Verdant bamboo shadows cover the quaint gatehouse
Go to the junction of Zhongshan 4th Road and Yuexiu Middle Road
A quaint watchtower appears in front of you
It stands on a triangular island in the middle of the road
Create a quiet world in the middle of the city
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Here are a few in Guangzhou
The ancient pawnshop building that has been preserved
Today, it is built as a Dongping Pawn Museum
Touchstones, abacus, scales, magnifying glasses......
These items are also neatly displayed in the museum
One can't help but think of the work scene of pawn gentlemen back then
Today, it is not only an exhibition hall for the history of pawnbroking in Guangzhou
It is also a cultural and artistic exhibition space
A tree, a house, a period of antiquity
Walk into a poetic bamboo forest
Explore the luxury pawnshop Dongping Daeke from a hundred years ago
A luxury pawnshop from a hundred years ago
The pawnbroking industry in Guangzhou flourished from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China, when there were more than 400 pawnshops in the city. Dongping Dazhu is the second largest pawnshop in the city during the highly developed period of Guangzhou's pawnbroking industry, and echoes with the former site of another pawnshop at the west gate of Zhongshan 7th Road - Baosheng Dabao. However, with the changes in history, the old pawnshop industry gradually declined, and the ancient pawnshop buildings gradually disappeared.
In 2010, the Yuexiu District Government introduced social forces to build Dongping Dazhu into the first pawnbroking industry museum in Guangdong Province, and took the lead in exploring the participation of social forces in the revitalization and utilization of state-owned cultural relics. Since the second half of 2018, the Dongping Pawn Museum has been upgraded, and in addition to adjusting and upgrading the exhibition content, it has incorporated cultural and artistic experience and aesthetic cultivation and interactive functions to inject new vitality into the old building.
Breathe new life into old buildings
Passing through the gatehouse with the plaque of "Dongping Dajiao" on the hanging, and entering the warehouse building, you will come to the first floor of the pawn museum, where the high counter of the pawnshop and the pawn scene of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties are restored, and there are also the sale of cultural and creative derivatives and the popular collection of seals and stamps. Climb up the narrow wooden staircase to the second floor, where you can use pictures and materials to present the history and culture of pawnbroking in Guangzhou.
The third floor of the museum is used as a cultural and art exhibition space, where domestic contemporary artists and Cantonese culture-themed art exhibitions are often held, and the fourth floor is used as a cultural exchange and interaction space, where lectures and workshops are held from time to time.
Recently, the exhibition "Memory Shaping" was exhibited in Dongping University, using real objects and sound and light technology to display artist Chen Wenjuan's clay sculptures, stop-motion animation, paintings and other works, sewing machines, old TVs, old wardrobes...... The artist connects and reshapes the good memories of childhood, trying to awaken people's warm and comfortable memories in the fast-paced contemporary era.
"Dongping Dazhu is not only a simple Guangzhou pawn history exhibition hall, we hope that it will not only carry the history of pawnbroking and the inheritance of Lingnan Cantonese culture, but also break away from the positioning of traditional exhibition space, and provide a platform for outstanding artists and art students at home and abroad to display their works. Wang Yingying, deputy director of the Dongping Pawn Museum in Guangzhou, said. "This is an exploration of the revitalization of old buildings, and it can also bring new experiences to the audience. โ
Walking into the museum in the middle of the traffic, the sense of history of the old building and the sense of the times of contemporary art are intertwined and integrated in the same time and space. Staggered time and space, the old and the new are connected, Dongping Dazhu skillfully strings together history and modernity, and this quiet land in the downtown participates in witnessing the present of Guangzhou City with a new identity.
Source: Nanfang + Editor: Wu Lesi Proofreader: Jiang Jintong Editor: Liu Siming Editor: Zhan Pingping