Luoyang Museum 洛阳博物馆

Luoyang is the ancient capital of China so has a lot of history. Whilst there are few structures left of the early years, there are some stunning pieces retrieved from grave and mausoleum excavations. These you can see in the museum.

Luoyang Museum was established in 1958, covering an area of 200,000 m² and. provides an excellent overview of ancient China from the Palaeolithic to Tang. It is one of the first batch of national first-class museums in China as well as the only comprehensive history museum in Luoyang. More than 20,315 pieces of cultural relics are housed here, and more than 12,000 pieces of them are on display.

This new museum finished completion in Feb 2009, and opened to public on 16 Apr 2011¹. Ever since the founding of the museum in the 1958 in a different location, its signature permanent exhibition has been on “Heluo Civilisation”, which was nurtured in the junction areas of the Yellow River and its tributary, the Luo River. Luoyang is nestled in that junction.

The main building of Luoyang Museum has two floors and shapes like a Ding 鼎, an ancient cooking vessel and a symbol of dynasty in Chinese culture, indicating the important role Luoyang has played as the capital for 13 dynasties in the history of China.

There’s a viewing tower in the plaza built in 2019 that is a replica of 大周万国颂德天枢 “Praise from the Nations for Great Zhou Dynasty” from Wu Zhou period (690-705)². The original pillar was a gift for Emperess Wu Zetian for winning the wars in the Central Asia against the Western Turkic Khaganate, Turbans (Tibetan Empire), Second Turkic Khaganate and Shiwei (Khitans)³, with each of the defeated nations contributing silver to build it. The original was destroyed⁴ after her grandson Tang Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji 唐玄宗 李隆基 (r. 712-756), when he declared his grandma’s reign was an interregnum period, and anything that reminded them of the period is a disgrace to the Tang dynasty.

Luoyang Museum includes permanent exhibitions of Heluo Civilisation 河洛文明 and 5 specific halls that present the history and culture of Luoyang from all aspects through the treasured relics such as jade, bronze, pottery, stone sculpture, and other artefacts.

• Level 1
  • Heluo Civilization 河洛文明展
  • Carved Stone 石刻馆
• Level 2
  • The Ancient Treasures of Luoyang 珍宝馆
  • Tri-coloured Glazed Pottery of the Tang Dynasty 唐三彩馆
  • Pottery Figurine of Han and Tang Dynasties 汉唐陶俑馆
  • Cultural Relic of Ancient Chinese Palace 宫廷文物馆

I shall proceed based on the essential and important must-sees halls first followed by the rest. I took two days to finish everything.

The Ancient Treasures of Luoyang 珍宝馆

This is a must-see! Located on the second level, these are the most precious of the relics in the museum’s collection and almost all of them are National Treasures. Thirteen dynasties successively established their capitals in Luoyang for more than 1,500 years, leaving numerous cultural relics on the ground and underground.

These precious works of art embody the creativity and aesthetics of ancient oriental culture, carry rich and colourful historical memories, and reflect the glory of the thousand-year imperial capital.

Cultural Relic of Ancient Chinese Palace 宫廷文物馆

Right next to the Treasures exhibition is the Chinese Palace exhibition. The cultural relics in this hall were originally placed in Palace of Compassion and Tranquility 慈宁宫⁵ in the Forbidden City in Beijing, most of which were tributes from all over the country in the Qing Dynasty. They were transferred to Luoyang Museum in 1973 under the instruction of Premier Zhou Enlai⁶. 

The collection mainly includes palace Buddhist artefacts such as Buddha statues and niches, ritual utensils, offering utensils and Buddha worship utensils. There are also many palace decorative screens, furniture, calligraphy and paintings, porcelain, etc. They are all made by precious materials (gold, silver, jade, coloured glaze…) and exquisite workmanship, which are of high artistic value and are the best among the palace Buddhism and living utensils.

Carved Stone 石刻馆

Luoyang has a large number of stone steles, sculptures and inscriptions in the past dynasties, spanning from the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) to the Qing Dynasty (1636 – 1912). It shows distinctive local characteristics and occupies an important position in the history of ancient Chinese stone carving art. Most of the statues are carved with blue stone, white marble and sandstone, which highlight the main features of characters and animals. Some of them are exaggerated in appearance, rich and elegant in shape. Though in different styles, the items are in harmonious proportion with lively spirit and charm. The exhibition is divided into two parts: stone sculpture and tablet epitaph.

Tri-coloured Glazed Pottery of the Tang Dynasty 唐三彩馆

Tri-coloured glazed pottery of the Tang dynasty (618 – 907), aka Sancai pottery, is a treasure of ancient Chinese ceramic firing technology. With kaolin as raw material and new colour pigments from the Silk Road, Sancai pottery has beautiful shape and gorgeous glaze colour, representing the amalgamation of technology from foreign trade.

Tri-colour represents 3 main colours: yellow, green and white. Other colours include brown, blue, black, etc. Collections here are mainly used as funerary objects and represent the colourful and prosperous social life of ancient Luoyang, and reflect a high spirited, enterprising, open and diversified prosperous Tang Dynasty.

Heluo Civilisation 河洛文明展

On the ground floor right beside the entrance is the main exhibition of Heluo Civilisation 河洛文明 that covers more than 5,000m² of exhibition space. The collection covers stone tools, jade, pottery, bronze, iron, porcelain, bone horn, tooth ware and many other categories. Chronically, it can be divided into five parts: prehistoric period, Xia-Shang-Zhou period (2070 BC – 256 BC), Han and Wei dynasties (202 BC – AD 535), Sui and Tang dynasties (AD 581 – 907), Five Dynasties and Northern Song Dynasty (AD 907 – 1127).

Based on the representative cultural relics unearthed in Luoyang, the exhibition connects the major historical events, important historical relics, scientific and technological inventions in each historical period of Luoyang, fully presenting the glorious history of Luoyang as the ancient capital of thirteen dynasties,

Pottery Figurine of Han and Tang Dynasties 汉唐陶俑馆

The pottery figurines were used as funerary objects in ancient times in order to make the dead live the same life in the underworld as before. It is derived from the custom of human sacrifice that began at the end of primitive society. During the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period (770 BC – 221 BC), this cruel sacrifice tradition was condemned by public and banned by law. However, the concept of “treating death like living” 视死如生 is deep-rooted. People try their best to seek substitutes, which are, tomb figurines.

The more than 400 pieces of Luoyang pottery figurines in Han (202 BC – 220 AD) and Tang (618 – 907) dynasties show the simplicity of Han figurines, the rigidness of Jin figurines, the elegance of the Northern Wei Dynasty figurines, and the resplendence of Tang figurines. They not only outline the development of ancient Chinese sculpture art, but also provide us with indispensable precious entity materials.

Special Exhibitions

There are special exhibitions that are curated regularly on a special theme, like this “Tracing the Chinese Dragon – Special Exhibition of Dragon Relics Excavated in Luoyang” in celebration of the Year of the Dragon (2024). Over 30 relics featuring “dragon elements” excavated locally were displayed, narrating the origin, development, and diverse cultural characteristics of the dragon culture in the Luoyang region.

Luoyang is also the main site for Tang pottery (again from excavations) and there are some stunning pieces in the museum, by far the best that we have seen anywhere. If you are in Luoyang, you really should find time to visit this museum. It’s not too busy and you can get in free with your passport (tickets from a booth outside the front of the museum).

Footnotes:

1. 洛阳博物馆位于隋唐里坊区西北隅，占地300亩，建筑面积6.2万平方米，其中地上面积4.2万平方米，地下2万平方米，总投资3.5亿元。建筑外形如方鼎屹立，寓意“定鼎洛邑”“鼎立天下”。洛阳博物馆北临洛浦公园，南接植物园，环境优美，交通便利，是洛阳市的文化地标。洛阳博物馆造型气势恢宏，设施先进、功能齐全。2011年4月16日全面对社会公众开放。现举办有大型基本陈列“河洛文明”和“珍宝展”“唐三彩展”“宫廷文物展”“石刻艺术展”“天香如绣——王绣牡丹艺术展”五大专题陈列。展览面积1.7万平方米。http://www.lymuseum.com/list.php?fid=3 ↩︎
2. 《资治通鉴》中记载为：
   高一百五尺，径十二尺，八面，各径五尺。下为铁山，周百七十尺，以铜为蟠龙麒麟萦绕之。上为腾云承露盘，径三丈，四龙人立捧火珠，高一丈。
   《新唐书·则天武皇后传》中记载为：
   “其制若柱，度高一百五尺。”“柱颠为云盖，出大珠，高丈，围三之。作四蛟，度丈二尺，以承珠。”铁山高“二丈”，“负以铜龙，石镵怪兽环之”。“无虑用铜铁二百万斤”。https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-sg/大周万国颂德天枢 ↩︎
3. 《资治通鉴·唐纪二十一》中是这样描述的：“四夷酋长请铸铜铁为天枢，立于端门之外，铭记功德，黜唐颂周：诸胡聚钱百万亿。”武则天亲自命名为大周万国颂德天枢，意为天下的中心. ↩︎
4. 洛阳博物馆前的观光塔，仿照武周时的“天枢”而建。八棱柱高39米，观光塔顶部雕塑4条站立的龙高9.5米，龙托起的“火珠”直径3.9米，龙和“火珠”均为铜制品。 天枢，是武则天纪功柱。寓意“天下中枢”，乃武周盛世的标志、世界中心的象征。位居世界三大纪功柱（中国武周王朝天枢、罗马图拉真纪功柱、印度阿育王石柱）之首。全称“大周万国颂德天枢”，标志着中国古代国际地位达到顶峰，是武周帝国屹立于世界之巅，统领万国、协和万邦的见证。长寿三年（694年）八月，世界各国元首在波斯国大酋长阿罗憾等人的号召下，请求用铜铁铸造天枢，铭纪功德，黜唐颂周。开元初被唐玄宗销毁。 https://baike.baidu.com/item/洛阳博物馆/1628817 ↩︎
5. 慈宁宫 PALACE OF COMPASSION AND TRANQUILITY
   始建于明嘉靖十五年（1536年），万历年间因火灾重建，清代继续沿用，顺治十年（1653年）、康熙二十八年（1689年）、乾隆十六年（1751年）数次修葺，作为皇太后居住的正宫。乾隆三十四年（1769年）将慈宁宫正殿由单檐改为重檐，并将寝殿后移。明代慈宁宫为贵妃所居。万历年间，李太后、郑皇贵妃、昭妃等人曾在此居住。天启七年（1627年）明熹宗驾崩，其皇贵妃等人移居此处。清朝顺治十年（1653年），孝庄文皇后始居慈宁宫，慈宁宫自此成为太皇太后和皇太后的居所。顺治、康熙、乾隆三朝经常在慈宁宫举行为太后庆寿的大典。
   
   大佛堂 HALL OF WORSHIPING THE GREAT BUDDHA
   即慈宁宫后殿，为清代太后、太妃礼佛之所，因其是清宫众多佛堂中体量最大者，俗称为“大佛堂”。佛堂面阔7间，进深3间，黄琉璃瓦歇山式顶。殿前月台陈设香炉、香筒。殿内装修考究，佛龛、供案、佛塔、佛像、经卷、法物、供器等陈设众多。其中，元代干漆夹贮三世佛与十八罗汉像艺术价值最高，为传世塑像中的精品。殿内悬挂康熙皇帝御书匾额“万寿无疆”和乾隆皇帝御书对联两副“百八牟尼现庄严宝相，三干蒼卜闻清净妙音”、“人天功德三摩地，龙象威神两足尊”。
   Taken from the museum display information board. ↩︎
6. 文革的时候很多寺院都遭到了破坏，其中就包括中国第一古刹白马寺。1973年的时候，柬埔寨国王西哈努克亲王要来访问洛阳，柬埔寨是个佛信国家，而西哈努克亲王本人又是个非常虔诚的佛教信徒。当时大家都一致认为西哈努克来洛阳，肯定会到白马寺拜佛参观。而白马寺当时的现状可以说是惨不忍睹，寺庙破败，庙内也没有什么拿的出手的东西可看。于是后来做了中国佛教协会会长的赵朴初向周总理提出，从故宫调拨一批佛像、法器等佛教文物到白马寺。周总理很快就批准同意了。在当时故宫对文物远不如现在那么重视，故宫方面接到通知后要求洛阳把这批文物全部拉走。当时慈宁宫的大佛堂里灰尘很厚，文物数千件没有整理过，洛阳出动了几十辆卡车全部运回。交接这批文物时，洛阳博物馆还向故宫讨要一些桌椅做“办公家具”，故宫很大方地将一批宫廷黄花梨，紫檀桌椅一同调拨给了洛阳。结果因为种种原因，努哈亲王并没有来，这些东西就一直留在了洛阳。现在除了一部分被安置于白马寺外，其它的全部都进入了洛阳博物馆，当时被当做“办公家具”调拨的桌椅，都是黄花梨，紫檀等名贵木材雕刻的文物，价值连城，现在都翻身成了不可多得的宝贝。而这批文物当中最精华的部分自然是和佛有关的宫廷藏传佛教法器。当时进洛阳博物馆参观的时候并不知道这段历史，所有没有太过留意，仅仅拍了一部分的照片。回看的时候才发现事情不简单，第一次不用去故宫就能看到明清的皇家宫廷文物。
   
   原文網址：https://kknews.cc/culture/y324nqn.html ↩︎