Museum Showcases Glories of Ancient Civilization

Liangzhu Culture Museum is probably the best place where people can revisit the birth of Hangzhou， today’s capital of coastal Zhejiang Province in eastern China. Liangzhu， which in Chinese literally refers to a beautiful isle surrounded by water， is part of Hangzhou’s New Stone Age past. Massive archaeological finds over the past seven decades in the area indicate convincingly that an ancient kingdom flourished in Liangzhu about 5，000 years back.

Liangzhu Culture Museum conserves and displays our ancestral roots and carries the past glory to the future. The museum lies in a park in a northern suburb of Hangzhou. It was designed by David Chipperfield Architects and the Architectural Design and Research Institute at Zhejiang University of Technology. In May 2008， the museum was named one of the Best Public Projects in “Good Design is Good Business” China Awards jointly held by BusinessWeek and Architectural Record.

Visitors would probably be surprised at first sight by the giant structure in the western style. The first sight creates a sharp contrast. Some people compare the museum to a western statue in a Chinese ink-wash painting. But experts say that the architecture creates a unique equilibrium between art and nature， between history and modernity.

Based on the idea of a jade hammer， the museum not only merges seamlessly with the environment but also presents a perfection combination of cultural symbols and jades unearthed in the Liangzhu Culture sites. The museum consists of 4 irregular rectangles placed together. The external walls are adorned with beige travertine imported from Iran， giving the museum an overall jade feel if looked from afar. Inside， there are three gardens presenting different themes in the prototypical style of Chinese garden. This architectural arrangement presents a sudden transformation to visitors once they step into the courtyards.

Inside each oblong structure is an outdoor space. One outdoor space is an oblong pond flanked by waterfront benches. The sequence of indoor and outdoor spaces inside the museum takes visitors on a journey through the ancient culture. Visitors can relax in these outdoor spaces， casting their minds back and forth around the past and the present before they take the next step to the next exhibition hall.

The museum now attracts a lot of people from home and abroad， not just in order to take a look at the Liangzhu Culture， but to explore the architectural wonder that is the museum.

The museum has three exhibition halls and one temporary hall. In the lobby to the first exhibition hall is a huge-size aerial map of Liangzhu. Many landmarks are deliberately played down in the enlarged photograph in order that the ancient sites are highlighted. Between the lobby and the first exhibition hall is a short passage， where there are five sets of wooden pillars， each representing 1，000 years of the Liangzhu Culture. At the end of the passage stands a set of statues in the ancient jade shapes unearthed in Liangzhu. These jade shapes are now understood to stand for heaven and earth in the ancient knowledge of our ancestors in Hangzhou.

The second hall exhibits the past most vividly. Visitors can see how our ancestors worked in Liangzhu. A super-size oil painting recreates how modern scholars think our ancestors built a royal palace at Mojiaoshan， an architectural site where remnants of huge palace walls were unearthed.

The museum has a 40-seat movie house where visitors can watch a 3D movie that brings people back to the ancient Liangzhu. One intriguing aspect of the third exhibition hall is 3D images of ancient jade artifacts unearthed in Liangzhu.

The museum has received over 500，000 visitors so far. Experts think it a perfect museum and ordinary visitors from other walks of life are deeply impressed. Among the visitors are Party and state leaders and provincial leaders and international visitors.

The research department of the museum is the museum’s arm for academic exchanges and cooperation. On December 17， 2009， the museum served as the venue for the Liangzhu Forum and the Second Annual Conference of the China Jade Culture Center. More than 100 experts from America， Hong Kong and provinces attended the annual conference.

The people at the museum want it to be a venue for multiple activities and events not necessarily confined to Liangzhu Culture only. The museum has endeavored to diversify. While hosting the Liangzhu Forum， the museum also held an exhibition of choice jade artifacts of the Hongshan Culture， a representative branch of Chinese civilization unearthed in the north. Of the 90-plus jade artifacts， 38 were first-grade national cultural relics. In May， 2009， Liangzhu Culture Museum hosted an exhibition of the artifacts of the Three Kingdoms (220-280). Exhibits on display included 50-plus first-grade national cultural relics.

Liangzhu Culture Museum welcomes primary and middle school students. In order to cater to youngsters， the museum designs games in which young visitors can play to see how archaeologists dig into sites. In one game， a 3D archaeologist guides students step by step to explore an ancient site professionally， asking the junior archaeologists not to act like ignorant tomb robbers.

Jiang Weidong， the curator of Liangzhu Culture Museum， is an expert on Liangzhu Culture and engaged in field studies on prehistoric sites in northern Zhejiang. He once gave a series of lectures in Nagoya University of Japan， addressing new archaeological finds of the Liangzhu Culture in northern Zhejiang.

According to Jiang Weidong， the Liangzhu Culture represents a prehistoric period of 5，000 years ago in ancient China. It is a fact that the unique regional culture powerfully radiated out to other parts of China. The importance of the Liangzhu Culture has shaped the importance of the museum. Of all the domestic museums dedicated to archaeological finds， Liangzhu Culture Museum is an outstanding one in terms of architecture， ambiance， supportive facilities， values， and overseas influence.

The Liangzhu Culture Museum was listed as one of the top ten national museums for well-organized exhibitions across China. This award is very rewarding to the people at the museum. Jiang Weidong expects the museum to hold lectures and forums and summer camps to attract audiences. The museum also determines to further promote Liangzhu Culture by taking part in building a national park of Liangzhu Culture and setting up a museum website. □