Branch. Following a timeline from the Yuan through the Ming and Qing dynasties, the exhibition presents works by calligraphers and painters who were born in Zhejiang or active in the region. From Zhao Mengfu, Wu Zhen, and Huang Gongwang to Chen Hongshou, Jin Nong, and Zhao Zhiqian, it traces the unbroken transmission of Zhejiang's calligraphy and painting traditions. The exhibits rotate periodically, and some national-treasure-level works are shown for limited periods; check the museum's official announcements for details.

Section Three: Zhijiang Branch — Nine Interactive and Experience Exhibitions

7. The Sound of Deep Antiquity: The Guqin and the Chinese World of Sound and Music

Located on the third floor of the Zhijiang Branch, in the Guqin Arts Gallery. The guqin is one of the oldest plucked instruments in the world, steeped in Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist thought and in the Eastern aesthetic tradition. The exhibition displays instruments made from the Tang dynasty through the modern era. The highlight is the seven-string "Cai Feng Ming Qi" guqin in the Luoxia (Sunset Glow) style, crafted in 714 CE by Lei Wei, and widely regarded as the finest guqin in Chinese history. Visitors can hear its rich, bell-like tone in person.

8. Between Mountains and Water: An Immersive Digital Experience of Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains

Located in the digital experience gallery on the third floor of the Zhijiang Branch. Using glasses-free 3D, immersive projection, and interactive installations, the exhibition recreates in full panorama the early-autumn scenery of the Fuchun River as depicted in Huang Gongwang's masterpiece Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, and traces the painting's legendary journey across more than 670 years of history. It pays special tribute to the celebrated reunion of the painting's two separated halves — a cherished moment in Chinese cultural history.

9. A Bride's Red Splendor: Traditional Wedding Customs and Trousseau of the Ningbo-Shaoxing Plain

Located on the third floor of the Zhijiang Branch. The Ten-Li Red Trousseau was the grand wedding tradition of the Ningbo-Shaoxing plain from the Qing dynasty through the Republican era. The exhibition centers on red lacquer furniture, wedding ritual objects, and everyday items to trace a woman's life through courtship, marriage, and life as wife and mother. The highlight is a Qing-dynasty gilded and painted bridal sedan chair requiring over ten thousand hours of labor to build, known as "the finest bridal sedan under heaven."

10. Beauties in Procession: A Digital Experience Exhibition of Women in Ancient Chinese Art

Located in the digital experience gallery on the third floor of the Zhijiang Branch. The exhibition is organized into four sections: the art installation "Listening," the immersive film "Beauties in Procession," the interactive "Exploration" scenes, and a digital humanities display. Through glasses-free 3D, motion capture, and other technologies, it presents a collective portrait of Chinese women from pre-Qin times through the Ming and Qing dynasties — a seamless fusion of technology and the humanities.

11. The Grand Panorama: An Exhibition of the Complete Series of Chinese Paintings Through the Ages

Located on the fourth floor of the Zhijiang Branch. The exhibition brings together high-definition reproductions of precious ancient Chinese paintings scattered across the world's collections, covering major masters, schools, and representative works from pre-Qin times through the Ming and Qing dynasties. It offers a sweeping view of the entire history of Chinese painting — ideal for art lovers who wish to linger and explore.

12. Zhejiang Humanities Exploration and Experience Hall

Located on the basement level of the Zhijiang Branch. An interactive space designed for young visitors and families, where cultural relics come to life. Activities include rubbing prints, motion-sensing games, light-and-shadow spaces, building-block puzzles, and a "Magic Brush Ma Liang" painting station, letting visitors discover the museum's most celebrated treasures through play.

13. Lacquer Bonds from Home: An Exhibition of Ancient Lacquerware Donated by Mr and Mrs Cao Qiyong

Located on the third floor of the Zhijiang Branch. The exhibition presents 162 pieces of ancient lacquerware donated in three tranches since 2012 by Mr and Mrs Cao Qiyong of Hong Kong, filling significant gaps in the museum's lacquerware collection. The exhibition explores the art of Chinese lacquerware through color, form, and decorative motif.

14. Repair and Adorn: An Exhibition of Ancient Ceramic Restoration and Decoration Techniques (Temporary Exhibition)

Located in Calligraphy and Painting Gallery A on the fourth floor of the Zhijiang Branch. The exhibition presents works relating to the restoration and embellishment of ancient ceramics, exploring how traditional craft finds expression in the contemporary world. On display until 19 July 2026; subject to the museum's official announcements.

Section Four: Gushan Branch

15. Wenlan Pavilion

On the western side of the Gushan Branch. One of the seven great imperial libraries of the Qing dynasty, housing one of the few complete copies of the Siku Quanshu (Complete Library of the Four Treasuries), and one of the most celebrated royal libraries in the Jiangnan region. The architecture is a classic example of Jiangnan garden design and can be visited as part of a tour of the Gushan Branch.

16. Leifeng Pagoda Relics Gallery

One of the Gushan Branch's core exhibition halls. It displays relics excavated in 2001 from the underground palace of Leifeng Pagoda. The highlight is a gilded-silver Ashokan stupa from the Wuyue Kingdom, revealing the splendor of Buddhist art and Wuyue court ritual from a thousand years ago.

17. Huang Binhong Art Gallery

At the center of the Gushan Branch. The gallery presents paintings, calligraphy, and archival documents from the life and career of Huang Binhong, one of the great masters of modern Chinese landscape painting, and is an important venue for the study of his art.

18. Chang Shuhong Art Gallery

On the eastern side of the Gushan Branch. The gallery displays oil paintings and related documents from Chang Shuhong, known as the "Guardian of Dunhuang," recreating the artistic achievements and dedication of a lifetime spent copying the murals of the Dunhuang caves.

19. Lacquerware Arts Gallery

Within the Gushan Branch. The gallery presents fine examples of lacquerware from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, tracing the tradition and evolution of Chinese lacquer craft.

20. Modern and Contemporary Applied Arts Exhibition

Within the Gushan Branch. A focused showcase of fine modern and contemporary applied arts from Zhejiang, including Qingtian stone carving, Longquan celadon, Dongyang wood carving, and Ou clay sculpture.

Section Five: Special Programs

21. Wenlan Book Shadows — Making a Traditional Chinese Thread-Bound Book

At the Gushan Branch campus; individual visitors need not book in advance. Visitors take part in the binding process of a traditional Chinese thread-bound book, experiencing a bookmaking craft practiced for centuries.

22. Guarding Paintings, Passing on Color — Chang Shuhong and the Dunhuang Murals Painting Workshop

At the Gushan Branch campus; individual visitors need not book in advance. A hands-on painting workshop inspired by Chang Shuhong's copies of the Dunhuang murals, letting participants discover the colors and spirit of Dunhuang art for themselves.

Section Six: The Museum's Ten Crown Treasures

1. Twin-Bird Ivory Disc

Neolithic Hemudu culture, Phase Two (approximately 7,000 to 5,300 years ago). Excavated in 1977 at the Hemudu site. Measures 16.6 centimetres in length. Carved from ivory, the front face is incised with concentric circles symbolizing the sun, ringed by flame patterns representing its rays; on either side, a bird with a hooked beak raises its head in a symmetrical composition, with flowing feather-like patterns along the edge. The object as a whole is themed around "twin birds facing the sun," reflecting Hemudu-culture reverence for both the sun and birds, and displaying the lively imagination of prehistoric art.

2. The Jade Cong King

Neolithic Liangzhu culture. Measures 8.9 centimetres in height, approximately 17 centimetres in outer diameter at the top, and approximately 3.8 centimetres in inner bore diameter. The largest, heaviest, and most finely worked jade cong among all known Liangzhu examples, and one of the first cultural relics designated by China as prohibited from being exhibited abroad. Square on the outside and circular within, it embodies the cosmological concept of a round heaven and a square earth, and served as a ritual object through which Liangzhu people communicated with the heavens. Each of its four faces bears a complete divine human-animal mask executed with extraordinary intricacy, marking the apex of Liangzhu civilization and of early Chinese culture.

3. The Sword of Zhe Zhi Yu Ci, King of Yue

Late Spring and Autumn period bronze sword. Measures 52.4 centimetres in overall length. Belonged to the son of King Goujian of Yue, who reigned from 464 to 459 BCE. Discovered in 1995 in Hong Kong by bronze-ware specialist Ma Chengyuan, and purchased the following year with funds from Hangzhou Iron and Steel Group to be donated to the museum. The blade is broad, with a raised central ridge and curved double edges. The circular pommel fits a wound-cord grip; the winding is intact and the scabbard complete. Both faces of the guard bear inscriptions in double-hook bird-and-worm script. Though more than 2,400 years old, it has never rusted and still gleams coldly — hailed as "the second finest sword under heaven."

4. Lacquered and Gilded Carved-Wood Ningbo Bridal Sedan Chair (The Ten-Thousand-Labor Chair)

Qing dynasty. Measures 150 centimetres long, 90 centimetres wide, and 275 centimetres tall. Named for the more than ten thousand hours of labor required to build it, and celebrated as "the finest bridal sedan under heaven." Made using the Ningbo zhu-jin wood-carving tradition — "three parts carving, seven parts lacquering" — in which carved and lacquered surfaces are sanded repeatedly, with carved details leafed in pure gold (approximately 370 grams of gold in total). The sedan chair is covered with carved figures, pavilions, towers, flowers, birds, and auspicious animals in dense, brilliant detail. The craft originated in Ningbo and represents the ultimate expression of wedding trousseau furniture in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

5. Yuan-Dynasty Longquan Celadon Boat-Shaped Water Dropper

Yuan dynasty. Measures 16.2 centimetres long, 6.5 centimetres wide, and 9.1 centimetres tall. A first-class national cultural relic. The form imitates a canopied boat on the Ou River, with a main cabin awning, a stern awning, and railings; inside the cabin, a man and a woman sit cross-legged facing each other in conversation; a bamboo hat rests on the cabin roof, and a boatman in a rain cape reaches out to retrieve it. The cabin interior is hollow and holds water, which is poured in through a small opening at the prow. Covered throughout in vivid celadon glaze, glossy and bright, with an unglazed fire-red base. A refined scholar's object from the Longquan kiln tradition, combining utility and artistry.

6. Gilded-Silver Ashokan Stupa of the Wuyue Kingdom

Five Dynasties period, Wuyue Kingdom. Excavated in 2001 from the site of Leifeng Pagoda. Made entirely of pure silver with partial gilding. Composed of a finial, a body, and a base: the four corner petals at the top are carved with scenes from the life of the Buddha; the spire carries five rings; the four sides of the body are openwork-carved with four scenes from the Jataka tales — Prince Sattva sacrificing himself to feed a tiger, King Shibi cutting his own flesh to ransom a dove, King Guangmu giving away his eyes, and King Yueguang offering his own head; a Garuda bird stands at each corner; inside the stupa is a gold bottle containing eleven sarira relics. Extraordinarily intricate and undimmed after a thousand years, this is the supreme achievement of Wuyue Buddhist art.

7. Northern Song Polychrome Clay Bodhisattva Figure

Northern Song dynasty. Excavated in 1965 from the White Elephant Pagoda in Wenzhou. Measures 64 centimetres in overall height. Forty-two Northern Song clay figures were found in the same pagoda; this is the finest among them. The Bodhisattva tilts its head slightly, with long brows, slender eyes, a straight nose with narrow wings, and small cherry-blossom lips; the hair is gathered in a tall topknot, the neck draped with a jeweled necklace, and the robes fall in flowing folds; the figure is finished in polychrome pigments and gold, radiating brilliant beauty. It embodies the Song-dynasty sculptural ideal of "vital spirit and unity of form and soul," incorporating the local Ou clay craft tradition, and stands as a masterpiece of Song sculpture.

8. Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains — The Remaining Mountains Scroll

Yuan dynasty, a late masterpiece by Huang Gongwang. Measures 31.8 centimetres in height and 51.4 centimetres in width. The complete scroll was originally about 7.5 metres in length. When it was nearly destroyed by fire at the transition from the Ming to the Qing dynasty, the scorched front section survived as a fragment of 51.4 centimetres — hence the name "Remaining Mountains." The scroll depicts the early-autumn landscape of the Fuchun River, with misty peaks, riverside villages, fishing boats, and sparse-timbered riverbanks conveying a profound, far-reaching mood. The brushwork draws on the traditions of Dong Yuan and Ju Ran while moving toward greater simplicity, representing the pinnacle of literati landscape painting. The scroll entered the museum's collection in 1956. In 2011, it was reunited with the Wuyong Master scroll for a joint exhibition in Taipei, fulfilling the celebrated "reunion of mountains and water."

9. Warring States Bronze House Model with Musicians

Warring States period. Measures 17 centimetres in overall height, 13 centimetres in facade width, and 11.5 centimetres in depth. The only known pre-Qin bronze building model in existence. A rectangular structure of three bays across and three bays deep, open on the south side with two round columns at the front; the east and west sides feature openwork rectangular latticed walls; the north wall has a single small window. The hip roof meets at a central point, topped by an octagonal column with a large-tailed dove sculpted at the top. Inside the building, figures of musicians and drinkers were originally cast (now held elsewhere), symbolizing the ceremonial and musical life of early maritime culture and serving as precious evidence for the study of pre-Qin architecture, music, and ritual.

10. Tang-Dynasty Luoxia-Style Seven-String Guqin "Cai Feng Ming Qi"

Made in 714 CE by Lei Wei of Sichuan, regarded as the greatest guqin maker in Chinese history. The body is fashioned from pine wood, with a deer-antler-ash ground coat and original chestnut-brown lacquer; the back bears crackled-ice and flowing-water grain patterns in the lacquer. Above the dragon pool is inscribed the instrument's name, "Cai Feng Ming Qi" (Colorful Phoenix Singing at Qi); below it, three colophons by Yang Zongji; inside the sound chamber is inscribed "Made by Lei Wei in the second year of Kaiyuan of the Great Tang." Of the Luoxia (Sunset Glow) form, its tone is open, resonant, and lingering — like the ring of bells and stone chimes. Hailed as a rarity beyond price, it is among the most prized surviving Tang-dynasty guqin.

The information above is compiled from public sources. Actual exhibits, temporary exhibitions, and opening hours are subject to the official announcements of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum.