Baoji Bronze Museum

National First Grade Museum Devoted To Chinese Bronzes; Holds The He Zun Of C.1038 BC, Whose Inscription Carries The Earliest Known Written Instance Of The Characters For China · Baoji, Shaanxi

The Zhou dynasty came out of the Wei valley around Baoji, and when the Zhou kings moved east the aristocratic families who stayed buried their bronzes in pits rather than carry them - which is why this unremarkable industrial city in western Shaanxi has produced more inscribed Western Zhou bronze than anywhere on earth, and why there is a museum here devoted to nothing else. The single most important object is a wine vessel called the He zun, cast around 1038 BC and found by a family in 1963 who did not know what it was and sold it for scrap; a museum worker spotted it in a recycling yard in 1965, and a curator cleaning it in 1975 found a hundred and twenty-two characters of inscription inside the base. One line records the Zhou king announcing he would rule from the centre of the world, and the two characters used for that centre - zhong guo - are the earliest written instance known of the word China. The vessel is a designated national treasure and is not permitted to leave the country.

Zhonghua Stone Drum Park, Binhe Road, Baoji, Shaanxi, China

Generally open 9:00-17:00 with last entry around 16:00, and CLOSED ON MONDAYS except public holidays. ADMISSION IS FREE but real-name booking through the official WeChat account is expected, with ID scanned at the door - bring a passport. Security screening on entry. Galleries are deliberately dim to protect the bronzes and FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY IS PROHIBITED.

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