Shanghai Museum, Ancient Chinese art museum in Huangpu District, Shanghai, China
The Shanghai Museum is a public museum of ancient Chinese art on People's Square in Huangpu District, Shanghai. Its building, designed by Xing Tonghe and inaugurated on October 12, 1996, is shaped like an ancient bronze ding vessel, with a round top and square base. It stands 29.5 meters high over five floors, covering 39,200 m2, and holds over 120,000 objects in eleven permanent galleries.
Founded in 1952, the museum first opened in the former Shanghai Racecourse clubhouse at 325 West Nanjing Road, then moved in 1959 to the Zhonghui Building on South Henan Road. Director Ma Chengyuan lobbied mayor Huang Ju for a new home and raised funds by leasing the old building; construction began in August 1993 and the People's Square building was inaugurated on October 12, 1996.
The museum's name in Chinese, 上海博物馆, is simply "Shanghai Museum". Its bronze gallery on the ground floor covers 1,200 m² in dark green tones with wooden cases holding over 400 vessels, among them the Da Ke ding and a Han-dynasty "transparent" mirror. The Ming and Qing furniture gallery displays more than 100 pieces from the Wang Shixiang and Chen Mengjia collections, with period room settings.
The museum stands at 201 Renmin Avenue on People's Square, reachable via People's Square station on metro lines 1, 2 and 8, or Dashijie station on lines 8 and 14. The building has five floors; the ancient bronze gallery occupies 1,200 square metres on the ground floor. Entry has been free since 10 March 2008.
The building's shape echoes an ancient bronze cooking vessel called a ding, with a square base supporting a round upper section. This design reflects the collection inside and gives the structure a recognizable profile on People's Square.
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