JMB is writing a blog: Trip to Jingzhou (Part 2)

So after I got my ticket, I made my way to what I thought was a park, but which was actually the Wuhan museum. This was a different museum than the Hubei provincial museum.

The collection was less impressive, but still well presented and very nice. It was actually more eclectic and included a traveling American exhibit of "The Art of Quilting". The Quilting exhibit was a production of the United States Embassy.

It is in a smaller and less impressive location than the provincial museum. The first floor had a wing that contained numerous ancient handicrafts.

There were the ancient bronze ware, ancient jade, some interesting carvings in bamboo, some nice lacquer work, a good collection of porcelain, and myriad other items.

The porcelain exhibit was pretty interesting because it included neolithic pottery that is very ancient. This pottery was much less finished than the exquisite porcelain that you can see in subsequent dynasties.

There was an exhibit of the history of Wuhan, which had an english translation that left alot to be desired. It did explain that at some early date, men came to Hanyan and had to make a very big effort to clear all of the brambles and brush from the river side in order to live there. These first settlers to Hanyan were thus noted for their grounds keeping skills.

Wuhan is actually a conglomeration of three cities: Hankou, Wuchan, and Hanyan. The modern "Wuhan" did not exist until 1927.

I have seen WWII era maps that name Wuhan as "Hankou".

There was an ancient battle fought in Wuhan by the general Liu Bei and Sun Quan on one side and Cao Cao on the other. This was during the classical, San Guo or Three Kingdoms period.

The battle is known in English as the Battle of Red Cliffs (In Chinese it is called Chibi). Basically, Liu Bei and Sun Quan frustrated the army of Cao Cao which allowed for the creation of two different kingdoms.

This was a very romantic period that alot of Chinese people think fondly about. It is a classical period.

There was an exhibit about the famous poet Li Bai. He is the famous poet who wrote alot about wine. It is said, that many poets have written about wine, but no poet has written more about wine. As I have stated previously, I feel Li Bai and myself would have gotten along quite well with one another.

In addition to the local history and handicraft exhibits, there was an exhibit of "exotic currency". This exhibit included examples of the "Amero" which is not supposed to exist, but somehow is on display in China. Unfortunately, I had no translation of what the curators thought about the Amero.

I stayed at the museum for about two hours, and then went to catch my train around 5:00. I can certainly think of worse ways to waste a couple of hours waiting for a train.

This is a neolithic Jade piece. It is called a Bi and is one of the most ancient forms of Human art. This design has been found in the earliest excavations. This particular Bi was about about two feet in diameter and is dated to a very ancient period.

I believe this is a Hu wine vessel.

This is a Jue it is another ancient Chinese Bronze artifact. It is thought that this vessel was used to heat wine or liquids for serving.

This is a Dingi, it is a common ancient bronze item from chine. The Ding has three legs, a cauldron, and some sort of lid. This is one of the classical items of Chinese bronze.

This is a bronze bell. At the Hubei Provincial musem, there was an excavated tomb that contained a set of mammoth bells that were played as part of a set. This bell had several others on display with it.