Henan Museum is one of the oldest museums in China. In June, 1927, General Feng Yuxiang, commander in chief of the National Revolutionary Army and the chairman of Henan Province at that time, brought forward his opinion of “Education is Essential Politics for a Country” in his political programme for managing of Henan. That June, Guo Xujing, Xu Jinquan and He Rizhang were appointed by the provincial government as commissioners under the Provincial Education Office, to prepare construction of Henan Museum under the care of General Feng Yuxiang. The site designated for Henan Museum, was the schoolhouse of the former Legal and Law School, which was located at West Street, Kaifeng Court (Sansheng Temple Street, Kaifeng today) and thus the museum was born.

 

However the only museum in Henan before revolution, had a rough road to travel through the turbulent political situation. In May of 1928, the former provincial government changed Henan Museum into a“National Museum”and mandated to represent the history and actuality of the nationalities, and to propagandize an ideology of national republics and great world harmony. It was put under the direct lead of the provincial government. At the same time the provincial government offered a part of confiscated bequest of Liu Shi Ancient Hall and asked the museum to open in limited time. With the tenet of “Enlightenment of Knowledge and Demos of Civilization; Proliferation of Revolutionary Ideas; Boosting of Social Civilization” the National Museum widely collected material concerning history, natural science, agriculture, art, physiological sanitation etc. and though lacking in collections, on October 10, 1928, held its first exhibition, which consisted largely of models.  

 

On December 1, 1930, Henan Provincial Government changed “National Museum” back to “Henan Museum” as a social educational organ directly under the Provincial Educational Office. Guan Baiyi was appointed as the curator by the Educational Office on December 30 and the schoolhouse of the Demotic Normal School was taken as a showroom of antiques. On January 20, 1931 Henan Provincial Educational Office publicized “Organization Regulations for Henan Museum” with its tenet of “Developing its Connatural Culture; Advocating Learning and Study; Increasing People’s Knowledge; Boosting Social Civilization.” At the same time the Storing Department and the Collection & Investigation Department were set up as well as the Executive Council, whose membership included directors of the Civil Administration Office and Educational Office, the president of Henan University, and the Museum curator among of hers. The 19 showrooms of the former National Museum were renovated in 7 and enriched with historical cultural relics instead of the many folk fineries and models. During the years from 1930 through 1937, Henan Museum underwent an unprecedented development. Under the guidance of a team of highly-skilled researchers, led by Guan Baiyi, the Museum amassed fine and substantial collections focusing on local history. At that time Henan Museum became very famous, gaining recognition both at home and abroad. In 1937 “Event 7.7” erupted; the Japanese army invaded China. The Museum was closed, and 68 boxes of key cultural relics were moved to Chongqing. During 1940 the Henan Museum was reopened under Japanese governance, as “Henan Provincial Museum” with several departments such as Affair Office, Storing Department and Investigation Department. After the Anti-Japanese War, the Henan Provincial Government of Kuomintang appointed Xie Menggang as the take-over commissary. The Museum was taken over but it was still in difficulty because, with the eruption of the Liberation War and the Kuomintang government being busy with civil war, the economy declined and funding was lacking.

 

In 1948, the Liberation Army liberated Kaifeng. The Party and the Government paid much attention to culture, education, and natural history. A three-person group, under the leadership of Zhao Ganting, was sent to reorganize the museum. In November 1949, Qu Naisheng, director of the Provincial Education Office, was nominated by the Henan Provincial Government as curator of the Museum. He started to organize personnel, coordinate cultural relics and showrooms, renovate the establishment, carry through business, making the Museum into vital force in flourishing  development once again.

In 1953, Henan Museum was confirmed as topologic one according to “Opinion about guideline, assignment, property and development direction for local museum” issued by the Central Cultural Ministry. In 1961 Henan Museum moved from Kaifeng to Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan, where it enjoyed a superior exhibition space.

 

After the Third Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Party, Henan Museum became improved gradually and entered a new historical era. Especially in the 1980s, the museum was growing larger and larger; its organization scheme was improved, having Exhibition Department, Storing Department, Social and Education Department, Library, Investigation Department, Editor Office of “Central Cultural Relics”, Museum Office, Administration Section, and Security Department etc. The museum presented a new flourishing existence completely with a post liability system and bylaws.

 

Due to the frequent cultural exchange between countries and fast growing tourism, that came along with the “Reform and Opening to Outside” continuing deep into the 1990s, all museums in our country underwent a great development. But Henan Museum,  built in 1958 - the time of “Big Bound”, could not adapt to the development of museums today whether in architectural form, scale or inner establishment. So the Party Committee and the Government of Henan decided to build a modern museum in Zhengzhou during “the Eighth Five Year Plan”. In 1991, the State Council moved to undertake construction of the Henan Museum, according to Li Ruihuan’s instruction, and through the hard work of Hou Zhongbin, former Secretary of the Party Committee of Henan, and Li Changchun, former governor of Henan Province.

 

The new Museum, located in central Zhengzhou along Agriculture Road (Nongye), occupies an area over 100,000 square meters, with a floor area of 78,000 square meters. The project, a Renminbi 300,000,000 investment, was accomplished in 5 years. The main building, at the center of the grounds, is in the shape of pyramid. Behind it is a storeroom for culture relics, around it there are the electrified education building, combined service building, office building and training building. The constructed Museum sight is grandiose and precise, displaying primitive simplicity and elegance. It features the artistic style and culture of central China. 

 

According to the State’s requirements for modern museums, the new museum possesses perfect facilities including automatic fire fighting system, safety supervising system, OA managing system, culture relics protecting system, electrified education system and building automation system. In July 1997, the Henan Provincial Government decided to merge Zhongyuan Stone Inscription Art Galleries with Henan Museum into a new Henan Museum. The establishment of this consolidated Henan Museum is a landmark in the development of Henan Museum as well as a very grand affair in the phylogeny of museums in China.

 

 

 

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