The Shanghai Museum has two marble walls inscribed with gilded text engraved with the names of donors and patrons, a tribute to the collectors of donated cultural relics. The museum's acceptance of social donations is one of the indispensable channels for enriching and improving its collections, and the donations that have successively entered the collection have built up the family foundation of Shanghai's cultural relics collection, and even the treasures of the town museum like Dakding are derived from donations.
A few days ago, the "Gaoshan Mountain Tour - Shanghai Museum Donated Cultural Relics Exhibition" opened at the Shanghai Museum, and 145 pieces/group of treasures were selected for the exhibition.
Picture: Jingdezhen kiln pastel bat pattern bottle Zhang Yongzhen donated in 2004 Xinmin Evening News reporter Wang Kai photographed (the same below)
The sustenance and destination of the collection
These 145 pieces/groups of cultural relics cover bronze, ceramics, calligraphy and painting, bamboo carvings, coins, sculptures, seals and other categories, and gathered many donors on a large scale, including Ma Hezhi's "Ten Picture Scrolls of Zhou Song" donated by Hu Yuwen and Hu Shuchang in 1965, the Jingdezhen kiln apple green glaze printing box donated by lou hou in 2021 (a pair), Chen Chunju donated by Tan Jing in 1951, Ji Yunming dry pipe donated by Chen Zhi in 1961, and Zhao Zhiqian's "Pan Zuyin" stone seal donated by Ding Xierou in 1961. Xia Hongning donated Li Shutong's "Xingshu Huayan Jingjing Sentence Axis" donated by Xia Hongning in 1962, Zhang Yongzhen donated pastel bat peach pattern bottle from Jingdezhen kiln in 2004, and Xia Yan's "Codex Scroll" donated in 1989.
Pictured: Jia Gui Donated by Tang Zuchen and Song Jingwen in 1959
In the early days of the establishment of the Shanghai Museum, there was a wave of donations, and many collectors chose Shangbo as the home of their collections. Zhang Dong, director of the Preservation Department of the Shanghai Museum and a research librarian, said that the Han Dynasty portrait bricks donated by Mr. Zheng Zhenduo were rare ancient architectural components in the 1950s and 1960s, and this time it was exhibited to the public for the first time. Xu Senyu, the early planner of the Shanghai Museum, worked in the museum all his life, and in 1965 he donated to Xiangbo the "Yanta Three Tibetan Sacred Religious Orders" and Huang Shiling's "Seal Book Eight Words", which is one of his most beloved collections. Ma Chengyuan, the old director of the Shanghai Museum, took the lead in donating the collectibles of the Shang Dynasty bronze "Jue" in 1955, and took the initiative to practice the rules he established that "Wenbo people are not allowed to engage in collection"; the donor Wang Yiping was the secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, and he has donated the collected calligraphy and paintings, porcelain, seals, ancient books and handicrafts to the Shanghai Museum four times. In 1963, the famous writer Ba Jin donated his collection of Dong Qichang's "Xingshu Poems" to Shangbo.
Pictured: Li Shiyan's mother Feng Shi and other statues donated by Zhang Heng in 1950
Collector's "own family"
The Shanghai Museum was able to build in a short period of time and quickly established its own collection, exhibition and research system thanks to the support of collectors (including friendship transfers and free donations). It is reported that as of the end of 2020, the Shanghai Museum has more than 140,000 precious cultural relics, of which more than 33,000 are donated by people from all walks of life, accounting for about a quarter of the total collection of precious cultural relics.
At the "Shangbo Forum" co-sponsored by the Shanghai Museum and Xinmin Evening News, which opened last year, the first lecture theme is to tell the history of many of the top collections of the Shanghai Museum, as well as the story of behind-the-scenes donations full of humanity.
Pictured: Ma Hezhi "Zhou Song Ten Picture Scrolls" donated by Hu Weiwen and Hu Shuchang in 1965
Yang Zhigang, director of the Shanghai Museum, said that from the appreciation of one person and one family to the donation of public collection institutions, when cultural relics enter the public vision from the private collection space, it is sublimated from the appreciation, which has the meaning of refining memory, condensing character and inheriting civilization. With selfless spirit and donation practice, donors have participated in the shaping of the historical cognition and spiritual character of the Chinese nation.
The exhibition will run until 26 December. (Xinmin Evening News reporter Le Mengrong)
Pictured: QiHouzai Shen Tongyu, Gu Liu, Gu Fo, Gu Duzhang, Gu Duxuan, Gu Duqiu donated in 1951
Related Links
Jia Gui - donated by Tang Zuzhen and Song Jingwen in 1959
Jingdezhen kiln pastel bat pattern bottle - Zhang Yongzhen donated in 2004
Statues of Li Shiyan's mother Feng Shi and others - donated by Zhang Heng in 1950
Ma Hezhi's "Ten Picture Scrolls of Zhou Song" - donated by Hu Weiwen and Hu Shuchang in 1965
Qi Houzai - Donated by Shen Tongyu, Gu Liu, Gu Fo, Gu Duzhang, Gu Duxuan, and Gu Duqiu in 1951