Liaoning Provincial Museum

Liaoning Provincial Museum
辽宁省博物馆

Address: 157 Third Zhihui Street, Hunnan district, Shenyang, Liaoning province
Websites:
www.lnmuseum.com.cn/shengbowenenglishi (En)
www.lnmuseum.com.cn (Cn)
Hours:
9:00 - 17:00 (April 1 - Oct 31, no entry after 16:00)
9:30 - 16:30 (Nov1 - March 31, no entry after 15:30)
Closed on Mondays (except for national holidays) and Chinese lunar New Year’s Eve
General admission: Free

The Liaoning Provincial Museum was inaugurated in 1949 in Shenyang, the capital city of Liaoning province. It was the first museums established after the founding of the People's Republic of China and is celebrated for its rich collections of archaeological finds and historical artworks.

The original site of the museum used to be the residence of Tang Yulin, the military governor of Rehe (today's Chengde, Hebei province) and a warlord in Northeast China. Relocated twice and renamed four times, the current Liaoning Provincial Museum is housed in a modern building with spacious room for exhibitions and public services. The building won the 2014 Lu Ban Prize, China's top award for architectural constructions. Now, the area of the museum grounds and buildings totals 110,000 square meters.

The museum’s 22 galleries display 120,000 items in 17 categories, including painting and calligraphy, embroidery, bronze ware, maps and rare books, coins, ceramics, cloisonné, sculpture, stone inscriptions, furniture, costumes, archaeological finds, relics of minority groups and revolutionary relics.

The three main exhibitions feature ancient Chinese calligraphy, painting and silk embroidery. The works of art are kept at constant temperature and humidity to protect them from deterioration.

The museum holds some of China’s most precious traditional paintings, including the world's earliest and the most faithful copy of the 4th-century painting, Nymphs of the Luo River (Luoshenfu tu) by Gu Kaizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), the Auspicious Crane(Ruihe tu)by the Northern Song Dynasty Huizhou emperor (r. 1100-1126), and the Women Adorning their Hair with Flowers (Zanhua shinü tu) attributed to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) painting master Zhou Fang.