Capital Museum
By admin on 2015-01-12

The former Capital Museum 首都博物馆, which was located in the Confucius Temple, started its planning stage in 1953 and formally opened to the general public in 1981. As a major cultural construction project in Beijing in the "10th Five-Year Plan", the new Capital Museum, approved by Beijing Municipal Government in 1999, further approved by the State Council after being submitted by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2001, finally commenced its construction in December 2001.

Under the concern and guidance of Beijing Municipal Government, the museum finally makes its debut along the western extension of Chang'an Street, the very first street of China after four years of hard work. With its magnificent architecture, abundant exhibitions, advanced technology and complete functions, the large and modern Capital Museum, makes its contribution to the titles such as "famous historical and cultural city", "cultural center" and the "international metropolis" of Beijing and ranks among the first class museums both in China and internationally.

The concept of the architectural design of the Capital Museum is based on human and cultural heritage to serve the community and underlines the harmonious integration of past and present, history and modernism, art and nature. The construction of the Capital Museum itself is a piece of architectural artwork integrating both classical and modern beauty. It is of distinct Chinese architectural characteristics on one hand and a clear modern feeling on the other.

The massive roof and the gradient at the entrance square inherits the design from the Chinese traditional architectural style, and the stone-made exterior wall symbolizes the city walls in ancient China. A piece of Danbi (a piece of massive stone carved with images like dragon, phoenix or cloud for Gods to walk on) is embedded on the ground in front of the north gate of the museum, whereas a decorative archway from the Ming Dynasty is set in the receptional hall in which shows the "central axis" feature which is commonly seen in Chinese architecture. The oval-shaped Bronze Exhibition Hall implies the unearthing of ancient relics by its slanting design in which extends from the ground to the exterior of the museum.

A large quantity of bronze, timber and stones are used in the museum to present a deeper sense of historical profoundness. Stones being used on the ground outside the north entrance and the reception hall are all produced in Fangshan, which is the place where stones have constantly supplied for the construction of ancient Beijing city. The external decoration materials of the square exhibition hall was decorated with elms, the most commonly seen trees in the capital. Bronze with a texture style from the Western Zhou Dynasty is used to decorate the external facades of the circular exhibition Hall. The steel structured canopy roof and glass curtain wall expresses the dynamic time pace of Beijing, while the grand and transparent visual effect keeps abreast with modern architecture.

There are three independent constructions within the new museum: the rectangular exhibition hall, the circular exhibition hall and the quadrate office and scientific research building. The open space in between is the central hall and indoor bamboo courtyard. An environment of both human and natural sentiment is created by adopting natural light, blended with the decorative Chinese-style archway, bamboo courtyard and rippling water.

Articles exhibited in the Capital Museum are mainly past years' collections and unearthed historical heritages of the Beijing area, combined with the latest research results concerning the history, cultural heritages, archeology and relevant subjects of Beijing. Modern exhibitions featured by Beijing characteristics are shaped successfully by studying the successful experiences from local and international museums.

The compilation of the exhibition outline was started in the millennium year, in which the construction works of the new Capital Museum initiated in the same year. Aiming to show the latest results commonly recognized by academic circles in the museum's exhibitions, the outline is guided by many academic authorities from institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Peking University, and Beijing Academy of Social Sciences etc.

The goal of the museum was to adopt new design concepts to break traditional dull exhibition patterns. Another goal is to introduce modern exhibition technologies and methods in order to create a different exhibition style so as to allow visitors to have an experiential visit process, as well as making the exhibitions more lively and interactive.

The positioning of the Capital Museum determines its exhibition items: permanent exhibitions, exhibitions of fine artistic collections and temporary exhibitions.

Permanent exhibitions include "Ancient Capital: Chapter on the History and Culture of Beijing", "Ancient Capital: Urban Construction" and "Stories of the Capital City - Old Beijing Folk-customs Exhibition". The permanent exhibitions shows the splendid and glorious culture of Beijing, which has constantly evolved and gradually formed its splendid development of the capital.

Exhibitions of fine artistic collection include "Exhibition of Ming-Qing Classical Paintings", "Selected works of Ancient Calligraphy", "Selected works of Ancient Buddhist Statues", "Selected works of Ancient Porcelain Art", "Selected works of Bronze Art in the Beijing Area", "Selected works of Ancient Jade Art" and "Selected works of Ancient Stationary and other Study Utensils". These exhibitions will allow visitors of the museum to deepen their understanding of the Chinese and Beijing culture. A total of 5,622 pieces of historical heritages are exhibited in all these exhibitions.

The temporary exhibitions serve as a stage to study and appreciate the exchange relations between cultures of Beijing and the other regions and that of China and the world.