Treasures in the museums of Hebei Province

With thousands years of history, cultural relics collected by the museums of Hebei Province perfectly exhibit the spirit of Yan-Zhao culture, in ancient times Hebei province was named Yan-Zhao.

Gilt Bronze Human-Shaped Lamp ("Changxing Palace" Lamp) collected by Hebei Museum

Excavated from Han (206BC-AD220) tombs in Baoding in 1968, Gilt Bronze Human-Shaped Lamp was listed as national top cultural relic and collected by Hebei Museum. Boasted with unique shape, exquisite workmanship and skillful design, it was regarded as a craftwork reflecting the best craft of traditional Chinese arts and handicrafts. According to Zhou Yun, the deputy curator of Hebei Museum, the lamp is famous for its inscription. The lamp panel can turn freely and two arc plates above it can close and open with a push in order to control the brightness and lighting direction of the lamp.

To keep the room clean, the inner of its human body is empty to let ash in through the figurine’s right arm. Every part of the lamp can be detached and its delicate figure is quite different from the previous bronze wares.

Presumed from its inscription, the lamp was made for the Marquis Liu Jie in 172BC; later, it was owned by Queen Mother Dou and finally it was presented to the sovereign lord Liu Sheng’s wife Dou Wan as her funerary object.

Blue and White Porcelain vase collected by Hebei Folk-Custom Museum

The Blue and White Porcelain vase was collected from civilian collections in the 1980s.

As far as is known there are only three blue and white porcelain vases of the Yongle Reign of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in existence in China now. The vase in the Hebei Folk-Custom Museum is the best preserved one, which is ranked as national top cultural relic by experts. It is possibly a ritual object for Muslims and it was also used as flower vase in the late Qing Dynasty.

The Painting of Liu Hai playing with Golden Toad collected by Shijiazhuang Municipal Museum

Ranked as national top cultural relic, The Painting of Liu Hai playing with Golden Toad is a work of the famous Ming Dynasty painter Liu Jun.

181.3 cm long and 108.8 cm wide, the silk painting was painted with an ancient Chinese Taoist Liu Hai wearing a long gown and tying cucurbit and glossy ganoderma to his waist, floating upon the waves with a golden toad in his left hand, which outlined the fairyism of Liu Hai.

Liu Jun is an outstanding painter from the Ming Dynasty, but his works were rarely handed down, until now only one of his paintings is in the Palace Museum. Therefore, this painting collected by the Shijiazhuang Municipal Museum is very precious.

Bronze Horses collected by Handan Municipal Museum

This group of bronze horses was made in the Warring States (475-221BC), 15-18 cm in height and 22-24 in length. They either walk with their heads up or stand with their heads bent. Besides elegant postures and powerful bodies, their facial features and horse mane were engraved very clear as well, showing the exquisite workmanship and aesthetic sense of ancient people.

Carved Rosewood Hanging panel knitting with flowers and birds collected by Chengde Mountain Resort Museum

The Carved Rosewood Hanging Panel Knitting with Flowers and Birds featured with rare material, exquisite skills, vivid patterns and brilliant colors is an excellent collection.

With a long history in China, hanging panels is a handicraft together with engraving, inlay and knitting. They reached a new level in the reign of Qianlong of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), their material ranging from ivories, pearls, jades to enamel, jadeite and rosewood. Since most of the patterns for the hanging panel were adopted from famous painters’ sketches and some of them embraced the aesthetic taste of the emperor, the craftsmen needed to get the emperor’s permission when the hanging panels were to be produced.