Zigong Salt History Museum

The Museum of salt history is located in the yueduan section of Jiefang Road, Ziliujing District, Zigong City. It was originally built by Shaanxi salt merchants who went to Ziliujing to manage salt industry. The salt history museum was built in 1736 A.D. in the first year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. With exquisite design, it integrates the palace buildings and folk buildings of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is large-scale and splendid. In 1827, the famous architect Yang xuesan presided over the large-scale expansion. The whole complex is raised from front to back layer by layer. The wood carvings, stone carvings, color paintings and clay sculptures are exquisite and dazzling. Back on the scenic Longfeng Mountain, in front of the bustling area, the pavilion is towering and the shape is peculiar. In January 1988, it was announced as a national key cultural relics protection unit. The guild hall of the Western Qin Dynasty, known as wusheng palace, is mainly for the throne of Guandi, also known as Guandi temple, commonly known as Shaanxi temple. In the early Qing Dynasty, Shaanxi businessmen came from Liujing to manage the salt industry and made a fortune. In order to "express the local feelings" and show the luxury and wealth, the construction started in 1736, which lasted 16 years and was completed in 1752. In the seventh to eighth year of Daoguang (1827-1828), large-scale repair and expansion were carried out. The old site was expanded by more than ten feet, and another main hall was built on the mountain. It covers an area of 3451 square meters. This is a typical Chinese architecture with plane combination, overall squareness, emphasis on symmetry and clear central axis. The main buildings are arranged on the central axis, surrounded by corridor walls and other buildings, which are composed of five large and small courtyard groups with depth, hierarchy and Jinghua. As the main ornament and decoration of the Xiqin guild hall, there are hundreds of wooden and stone carvings all over the hall, among which the carvings of stone lions, Xianji, Jinyong, Ben drum and other pavilions are the most prominent. The stone lion at the gate is 2.27 meters high, with protruding eyes and nose, curly hair and sharp four claws. The two lions turn their heads outward and roar with their mouths open, which is quite dignified. The wood carvings of Xianji, Jinyong and Ben Gu are concentrated on the wooden fence with a length of 22.3 meters and a width of 6.7 cm. There are more than 350 characters, with appropriate density and quick knife technique. In addition, the wood carvings on the forehead Fang, lining Fang, Tiao Liang, hang Hua and the railings, including myths and legends, historical stories, social life, drama scenes, flowers and birds still life, are all exquisitely carved and vivid, which can be seen clearly up to now. Before liberation, as the seat of Zigong municipal government of the Republic of China, the Xiqin guild hall was in disrepair and on the verge of destruction. After liberation, this magnificent ancient building finally returned to the hands of the people. Zigong Municipal People's Committee has protected and maintained the building during its office period. In the spring of 1959, when Deng Xiaoping and other central leaders visited the Xiqin guild hall, they repeatedly urged us to protect it. In view of the concern of the leaders and the fact that the Xiqin guild hall itself is a historical relic reflecting the development of Zigong Salt Industry and has important scientific and artistic value, it was selected as the "Zigong Salt History Museum" to display various ancient drilling, well control and fishing tools through comprehensive restoration and reasonable layout. By means of sound, light, electricity and other modern means of expression, the evolution and transformation of well salt production technology in the Millennium salt capital are truly reproduced. The museum has been introduced to the world by UNESCO with the title of Zigong technological Museum in Yandu. There are a large number of historical records, documents and objects about the development of well salt in the museum. It shows the process of Sichuan salt production in more than 2200 years since Li Bing dug Guangdu salt well. It is of great value to the study of ancient salt history, science and technology history and economic history.

Zigong Salt History Museum

Zigong Salt History Museum is located in the center of Zigong City, Sichuan Province. It was built in 1959. It is one of the earliest professional museums in the history of Chinese museum development. At present, it is still the only Museum of salt history in China. On May 18, 2017, it was promoted to the third batch of national first-class museums.

In March 2020, in order to thank the national medical staff for their dedication, the museum will implement free medical service for the first-line medical staff and their families.

Development history

Zigong Salt History Museum is a professional museum of Chinese science and technology history. It is located at the foot of Longfeng Mountain on the Bank of Fuxi River, Ziliujing District, Zigong City, Sichuan Province. It was built in 1959. The site of the museum is the Xiqin guild hall built in 1736. This is a local guild hall built by Shaanxi salt merchants, integrating the palace and folk architectural styles of Ming and Qing Dynasties. The well preserved inscriptions, wood carvings, stone carvings and clay sculptures are the physical specimens for studying the social life, economic situation and religious art of the Qing Dynasty before the Opium War.

Venue born

In 1959, Comrade Deng Xiaoping proposed the establishment of Zigong Salt History Museum in the Xiqin guild hall. From scratch, after 41 years of efforts, Zigong Salt History Museum thrives in its persistent pursuit, becoming the only Salt History Museum in China with a certain reputation at home and abroad.

Initial stage of establishment

Zigong Salt History Museum was born 10 years later than the motherland, but its fate is closely linked with the Republic. At the beginning of its construction, there were only about 10 cadres, staff and workers in the hall, and the Xiqin guild hall, which was in urgent need of repair, had no basic display, and lacked collections, funds and professionals. The museum work started under hard conditions.

First of all, we organized the maintenance of the Xiqin guild hall and the rescue of salt history relics. The older generation of workers went deep into the salt factory again and again. Relying on the support of all salt industry units in the city and the enthusiastic help of the old salt workers, they carried out the collection of salt history cultural relics, and soon collected a number of salt history cultural relics and local cultural relics represented by Zigong salt drilling tools.

On this basis, the first basic exhibition of salt history was launched in 1962. After several adjustments and changes, this exhibition laid the foundation for the basic exhibition of the Salt History Museum and left a deep mark of the times.

Devastated

Since the beginning of the cultural revolution, the exhibition of salt history has been completely closed, and the museum industry has been devastated. Under extremely difficult conditions, the staff of the hall skillfully covered and protected a large number of wood and stone carvings in the hall in the name of "red ocean". It has laid a foundation for the restoration and development of museum cause after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee.

Revitalize again

After the end of the cultural revolution, the cause of museums came to life. Especially after the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, Zigong Salt History Museum has embarked on the road of revitalization.

Bathed in the spring breeze of the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, with the shift of the party's work focus, the staff of the whole museum confidently invested in the design, production and exhibition of "well salt production technology development history". After the exhibition in 1981, the museum has been constantly modified and improved. After three major adjustments, especially the renovation in 1986, it finally enjoyed the world with its unique historical value, scientific value and artistic value. In the exhibition line of more than 300 meters, it vividly and vividly shows the magnificent pictures of well salt industry centering on Zigong in drilling, brine extraction, natural gas exploitation and salt production for more than 2000 years, truly represents the outstanding contributions, outstanding achievements and great creativity of the Chinese nation in human drilling technology, and increases the participation, interest and scientificity of the exhibition, which is deeply appreciated The public's praise has opened up a new way for professional museums to do well in display.

Scientific research

In order to meet the needs of exhibition and museum development, scientific research work was carried out simultaneously, and the well salt history research department was established. Dozens of papers have been published in cultural relics, Sichuan cultural relics, research on Chinese social and economic history, Journal of Sichuan University, Journal of Chinese History Museum, etc.

Special research

From the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, the Museum organized scientific research forces to engage in special research on well salt history. In cooperation with the scientific and technological personnel of the salt industry department, he has successively undertaken and completed the compilation of the key scientific research project of philosophy and Social Sciences in Sichuan Province during the Seventh Five Year Plan period, the history of Well Salt Science and technology in China, and the compilation of Zigong Salt Industry records. In 1990, a monograph on the history of Sichuan salt was published by Sichuan people's publishing house. After the publication of these achievements, they caused great repercussions, and won the second prize of Sichuan Province's outstanding scientific research achievements in philosophy and Social Sciences, the second prize of national local chronicles and the first prize of Zigong City's outstanding scientific research achievements in philosophy and social sciences. It makes our library take the lead in the research of well salt history in China.

In the process of studying the history of well salt, since the mid-1980s, the museum has started to combine scientific research with the investigation of salt industry sites and relics, and with the rescue and protection of salt cultural relics. It has organized many salt industry investigations in Sichuan. It not only obtained first-hand information for scientific research, but also expanded the scope of cultural relics collection from Zigong to the whole Sichuan, collecting a number of representative early dakoujing and Zhuozhou Tools and equipment for tube well production.

In the aspect of cultural relics research, we completed the research on ancient well salt tools in China, which was listed as the key scientific research project of Sichuan Science and Technology Commission and Zigong science and Technology Commission during the "Seventh Five Year Plan". This is the first monograph on well salt drilling tools in ancient China. It was published by Shandong science and Technology Press in May 1990 and won the second prize of Sichuan Science and Technology Progress Award and the first prize of China Book Award.

With the continuous emergence of scientific research achievements, the journal well salt history communication, which was founded in 1976, has been widely used

Chinese PinYin : Zi Gong Shi Yan Ye Li Shi Bo Wu Guan