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Xi’an once was the capital city of 13 dynasties in ancient time, with more than 7000 years history, no wonder it is rich in ancient Chinerse culture.Together with Athens, Rome and Cairo, they are recognised at the Four Ancient Capital Cities. First opened in 1983, Shaanxi History Museum covers an area of over 65000 square meters, with more than 370000 or so historical items, from the simple stone tools used by ancient humans, to all kinds of daily-used tools in 1840 years ago. It’s almost like a epitome of the Chinese history and ancient oriental culture.
The appearence of the museum highlights the elegant demeanour of Tang dynasty and the whole building is similarr as the Tang construction style. It is formed with five major halls, Prologue hall, Basic exhibition, Themed exhibition, Temporary exhibition and central hall. There is a giant lion made from rock sitting in the Prologue hall, symbilizing the great ancient culture of the Yellow river area. Considering that there are so many tourists from abraod, the museum has simultaneous interpretation in different languages when giving reports.
There are more than 3900 registered bronze wares with different kind, musical intruments, ancient weapons, daily-used tools and other stuff. The most famous and typical items are those from Shang and Zhou Dynasties, carved in inscrition with high historical values. It is amazing to see so many bronze wares, I could almost imagine ancient people using those delicate items in all the posssible circumstances. Maybe that’s the best meaning of museum, helping people travel back time and imagine living a different life.
Want to see how the ancient Chinese currency look like? You got it. Here they have more than 10000 currenccy items made from different materials. Shell coins from Xizhou dynasty, knife-shaped coin from Warrior period, Gold coin from Xihan dynasty and other rare currencies from ancient world. My favorite one is the shell coins, they are more like a beautiful decoration accessory for you.
Time for the most precious item of the museum-Agate cup with an animal head. It was excavated in a small western village of Xi’an in the year of 1970. The cup body is the animal and its horns as the cup handle. Despite it’s called agate cup, people still don’t know what it’s made of. It is so rare than you can’t find it anywhere in the world. It is also among the list of items banned from exhibition in foreign countries.