SinoArts.Net

Address: Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Yinchuan City, Jingning Street, #2

The exterior of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Museum

The Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Museum is in the capital of the region, Yinchuan city, in the old city district. It is located in the grounds of the Chengtian Temple and uses the main building of the temple as its central hall.
This was built in traditional manner in 1988 on the foundations of a Qing dynasty building; the rest of the buildings are auxiliary halls also built around 1988. Behind these ‘front-court’ buildings is a courtyard-style building built in the Qing dynasty. The institution is a comprehensive-style museum that brings together Ningxia historical artifacts, items of people’s customs, and art collections that have been passed down through the ages.

Ningxia Historical Artifacts Exhibition
This focuses on articles from local history, from ancient times up to Ming and Qing. It is divided into sections as follows: primitive society, Shang and Zhou,Qin and Han, Sui and Tang, Song and Yuan, Ming and Qing, and mostly displays items that have been passed down through generations. Objects of natural-history interest include fossilized paleontological material. Early archaeological material includes ceramics of the Majiayao culture, and artifacts from all the dynastic periods of China that represent the border regions cultures. From ancient times, the Ningxia region has been a confluence of cultures, a place where many different nationalities and peoples came together. It displays in particular the interaction of people from border regions and people of the central plains. The Ningxia historical exhibitions provide tangible evidence of this rich history.

A gold-plating copper ox of the Western Xia dynasty

The Western Xia History Exhibition
This exhibition portrays the historical development of the Xi Xia Kingdom (1038-1227), using excavated Western Xia artifacts combined with historical documents. Yinchuan City was the Kingdom’s capital. Western Xia kings, concubines, and aristocracy are buried in the tomb precinct in the eastern ranges of the Helan Mountains. Among the items on display here are architectural materials excavated from Western Xia tombs, plus Western Xia ceramics recovered from ancient kiln sites at Lingwu. Articles reflect the history, culture, arts, architecture, and political system of both Western Xia and Dangxiang tribes.

The Ningxia Hui Minority Peoples’ Customs Exhibition
This exhibition displays the customs of the local Hui people. It shows Hui religion, architecture, handicrafts, clothing, eating customs, ceremonies, and wedding and funeral customs.

Exhibition of Stone Rubbings from the Helan Mountains
The Helan Mountains contain a large number of ancient petroglyphs. Rubbings from these, together with color photographs of the designs, show the early presence and activities of northern-steppe nomadic people’s customs. These include sacrifices, hunting, herding, and so on. The Ningxia Museum currently has around 10,000 items in its collections, which are divided into eight major categories. Notable objects include northern grassland culture animal-style bronze ornaments, Western Han gold, silver and bronze ornaments, Tang-dynasty and Western Xia works of art of various kinds, and Yuan and Ming-dynasty gilded-bronze Buddhist sculpture.