Shaanxi History Museum

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The Shaanxi History Museum

Shaanxi History Museum, which located in the northwest of the Dayan Pagoda of ancient city Xi'an,China,is the first huge state museum with modern facilities in China, and given the reputation of "bright pearl of ancient city, treasure house of China." Museum housing over 300,000 items (murals, paintings, pottery, coins; bronze, gold, and silver objects). The modern museum was built between 1983 and 2001 and its appearance recalls the architectural style of the Tang Dynasty.

　　Conformed to last wish of former Primer Minister Zhou Enlai, Shaanxi History Museum was built from 1983, and was finished on June 20th, 1991 and open to the public. The museum has an area of 65,000 square meters, building place 55,600 square meters, cultural relics storerooms of 8,000 square meters, exhibition halls of 11,000 square meters with a collection of 370000 pieces of relics. The museum is an architecture of Tang style, "Hall in center, storied buildings in corners", elegant and dignified, magnificent scale, combination of traditional architecture and modern science, which completely embodied folk tradition, local feature, and epoch spirit. 　　　Shaanxi is the imperial capital since ancient times, and more than 13 feudal dynasties built their capitals there in history including Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang. The province is rich in cultural relics. With the completion of Shaanxi History Museum, it collected over 370,000 precious relics which were unearthed in Shaanxi Province, large quantities, full categories, high grade. The bronze wares, pottery figures, and mural paintings in Tang tombs and so on, are all wonderful artistic treasures. 

　　Since the open of the museum, it held on the rules of combination of collecting, conservation, propagandizing, education, and scientific research, exerted the advantage of many historical relics, and conducted relics displays of various styles. Those all posted the rich meaning of relics from different degrees, and displayed the rich cultural achievements of China. Simultaneously, the relics were exhibited over-seas in the cities of Japan, France, United States, United Kingdom, Germany and other countries and regions. 

　　With best display, excellent order, high quality service, elegant surrounding, and special charm, the museum attracted tourists home and abroad. After the opening, the museum accepted thousands of tourists and became the important window to propagandize Chinese excellent culture, carry out patriotism instruction, and international exchange.

　　Along with the marching step of times, Shaanxi History Museum met the 21st century, with newer visage, vitality and energy, make greater achievements for constructions of socialist material and spiritual civilization

Highlights of the museum are:

Fossils of the Lantian Man (preceded Peking Man),
The Deer Pattern Eaves Tile from the Qin Dynasty,
The Kneeling Archer, a 120cm tall figure unearthed in 1977 from Emperor Qin Shi Huang's tomb
The Four Footed Li, a Shang Dynasty bronze cooking utensil,
Playing Polo, a Tang Dynasty mural of people playing polo in China,
The Empress's Seal, a jade seal from the Western Han Dynasty, excavated near the tomb of Emperor Gao Zu, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty - one of the most important imperial seals ever found in China.