Pu Songling Museum

Pu Songling Museum
蒲松龄纪念馆

Address: No 71 Pujia village, Zichuan district, Zibo city, Shandong province
Opening hours:
9 am-5:30 pm (last entry 5 pm)
Closed Mondays (except for national holidays)
General admission: Free
Tel: 0533-5811643

Pu Songling Museum was established based on the former residence of Pu Songling (1640-1715), a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) novelist.

Spanning an area of over 5,000 square meters, with more than 2,000 square meters dedicated to exhibitions, the museum consists of six courtyards and seven exhibition rooms. As one of Zibo's most renowned tourist attractions, it offers visitors a wealth of cultural content through diverse and engaging exhibits, primarily centered around Pu Songling's literary masterpiece Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Liaozhai Zhiyi). The exhibition brings the novelist's life and literary accomplishments to vivid life through a captivating display of paintings, painted sculptures, and artifacts.

As of 2023, the museum's collection boasts 15,669 items, including rare manuscripts, portraits, seals, early editions and translated editions of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, and contemporary calligraphy and paintings inspired by the work. These treasures are of significant historical, artistic, and cultural value, making the collection a crucial resource for research, exhibition, and education.

Among the museum's most prized possessions is the only surviving portrait of Pu Songling, a national treasure. Finished in 1713 by renowned Qing Dynasty artist Zhu Xianglin, this silk hanging scroll, measuring 258 cm by 69 cm, bears two inscriptions by Pu Songling himself.

The four seals of Pu Songling, also national treasures, are equally valuable. These seals are considered the museum's crown jewels due to their artistic and historical significance. They illustrate a key moment in Chinese seal carving history, marking the shift from the literati style of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to the school-based seal carving of the mid to late Qing Dynasty.