Although the Wikipedia article hasn’t realized it yet, there are currently *two* Shanghai Museum locations: the old one on People’s Square on the west bank of the river in Huangpu District, which opened in 1996 and is shaped like a ding (an ancient round bronze cooking vessel), and the extremely new huge rectangular one in the east in Pudong New Area, which opened in phases in 2024 (February, June, December). The museum (in both incarnations) is dedicated to ancient Chinese art, and has galleries displaying bronze, calligraphy, paintings, seals (stamps or chops), ceramics, numismatics, and jade. It is waaay too big to see everything in one visit!
On our visit to the new location in the east, we borrowed some audioguide devices and went through the ceramics gallery and the jade gallery—and that was all we had time and energy for before dinner.
See below for photos of the museum, lots of porcelain, and a bit of jade. Plus, read about what I discovered when I looked through photos from my visit to the old Shanghai Museum in 2010.
Shanghai Museum (East)
The entrance is in the basement, accessed through a sunken courtyard.
Ceramics
Sancai (“three color”) horse from the Tang Dynasty.Sancai tomb guardian, Tang Dynasty.Tang horse, but only one color.This is a spittoon! Also from the Tang Dynasty (618-907).Yue celadon four-footed washer, Tang Dynasty (618-907).This weird vase with six spouts is from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127).Yaozhou celadon, Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127).Cool dragon and clouds on a dish, from the Northern Song or Jin Dynasty (960-1234).Longquan celadon! (We went to Longquan to see the celadon!) The vase on the right is from the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).I took lots of photos of porcelain with dragon decorations to compare different styles. This one is from Jingdezhen, from the Hongwu reign (1368-1398) of the Ming Dynasty.This is a cup saucer, also from the Hongwu reign (1368-1398) of the Ming Dynasty.I didn’t take a photo of the description of this one. I liked the phoenix pattern.This dragon is weird because it’s drawn in negative space! Also, it seems to have wings, like a Welsh dragon, which strikes me as odd for a Chinese dragon. This pot is from the Xuande reign (1426-1435) of the Ming Dynasty.This dragon vase is from Jingdezhen from the Jiajing reign (1522-1566) of the Ming Dynasty.I think this is a depiction of a decorative Taihu rock, but it looks freaky, like a cactus with mouths full of teeth! Nightmarish.I like the patterns on these boxes. The one on the right is from Jingdezhen from the Zhengde or Jiajing reign (1506-1566) of the Ming Dynasty.The label says this dish has Sanscrit characters on it. I thought it was just stylized Chinese. Anyway, to me it looks like a tray for deviled eggs. It’s supposed to look like a lotus flower. It’s from Jingdezhen from the Wanli reign (1573-1620) of the Ming Dynasty.I don’t find it attractive, but this vase is interesting in that the dragon design is raised. This is from Jingdezhen from the Jiajing reign (1522-1566) of the Ming Dynasty.Celadon, but from Jingdezhen, not Longquan. From the Kangxi reign (1662-1722) of the Qing Dynasty. The characters identify the time period.I really like Chinese-style “auspicious cloud” patterns. This “water jarlet” is from Jingdezhen from the Kangxi reign (1662-1722) of the Qing Dynasty.These are “cowpea-red” items from Jingdezhen from the Kangxi reign (1662-1722) of the Qing Dynasty. I am not sure if this is the same red glaze color as “oxblood”.Another dragon! From Jingdezhen, from the Kangxi reign (1662-1722) of the Qing Dynasty.The phoenix is another favorite theme of mine. This one is also from Jingdezhen from the Kangxi reign (1662-1722) of the Qing Dynasty.Another negative-space dragon, but this time in red. (I like blue glaze better.) This one is also from Jingdezhen from the Kangxi reign (1662-1722) of the Qing Dynasty.The gold dragons are cool. But did you notice that the pattern on the edges is bats? Bats are a symbol of prosperity, because the Chinese word for “bat” sounds like the Chinese word for “fortune”. This plate is also from Jingdezhen from the Kangxi reign (1662-1722) of the Qing Dynasty.We are still in the porcelain gallery! This is not wood! This is actually porcelain made to look like wood! It’s from Jingdezhen from the Yongzheng reign (1723-1735) of the Qing Dynasty.The detail on these dragons and waves is just phenomenal. This dish is also from Jingdezhen from the Yongzheng reign (1723-1735) of the Qing Dynasty.Simple but elegant little teapot. Also from Jingdezhen from the Yongzheng reign (1723-1735) of the Qing Dynasty.Simple but elegant “Ru-style” vase. Sorry, I have no idea what that means. Also from Jingdezhen from the Yongzheng reign (1723-1735) of the Qing Dynasty.I love how there seems to be rope, but it’s part of the porcelain! Fantastic carving. Also from Jingdezhen from the Yongzheng reign (1723-1735) of the Qing Dynasty.I think I took a photo of this brush holder because the writing style is interesting. It’s somehow not what I think of when I imagine Chinese calligraphy on porcelain. From Jingdezhen from the Qianlong reign (1736-1795) of the Qing Dynasty.This “twin-bodied” vase looks like a glitch in the matrix to me. I can’t fathom why anybody finds this kind of shape attractive for a vase. Who makes two vases and then thinks, “Hm, I think I’ll just remove a third of each one and attach them at the side like Siamese twins?” Also, I think this dragon and phoenix are pretty derpy. The decoration style looks vaguely Italian to me somehow. This thing is also from Jingdezhen from the Qianlong reign (1736-1795) of the Qing Dynasty.Big ol’ blue-and-white dragon here! I like the decoration bands above and below the main body of the vase. This is from Jingdezhen from the Yongzheng reign (1723-1735) of the Qing Dynasty.Okay, you can’t fool us this time. It’s not wood! But it does have real gold on it, I bet. From Jingdezhen from the Qianlong reign (1736-1795) of the Qing Dynasty.Hang on, they also made porcelain look like red lacquerware? Who has this kind of time??? Someone in Jingdezhen, during the Qianlong reign (1736-1795) of the Qing Dynasty, apparently.The heck kind of shape is this for a bowl? So precarious. But what’s cool about it is the “openwork” flowers. I think that means they cut all the way through the material, so that pattern is translucent. (It’s hard to tell from my photo, sorry.) From Jingdezhen from the Qianlong reign (1736-1795) of the Qing Dynasty.Maybe this red is oxblood? Sign says Jingdezhen “red glazed ware” from the Qianlong reign (1736-1795) of the Qing Dynasty.I didn’t take a photo of the sign. The colors on the neck reminded me a little of the “Peranakan” (Straits Chinese) porcelain I saw in Singapore.Another dragon with auspicious clouds! Celadon from Jingdezhen, from the Yongzheng reign (1723-1735) of the Qing Dynasty.Lucky bats and auspicious clouds! I don’t normally like patterns in red glaze, but the red on this one is nice. From Jingdezhen from the Qianlong reign (1736-1795) of the Qing Dynasty.That’s an elephant!!! They’re washing him. This vase is from the Kangxi reign (1662-1722) of the Qing Dynasty.These are “zisha” teapots. They are made from a special “purple” clay that absorbs the tea taste over time. People have many small zisha teapots because you aren’t supposed to use the same one for different kinds of tea.Jun ware. I like the purple/magenta/blue glaze colors of Jun ware, as shown on the left.Dehua white ware with Arabic writing. From Dehua from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Was not expecting to see Arabic writing.Longquan celadon bowl from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).Guanyin (Avalokitesvara/Kannon), a Buddhist deity. From Dehua from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).Appreciating Guanyin.Dehua items on display. (The voice in the audio recording definitely does not know how to pronounce “Dehua” correctly! It’s something like duh-hwa, but he said “dee-hoo-uh”! You’d think they would hire someone who knows how to read Pinyin romanizations of Chinese words. Nope.)
Jade
Here’s proof that China invented Google Maps five or six thousand years ago! No but seriously folks, this is a “burial accessory put in the mouth of the dead.” It dates from the Songze culture, and is, truly, five or six thousand years old.This is a bi disc (4,300 to 5,400 years old). The pronunciation in Chinese is “bee”, not “bye”. Nobody really knows what they were for. These flat stone donuts are still made; people use them as house decorations. This one is from the Liangzhu culture. The Liangzhu archaeological site is just outside Hangzhou. “It is considered the best of early oriental cultures” and the area is considered “the earliest ‘state’ in East Asia.” Wikipedia says the culture constitutes a state because the society was stratified, which is unusual for Neolithic cultures.These are jade cong tubes (4,300 to 5,400 years old). “Jade cong tubes first appeared in the Liangzhu culture. They were primarily used in rituals and burials, and thrived in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Cong-formed jades have been excavated in many localities, indicating that the Liangzhu culture was extremely influential in prehistorical China.” The Liangzhu culture didn’t have metal tools. They somehow hollowed out these extremely hard stones using other stones!!!These are tubes! How did they make them hollow???These are ritual stone weapons from the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th century BCE).These are not bi discs. These are huan rings from the Warring States period (475-221 BCE). I think the difference is the size of the hole compared to the outer circumference.This is a “pig in recumbent position” from the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220).“At the beginning of the Tang dynasty, the Code of Court Costumes defined jade belts as an exclusive device for an official or officer ranked the third [level] or above. Created as an accessory for formal attire, a Tang dynasty jade belt comprises a buckle and plaques consisting of many similar pieces and a different end piece, all fixed to a leather strap serving as a lining. Non-Han performers engraved on belt plaques signified the cosmopolitan culture of the Tang dynasty.” I always wondered how someone could have a “jade belt”. Now I know!White jade dragon and clouds from the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
Goodbye (until next time)!
Museum atrium.Enough stairs and angles to please M.C. Escher! (Photo by Siqi.)Museum atrium. (Photo by Siqi.)Museum atrium.We had great food at Efes Restaurant in Pudong New Area. Highly recommended.
DEJA VU!!!
When I returned home, I dug through old digital photos on my computer to find my photos from my 2010 visit to Shanghai, when I visited the Shanghai Museum building in People’s Square.
My first observation was: I was much worse at taking photos fifteen years ago. I think the improvement is largely due to the use of a better camera. My phone has smart software that automatically does I don’t even know what—and of course the preview image on my phone screen is probably ten times bigger than the preview image on the camera I was using then.
But the second thing I noticed is that, among hundreds of objects I saw on that visit, and hundreds of objects I saw on this visit, I chose some of the same things to photograph!
Here are three pairs of photos I took of the same things on display.
It’s comforting to know that, despite all the differences in the world and my life since 2010, some things just don’t change.
