An opening ceremony of the new museum of Sichuan University was held on July 23. Those attending the ceremony included leaders such as Bao Hui, director of the Standing Committee of the Chengdu Municipal People’s Congress; Liu Shuguang, Board Chair of the Chinese Museums Association (CMA); Gao Zhongwei, executive vice minister of the Publicity Department of the Sichuanprovincial Party committee; Yu Xiaoqi, director of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Education; Dai Yunkang, director of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism; Gan Lin, chairman of the university council of SCU; President Wang Jinsong of SCU; Huo Wei, the curator of Sichuan University Museum (SCUM) and so forth. Wang Jinsong presided over the ceremony.
On behalf of the university, Gan Lin expressed gratitude toward all sectors of society for their continuous care and support to the Sichuan University Museum. He pointed out that the university thrives because of the city, and vice versa. Sichuan University was founded in 1896. Being rooted in Chengdu and Sichuan province as well, SCU has drawn upon Chengdu's rich cultural nourishment and material support for vigorous development, and continuously deepened the university/region cooperation, achieving fruitful results. The new museum is one of the symbolic achievements. The SCUM was established almost 110 years ago. With its large collection, the museum will become a new cultural landmark of the city, bringing new cultural experiences and good cultural services to the people.
Liu Shuguang stated in his speech that the Sichuan University Museum is not only the oldest museum in the southwest but also the first comprehensive university museum in China. It exemplifies university museums. On behalf of the Chengdu municipal Party committee and government, Chen Yanfu congratulated on the opening of the new SCUM. He said that the newly completed museum, which opens today, will further showcase the cultural heritage of Sichuan University and highlight the historical imprint of Bashu culture and the rich achievements of ecological civilization.
Huo Wei introduced the history, museum collections, and construction of the SCUM.
The leaders took the stage to unveil the new Sichuan University Museum.
The new Sichuan University Museum consists of the original Sichuan University Museum and the Natural History Museum. The SCUM, formerly known as the West China Union University Museum, was founded in 1914 and is the first comprehensive university museum in China. The Natural History Museum of Sichuan University stemmed from the Museum of Chengdu Normal University in 1916, and was later joined by the National Sichuan University Animal Specimen Museum and Plant Specimen Museum established by Mr. Zhou Taixuan and Mr. Qian Chongshu in 1933 and 1935 respectively. After over one hundred years of development, the SCUMnow housesover 80,000 cultural relics in 32 categories and over 980,000 animal and plant specimens. Of all the exhibits, calligraphy and paintings, china, carvings, and ethnic and folk cultural relics are the most distinctive, such as the mountain and river painting drawn by Huang Gongwang and Wang Meng together in the Yuan Dynasty, the Dunhuang scriptures and document collections of Zhang Daqian's Dafengtang, the standing statue of Bodhisattva at Longxing Temple in the Tang Dynasty, and a complete set of sedan chairs of the late Qing and the Republic of China periods.The museum is also home to more than 140,000 specimens of rare and endangered animals, including the wildlife giant pandas and Chinese sturgeons, both of which enjoy the first-class state protection. Additionally, it houses over 840,000 plant specimens, including over 1,000 plant type specimens. The oldest plant and animal specimens were collected in 1884 and 1907, respectively. They were selected and incorporated into the World Famous Plant Specimen Collection in the 1950s.
The new Sichuan University Museum was completed in 2023, with a total construction area of over 70,000 square meters and nearly 10,000 square-meter exhibition space. The museum is made up of basic exhibitions, exhibitions of natural history items, and art exhibitions. The SCUM will be open to the general public during its trial operation between July 27 to August 10. Please refer to the WeChat account or homepage of SCUM for reservation information.
