Jingzhou Museum

Jingzhou Museum
荆州博物馆

Address: 166 Jingzhong Road, Jingzhou, Hubei province
Website: www.jzmsm.org (Cn)
Hours: 09:00 – 17:00 (last tickets: 16:00)
Closed Mondays
E-mail: 1807901686@qq.com
General admission: Free (passport required for entry)

Jingzhou Museum was founded in 1958 with more than 130,000 relics held in its permanent collection, including bronze, pottery, lacquer, silk fabrics, jade, bamboo strips, and ceramics.

Jingzhou was the capital of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Periods (770-476BC) and the successive Warring States Period (475-221 BC). It boasts an extended history of 3,000 years as a prefecture and has nurtured the brilliant culture of Chu. Permanent exhibitions of the Jingzhou Museum feature the prehistoric culture of the Jianghan Plain, unearthed bamboo and wood strips from Jingzhou, bronzes and textiles dating from the state of Chu and the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), jade excavated in the Xiongjiazhong tomb, ceramics, and lacquer ware.

As a civilized center, the Jianghan Plain was the confluence of the Yangtze and the Han rivers, a land of fertile soil yielding abundant food and strategically perfect for military defense.

The ancient state of Chu was one of the largest states in China known for its developed culture. The bronze ware proves how diligent and intelligent the ancient people were. The museum displays the best of its collection of ancient bronzes discovered in the Jianghan Plain.

Chinese characters are the most widely used writing system in the world, and have lasted for more than 3,000 years. Early in the Shang Dynasty (c.16th century - 11th century BC), Chinese ancestors made carvings on tortoise shells or scapula, creating the earliest characters.

During the excavations in Jingzhou, archaeologists found lots of characters on bamboo or wood, which talk about politics, law, economics, history, philosophy, and medicine. The museum puts typical ones on show.