Home
» City specials
» Hangzhou
Exhibit traces the Yue through the centuries
Print Edition
PRESENT-DAY Zhejiang Province developed from the ancient Yue Kingdom and is said to date back thousands of years.
Today, Zhejiang is still defined by characteristics of the old Yue culture. Several antiques and relics sites have been discovered across the province, providing archeologists with clues of how the Yue people lived throughout the course of history.
Now, a permanent exhibition that displays the kingdom’s long history is underway at Zhejiang Museum’s Wulin Pavilion, giving visitors a chance to appreciate these rare artefacts.
The exhibition is split up into several sections, stretching from the primeval period to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
The first part mainly showcases antiques from Neolithic Kuahu Bridge culture and Hemudu culture, which laid the foundation of the Yue. At first, the two sites were considered unrelated, but then archaeologists found that the Neolithic relic sites north of the Qiantang River had an impact on one another’s development.
A canoe excavated from Kuahu Bridge that is considered the oldest found in the country is part of the exhibit.
Grains discovered at the two sites indicate that rice was harvested in the area 1,000 years earlier than previously believed.
When people along the Yellow River became increasingly sovereign during the Xia (c. 21st century-16th century BC), Shang (c.16th century-11th century BC) and Zhou (c. 11th century-221 BC) dynasties, the Yue people were considered savage, fierce ethnic minorities that ate raw meat and worshipped witchcraft.
The center of the original Yue Kingdom was today’s Shaoxing City. Yue culture has its own music and dance. Stone, metal, bamboo, wood and porcelain were used to make instruments like the bianzhong, an ancient musical instrument that consists of a set of bronze bells, which was used was for ritual music played at the imperial court. The exhibition features a bronze and a porcelain bianzhong.
At the time, the Yue began an exchange with the Xu Kingdom (present-day northern Jiangsu Province and southern Shandong Province) since the latter was conquered during Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). Inscriptions on bronze vessels recorded how the Xu people were defeated and fled.
The Yue began to spread in China and to other countries like Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia, where stone and bronze antiques believed to have been brought by migrant Yue people were found.
When the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) united the country, the Yue were divided into six prefectures, which grew to 59 prefectures by the time of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).
With the help of advanced agricultural technology introduced by migrants from northern China, the Yue became skilled producers of crops, which led to the construction of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in order to connect the northern territory with grain-producing areas during the Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618).
Water reservoirs and large-scale storage facilities were also built, like Jian Lake in Shaoxing.
Ma Zhen, then the city’s mayor, built dams to keep the water in the lake and to better control the area’s irrigation. More than 600 hectares of fields were covered by the facility, which in return made Shaoxing the kingdom’s richest city.
The Tang Dynasty imperial court officially named the place Zhejiang. This period was also a booming time for local craftsmanship.
People started to make copper mirrors, an industry that soon thrived in northern Huzhou.
Huzhou-style mirrors made in both imperial and private workshops were popular across the country. Copper mirrors were engraved with mythical creatures and auspicious patterns.
During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (AD 907-979) and the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Zhejiang reached its prime.
The kingdom was relatively peaceful during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, which laid the foundations for Zhejiang, and the Yue Kiln reached the peak of its productivity during that period. The celadon made during this period, some historians argues, are the best ever produced. It was also during this period that celadon began to spread to other countries.
As the city became the capital during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), a majority of the displayed antiques were excavated from former imperial palaces, including tiles and stone slabs.
During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties, the population had grown so significantly that commerce and industry began to develop. Especially in the Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou Plain where people grew mulberry trees and raised silk worms, the economy changed from being heavily dependent on agriculture to a strong cottage industry.
Date: Daily (closed on Mondays)
Address: 58 Zhongshan Rd N.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
