Lushunkou Museum celebrates 100th anniversary

Lushunkou Museum opened its doors to the public 100 years ago and recently mounted an exhibition to celebrate its 100th anniversary, honoring the past and looking ahead to the future.

Program highlights included an exhibition of the museum's Western Regions cultural relics collection. The Western Regions is a Han Dynasty term for the area west of Yumenguan; it includes what is now Xinjiang and parts of Central Asia.

More than 200 relics were displayed at the exhibition, which was co-hosted by the Dalian Culture and Broadcasting Bureau, Lushunkou Museum, the National Library of China and Japan’s RyuKoku University.

All the items were uncovered by Japanese monk Ootani Hikarumizu in the central Asian expedition he undertook from 1902 to 1914. In 1916, most of his collection moved with him to Lushunkou, situated on the southern tip of Liaodong peninsula in Dalian city, and is now one of the museum's distinctive holdings.

In 1917, the museum opened to the public and these treasures were unveiled. After 100 years, they have been re-organized and are presented with explanatory text as well as inspirational images.

While appreciating the cultural relics, visitors can also feel the importance of the Silk Road in the historical ties between East and West.

An international seminar on unearthed documents from the Silk Road and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region was held as part of the celebration. The seminar disclosed the museum's plans for a phased arrangement and presentation of the documents.

That arrangement has been presented in a book published by Zhonghua Book Company, which is important for the study of Buddhism, society and international exchanges in the Turpan area.

Professor Rong Xinjiang, director of the China Ancient History Research Center of Peking University, gave a keynote speech at the seminar.

The study underpinning the museum’s new presentation of the documents was conducted by Lushunkou Museum, the Chinese Classics Institute at Renmin University of China and the China Ancient History Research Center of Peking University.