NANJING, May 20 (Xinhua) — The overwhelming number of visitors flocking to the newly opened Suzhou Archaeological Museum came as a surprise to the curator Cheng Yi.
Cheng said he had expected 3,000 to 4,000 visitors at most on the first day, mostly those with archaeological knowledge or professionals in the field. “We ended up receiving 7,000 to 8,000 people — many of them ordinary citizens and tourists from outside the city,” he said.
Located in the eastern city of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province, the museum opened on May 17, right before China Tourism Day and International Museum Day, which fall on Monday and Sunday, respectively.
Cheng believes the upcoming Children’s Day, which coincides with the Dragon Boat Festival holiday from May 31 to June 2, will bring another peak in visitors, as the museum will hold a special exhibition of ancient toys unearthed in Suzhou for the occasion. An even greater influx is expected during the summer holidays.
Suzhou Archaeological Museum reflects a growing nationwide enthusiasm for archaeology-themed tourism. In recent years, archaeological and historical museums across China have become trending destinations, often requiring online reservations and drawing long queues.
People have not only gained interest in traditionally famous museums like the Palace Museum, but are also eager to explore remote ancient sites such as Yanmen Pass in Shanxi Province.
According to Cheng, it is meaningful to build such an archaeological museum in Suzhou, which was a hub of cultural and economic exchanges in the Yangtze River Delta in ancient times, and the significance is beyond public archaeological education. “It also stirs pride in our hometown,” he said.
He believes the country’s economic development and growing national strength have played a significant part in fostering public interest in history and culture.
“In the past, when people struggled to make a living, they wouldn’t think about these things. Today, people feel proud of China’s achievements. This represents the revival of an ancient civilization,” he said.
Cheng noted that the country is also vigorously promoting a national project on tracing the origins of Chinese civilization, and as more and more cultural relics are unearthed, the 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization is being substantiated.
As archaeology as an academic discipline becomes more widely known to the public, Cheng believes that presenting the full process from relics’ excavation to museum display both meets the needs of professionals and captures the interest of the general public.
A hallmark of archaeological museums, according to Cheng, is that the exhibits are authentic, since they were all unearthed by experts and verified through scientific methods before display.
“What was this object used for?” “Who was buried here?” “Are all the relics real?” Cheng was surrounded by visitors bombarding him with such questions.
Many visitors were interested in a large tomb of the ancient Eastern Wu state. It is believed to have belonged to the family of Sun Quan, founding king of the Wu State during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280), though the exact identity of the tomb’s occupant remains unknown.
Despite having been looted, the large tomb has largely retained its structure, with its architectural design, passageways, and side chambers all faithfully presented. After its excavation was completed in 2018, the tomb was divided into parts and stored at a facility due to the lack of a proper display venue, until the Suzhou Archaeological Museum was constructed. The tomb parts were carefully delivered to the museum and recombined to show visitors the tomb’s original appearance.
A 62-year-old visitor excitedly took pictures and repeatedly told nearby visitors his childhood memories about the tomb. “I used to live here as a child and played on these mounds,” said the visitor who declined to give his name. “I had no idea that such a grand tomb lay underneath.”
Yan Xinfeng, a warehouse keeper who moved from Sanmenxia in central China’s Henan Province to work in Suzhou years ago, is a fan of historical dramas and often visits museums. “After visiting this archaeological museum, I realized Suzhou’s history is older than I thought, and ancient people were far more advanced than I imagined, as they created so many such intricate items,” he said. “I feel proud.”
After visiting, 9-year-old Xu Xuhan said she was impressed by a hairpin unearthed from the Eastern Wu tomb, which might help identify the tomb’s owner.
“I love history and want to know how our civilization started,” she said. The third-grader has not yet taken history lessons at primary school, but said she had learnt a lot from a number of museums across China she visited with her parents.
“I want to become an archaeologist when I grow up,” she said.
Many of the exhibits at the museum are newly discovered artifacts that help fill gaps in archaeological knowledge from the Neolithic Liangzhu culture, to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods (770 B.C.-221 B.C.) and beyond.
For instance, a pottery shard offers clues that the Wu and Yue regions, which cover the current-day Suzhou, were once under the rule of the Qin Empire (221 B.C.-207 B.C.), as the Chinese characters inscribed on it were written in the Qin script. Numerous other artifacts on display also support the idea that the area was a hub of the ancient Maritime Silk Road.
More notably, the museum also houses archaeological tools and explains excavation methods to highlight archaeology as a science and dispel public misconceptions.
“There was a time when people thought archaeology was just tomb-raiding,” Cheng said. He added that the museum is looking to use virtual reality and artificial intelligence in the future to let the public experience archaeological digs firsthand.
As China places greater emphasis on history and culture, and as traditional Chinese aesthetics grow in popularity among the public, more museums of this kind will open to the public across the country, Cheng believes. ■
