The Shanxi Provincial Museum (山西博物院) is one of China’s first-class national museums and the largest center in Shanxi Province for collecting, preserving, researching, and displaying cultural relics. Originally established as the Shanxi Education Library Museum in 1919, it underwent several name changes before becoming the Shanxi Provincial Museum in 1953. The new museum building, completed in 2004 and opened in 2005, covers 168 acres with a total floor area of 52,000 square meters.
The museum features 13,000 square meters of exhibition space and houses over 500,000 items in its collection. Its highlights include 40,282 valuable cultural relics, with 2,129 classified as first-class artifacts, and more than 110,000 ancient books. The permanent exhibitions are organized around themes such as “The Soul of Jin,” which covers seven historical and cultural topics including the Cradle of Civilization, Traces of Xia and Shang Dynasties, the Power of Jin State, the Melting Pot of Nations, Buddhist Influences, the Hometown of Drama, and Ming and Qing Dynasty Merchants of Shanxi. Additionally, there are five art-themed sections showcasing architectural masterpieces, scenic excellence, calligraphy and painting, global perspectives, and porcelain art.
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Basic Information
| Estimated Length of Tour | 2 – 3 hours |
| Ticket Price | Free |
| Opening Hours | 9.00 – 17.00; Last admission: 16.00 Closed on Mondays |
| Telephone Number | 0086-0351-8789555 |
Location and Transportation
The Shanxi Provincial Museum is located at 13 North Binhe West Road, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China. To get there, you can take bus 69, 863, or 865 and get off at Shanxi Provincial Museum Stop (山西博物院站).
Primary Exhibitions in Shanxi Provincial Museum
| Exhibition Theme | Components | Main Content | Recommended Artifacts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cradle of Civilization | Sacred Fire of Antiquity | Paleolithic cultural relics from Shanxi | Dingcun Tooth Fossil, Triangular Sharp-edged Tool, Scraper |
| Roots of Huaxia | Neolithic artifacts from 7,000 to 4,000 years ago | Painted Pot, Painted Jar, Clay Drum | |
| Traces of Xia and Shang | Ruins of the Xia Dynasty | Artifacts from Xia and Shang dynasties in southern Shanxi | Ceramic Steamer, Tripod with Rope Pattern, Grey Pot with Rope Pattern |
| Shang Dynasty Highlights | Early Shang period city sites and bronze artifacts | Milk-Bottle Pattern Tripod, Square Ding with Taotie Pattern, Bronze Ding | |
| Treasures of Fang Kingdom | Late Shang bronze artifacts | Beast-shaped Goblet, Dragon-shaped Goblet, Owl-shaped Vessel | |
| Jin State Achievements | River Fen’s Pride | Artifacts from the Jin State tombs and sites | Jin Marquis Bird-shaped Vessel, Pig-shaped Vessel, Bird-headed Jug |
| Jin Dominance in Spring and Autumn | Artifacts from Houma Jin State site | Deformed Beast-patterned Jar, Bell, Jin Shuja Father’s Plate | |
| Legacy of the Three Jin States | Artifacts from the Warring States period | Kui Phoenix Pattern Basin, Tripod with Ring Ears, Cauldron | |
| Melting Pot of Nations | Within and Beyond the Great Wall | Han, Wei Jin, and Sixteen Kingdoms period artifacts | Hu Fu Wine Vessel, Four Divine Symbols Furnace, Goose and Fish Bronze Lamp |
| Pingcheng Era | Northern Wei period artifacts | Stone Carvings, Wooden Painted Panels, Acrobat Figurines | |
| Former Capital Jin Yang | Artifacts from the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi periods | Bronze Ox Cart, Braided Hair Rider Figurine, Gold Ornaments | |
| Exotic Influences | Ethnic integration and foreign exchange achievements | Glass Bowl, Gilded Silver Cup with Figure and Animal Patterns, Stone Coffin from Yu Hong Tomb | |
| Buddhist Influences | Northern Dynasties Style | Buddhist art from the Northern Dynasties | Cheng Zhe Stele, Standing Shakyamuni Statue, Shakyamuni Head |
| Flourish of the Tang Dynasty | Tang Dynasty Buddhist sculpture | Bodhisattva Standing Statue, Bodhisattva Head, White Stone Painted Manjusri Riding Lion Statue | |
| Human Emotions | Buddhist art in Shanxi’s social and cultural life | Gilded Avalokiteshvara Statue, Chunhua Yuanbao, Bodhisattva Head | |
| Hometown of Drama | Hundred Dramas and Dances | Folk song and dance arts | Ceramic Flute, Clay Opera Figures, Festival Brick Carving |
| Rooted in Life | Drama rooted in folk life | Twenty-four Filial Piety Figurines, Eight Immortals Brick Carvings | |
| Life’s Roles | Zaju drama from the Song, Jin, and Yuan Dynasties | Drama Stage and Figures, Gold Tomb Brick Carvings, Sitting Floor Killing | |
| Shadow Plays | Shanxi Shadow Puppetry | Shadow Puppets, Shadow Play Performances | |
| Ming and Qing Dynasty Merchants | Merchant Footsteps | Footsteps of Shanxi merchants | — |
| Financial Dominance | Qing Dynasty Shanxi banks | Yuhe De Bank Money Notes, Pingyao Yuitai Hou Contract No. 13, Pingyao Yuitai Hou Bank License | |
| Courtyard Splendor | Shanxi merchant guilds and mansions | Qiao Family Mansion, Garden Lady Screen, Taishi Lesser Lion Screen | |
| Architectural Masterpieces | Frozen Music: Ancient Architecture | Ancient Shanxi architectural art | South Zen Temple Main Hall, Buddha Light Temple East Hall, Yongle Palace Sanqing Hall |
| Ancient Wall Paintings | Temple wall paintings | Various Bodhisattvas, Law Explanation Painting, Thousand-hand and Thousand-eye Guanyin | |
| Divine Craftsmanship | Temple and Shrine Color Sculptures | Free-form Guanyin, Maitreya Buddha, Twenty-eight Constellation Sculptures | |
| Radiant Glaze | Shanxi architectural glaze art | Sauce Yellow Glaze Lion, Three-color Lotus Pod Incense Burner, Glazed Cloud Jar |
