Wenzhou Museum

Whenever there is a holiday, deciding where to go is always a dilemma 😮‍💨. I don't want to be in crowded places, nor do I want to exhaust myself just to buy a ticket. So, I open the map and start searching for a destination that is not 'popular' 🔍 This time, it's Wenzhou's turn. Wenzhou doesn't seem to be often associated with tourism, but indeed, tickets were easy to purchase, and I quickly snapped them up. Hotel prices were also reasonable; we chose a hotel near Wuma Road, and at less than 400 per night, it was totally acceptable. 🗓 Itinerary: This time, the focus was on a casual trip, so we didn't specifically plan any routes. We just listed some places we wanted to eat and play, and then went wherever we felt like. Occasionally giving up on meticulous planning and just enjoying a holiday is also a nice choice. After a round of exploration, Wenzhou is really delicious 😋. Wangji tofu pudding, glutinous rice, Runhefeng beef offal, I highly recommend all of these, they are incredibly tasty. Especially Wangji tofu pudding, which has no bean smell and is not as cloying as pudding or cream, it's refreshing, delicious, and guilt-free. I would visit Wenzhou again just for it.

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, successive kings of Wuyue had a deep faith in Buddhism. Throughout their rule over Zhejiang, they built numerous pagodas, carved Buddhist scriptures, and constructed a countless number of temples and precious pagodas within their territory. In the Song Dynasty, Wenzhou leapt to prominence as an important commercial and trade city along the southeastern coast, rivaling the prosperity of Hangzhou, which was known as a paradise on earth. At this time, Buddhism also entered a golden age, "Narayana and his eight hundred disciples dwelled in the country of Chenla; now five hundred reside in Tiantai, and three hundred in Yandang." Many Buddhist practitioners followed in the footsteps of Indian monks to come to Wenzhou to practice and cultivate, and many famous monks emerged, making Wenzhou a major Buddhist center in the southeast. As the most important carriers of Buddhism, Buddhist architectures such as the Jingguang Temple Pagoda, White Elephant Pagoda, Huiguang Pagoda, Guo'an Temple Stone Pagoda, and the twin pagodas on Jiangxin Isle sprang up like bamboo shoots after a rain, with over two hundred Buddhist pagodas standing tall on the land of Dong'ou. The White Elephant Pagoda is located on Tanghe riverside in Bai Xiang Street, Ouhai District, Wenzhou City. It was first constructed in the third year of Chongning during the Northern Song Dynasty (1104) and completed in the fifth year of Zhenghe (1115). The pagoda body has experienced 900 years of weathering and was nearly collapsing. In 1965, due to severe tilting of the pagoda, it was dismantled with the approval of the provincial government. During the demolition, cultural relic workers excavated a variety of iron, copper, porcelain, and wooden objects from the pagoda, as well as a large number of scriptures, paintings, sculptures, stone carvings, and other Northern Song Dynasty artifacts, totaling over a thousand items unearthed. Among them, the most numerous were Northern Song Dynasty painted clay Bodhisattvas, Heavenly Kings, warriors, musicians, and offering stars, followed by Northern Song lacquerware, brick carvings, wood carvings, celadon, bronzeware, printed scriptures, handwritten scriptures, paintings, and Tang and Song Dynasty coins. The underground palace was empty, likely having been looted long ago. Among them, the 42 Northern Song Dynasty painted clay Buddhist statues unearthed from the niches in the pagoda body are the most valuable artistic treasures among the artifacts.

Wenzhou Museum is located in Century Square, Shifu Road, Lucheng District, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, and is a comprehensive local museum. The museum covers an area of about 26,000 square meters, with a total exhibition area of 12,000 square meters. The building is a standalone enclosed structure, with the entrance hall directly connected to the central circular courtyard hall, which is more than ten meters high and has walls inlaid with multiple giant copper relief works. Wenzhou Museum has more than 20,000 cultural relics, including ceramics, bronzes, colored sculptures, brick carvings, lacquerware, calligraphy and paintings among 20 categories. The collection highlights include the Ou kiln celadon gourd-shaped pot with lid, Ou kiln celadon cup-mouthed pot, Northern Song Dynasty colored sculpture of a Bodhisattva, manuscript of 'Zhou Li Zheng Yi' by Qing Dynasty's Sun Yirang, and the letter to Song Shu by Xia Zengyou from the modern era, among others. Wenzhou, formerly known as Dong'ou, has a long history and a rich cultural heritage. More than 5,000 years ago, our ancestors labored and lived on this land. Over 2,200 years ago, the King of Dong'ou governed and established his capital here. The Ou River, flowing between the mountain cities, has nurtured prosperity on both banks and witnessed the enduring and striving spirit of the people of Wenzhou over thousands of years. Wenzhou Museum's core exhibition hall is the History Hall, which showcases the 5,000-year historical footsteps of the 'Wenzhou people', and also includes six major exhibition halls: the Calligraphy and Painting Hall, the Ceramics Hall, the Natural History Hall, the Craft Hall, and the Temporary Exhibition Hall. The History Hall consists of four major sections: 'The Kingdom of Dong'ou', 'Dong'ou under the Central Dynasties', 'After the Port Opening', and 'Wenzhou Today'. The theme is 'The Story of Wenzhou People, a Tale of Survival and Development'. The Calligraphy and Painting Hall focuses on the museum's collection of fine calligraphy and paintings, supplemented by outstanding works of Wenzhou-born calligraphers and painters from various periods. The Ceramics Hall is arranged chronologically according to the development of ceramics, with the emergence, development, and decline of the Ou kiln as the main thread of the exhibition. The theme of the Craft Hall is 'The Story of the White Elephant Pagoda'. In 1965, the White Elephant Pagoda, built during the Northern Song Dynasty and severely tilted, was dismantled. Unexpectedly, despite the underground palace having been looted, over a thousand exquisite Song Dynasty cultural relics were still discovered within the walls of the pagoda. In 2004, Wenzhou Museum was named a provincial-level patriotic education base, and in May 2009, it was rated as a national second-level museum. On May 18, 2017, it was promoted to the third batch of national first-level museums. 📍Detailed address: Century Square, Shifu Road, Lucheng District, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Opening hours: 09:00—17:00 Ticket price: Free ⏳Time reference: 2 hours

Ou Kiln, also known as East Ou Kiln, generally refers to the southern Zhejiang region, centered on ancient Wenzhou, mainly distributed in the Oujiang River Basin, sprouted in the Neolithic Age, matured in the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty, and widely used brown color decoration technology during the Two Jin Dynasties. It was gradually replaced by Longquan style porcelain during the Tang, Five Dynasties, and the middle and late Southern Song Dynasty. During the Two Song Dynasties, Wenzhou, under the guidance of the concept of emphasizing commerce and practicality, 'the land is not suitable for mulberry and weaving work, not suitable for wheat and rice, not suitable for lacquer but utensils are available', the business is highly developed. The path is in things, and things are in the path. Everything in the world has its path, and the universe also has its path. 'All things have their path' is the Confucian theory of the Yongjia school. All things have their path, apply knowledge to practical affairs, uphold both righteousness and profit, and now it has become the ideological source of the pragmatic spirit of Wenzhou merchants. More than 100 pieces of Ou Kiln fine products and representative kiln site specimens from various historical periods of Ou Kiln, spanning from the Warring States period to the Southern Song Dynasty, covering various types such as tea sets, porcelain pillows, and musical instruments. Northern Song Dynasty Ou Kiln celadon melon edge bottle, Three Kingdoms Ou Kiln celadon chicken head pot, Late Tang Ou Kiln celadon brown color urgent beard, Five Dynasties Ou Kiln celadon pigeon Xun... Walking through the exhibition, the audience can get close to the ancient pottery and porcelain relics from various historical periods.