Museums in China by Tracey Lie Dan Lu

Author:Tracey Lie Dan Lu [Lu, Tracey Lie Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, General, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781134081554
Google: xdkkAgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-11-20T04:55:33+00:00

Museums in a communist state between 1949 and 1979

The development of museums has been part of the CCP's governing policy from 1949 to the present in order to serve the economic, ideological and political needs of the Party and the state. The then prime minister Zhou En'lai had made many important decisions on museum matters, carefully checked the preliminary permanent exhibitions of the National Museum of History and the National Museum of Revolution, and even edited the introductory pamphlet of the Palace Museum in 1971 (SACH 2002; Wang Y.Q. 1997). The Ministry of Culture of the central government was established in 1949 and was responsible for the museum management of the nation, ranging from founding new museums to the strategic planning of central and local museums in different cities, to the focuses of important museums such as the National Museum of Revolution and the Shanghai Museum. The Propaganda Department of the CCP also played a leading role in the establishment and management of museums (SACH 1992, 2002; Wang Y.Q. 1997).

In 1949 there were only 21 museums in China (SACH 2002), including museums founded before 1949, namely the Hoang Ho Pai Ho Museum and the Palace Museum, etc. After 1949 the number of museums fluctuates, and there is a correlation between the quantitative fluctuation of museums in mainland China and the contemporaneous economic and social events (Table 5.1). 1951 the nation was recovering from the economic and social damage caused by continuous warfare, and the establishment of new museums was explicitly prohibited by the central government, thus the number of museums only increased from 21 at the end of 1949 to 31 in 1951 (Table 5.1). However, in the ‘Great Leap Forward’ period, museums were built in each county, and exhibition rooms were built in each commune, some of which were built in only a few days, in order to promote the idea of a bright socialist future, to disseminate knowledge and techniques of farming and industries, to ‘reshape’ people's minds and to motivate the public to work harder (SACH 2002; Wang Y.Q. 1997). It was reported that by comparing their hard lives before 1949 and their happy lives after 1949, the masses were well educated and had more confidence in contemporary society (SACH 2002; Wang Y.Q. 1997).

Table 5.1 Quantitative fuctuations of museums and national events in mainland China Year Total number of museums GDP

(billion RMB) Other important economic, social and political events of the year

1949 21 46.52* Establishment of the PRC and the SACH; the Department of Propaganda of the CCP called for collection of ‘relics of revolution’ in October 1949; an ad hoc committee for the Museum of Revolution was founded in Feb. 1950.

1951 31 n/a The Ministry of Culture issued a document stating that the objective of museums was to conduct education on revolutionary patriotism; given the current economic situation of the state, the construction of new museums should be limited.

1952 49 82.72 End of the “Economic Recovery” and ready for the “Five-Year Plan”, beginning in 1953. GDP per capita US$50.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.