Hong Kong Museum of history

Do you think the history of Hong Kong is just the development of a small fishing port into a prosperous metropolis? In fact, not only that! After visiting the Hong Kong Museum of history, you will find that the history of Hong Kong began 400 million years ago! The museum collects and collates archaeological, historical, folk and natural history relics from Hong Kong and even South China, displaying rich historical and cultural heritage. The permanent exhibition "Hong Kong Story" introduces the ancient natural ecology, folk customs and historical development of Hong Kong through three-dimensional landscaping, panoramic screen, multimedia theater and scene style display.

Hong Kong Museum of history

The Hong Kong Museum of history was founded in 1975. The museum displays unearthed cultural relics, historical pictures, pictures and maps of Hong Kong, China, and regularly holds cultural activities and exhibits some valuable historical relics related to the history of Hong Kong or other countries.

The function of the Hong Kong Museum of history is to preserve the cultural heritage of Hong Kong, China through the acquisition, restoration and research of cultural relics. In addition, the museum promotes public awareness and interest in the development of Hong Kong's history and its unique cultural heritage through collections, exhibitions and educational and promotional activities.

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Historical evolution

Museum Services in Hong Kong have a history of more than 100 years. The first "Museum" dates back to the 1870s and is located in the former city hall. It mainly collects books, Atlas and animal and plant specimens. With the demolition of the old city hall in 1947, the museum ceased to serve. In 1962, the city hall of Hong Kong was completed and opened, and the "City Hall Museum of fine arts" was set up in the high block, marking the official launch of modern museum services in Hong Kong. In 1969, it was renamed "Hong Kong Museum of fine arts" and was managed by the former Urban Council.

To further expand the museum's services, the Hong Kong Museum of Fine Arts established the "Hong Kong Museum of art" and "Hong Kong Museum" in July 1975. The Hong Kong Museum of art continues to use the site of the city hall to promote the artistic atmosphere. The Hong Kong Museum of art rents a 700 square meter Office of Xingguang line in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon to hold exhibitions to promote Hong Kong's history and culture. In 1983, the Hong Kong Museum was relocated to Kowloon Park. Two old buildings, originally belonging to the weffy road barracks, were converted into temporary offices, exhibition halls and lecture rooms. In 1989, the new exhibition building was completed and opened, and the exhibition area increased to 1520 square meters.

With the continuous development of the museum, the old site is not enough, so there is a need to build a new museum. In 1995, the government implemented the construction of a permanent site next to the Hong Kong Science Museum on Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui. In 1998, the Hong Kong Museum officially changed its name to "Hong Kong Museum of history", and a new modern museum with a total area of about 17500 square meters was opened at the same time, including 8 exhibition halls, It is divided into long-term exhibition hall and special exhibition hall, with lecture hall, activity room, reference room, restaurant and gift shop to provide more diversified museum services for the public. Since 2000, museums have been managed by the leisure and Cultural Services Department.

Introduction to the library

The Hong Kong Museum of history was founded in 1975, but part of its collection comes from the City Hall Museum of art, which was established in 1962. In 1998, the museum moved to its current site at Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui. The appearance and color of the Hong Kong History Museum are in harmony with the adjacent science museum to form a museum combination.

The Hong Kong Museum of history displays Hong Kong's unearthed cultural relics, historical pictures and pictures, and regularly organizes cultural activities and exhibits some valuable historical relics about Hong Kong's history or other countries. The "Hong Kong Story" exhibition, covering an area of 7000 square meters, introduces the historical development of Hong Kong.

Based on the natural and cultural history of Hong Kong, the museum highlights the 6000 year history of Hong Kong. The exhibition is divided into three parts: (1) to introduce the natural environment of Hong Kong; (2) to reflect the human activities in Hong Kong by unearthed cultural relics, ancient stone carvings and ancient kiln sites; (3) to show the development process of Hong Kong from a small fishing village to a metropolis. The museum has a collection of more than 45000 pieces, which are divided into four categories: Archaeology, local history, folk history and natural history. Among the archaeological collections, there are the famous collection of father Mai Zhaohan and father findery. The local history collection mainly contains historical pictures, the earliest pictures taken in the 1860s. In the folk history collection, there are traditional Chinese fishing boat models, fishing equipment, traditional farm tools and daily utensils. The natural history collection mainly includes rocks and minerals from all over the world, as well as the common Phalaenopsis in Hong Kong Butterflies and mollusk shells.

Collection works

The museum has a collection of over 90000 pieces. The museum's collection includes not only valuable coins and stamps, but also books and letters rescued from the garbage, ranging from arrows to cable cars. There are many kinds of collections. Generally speaking, they can be divided into four categories: natural history, archaeology, folk custom and local history. In addition to direct purchase, museum collections are also collected through donations or field visits, and the number of donated items is increasing.

Natural history collection

The natural history collection records the history and evolution of Hong Kong's geology and natural ecology. At present, the museum's natural history collections mainly include rock and mineral specimens, shells and animal specimens. The museum has collected about 2800 rock and mineral specimens from Hong Kong, as well as more than 750 shells found in Hong Kong waters. The collection contains over 1600 animal specimens, including mammals, birds and butterflies.

Collection of archaeological relics

The archaeological relics in the collection are mainly composed of four collections, namely, the relics discovered by father Mai Zhaoliang in Haifeng, Guangdong, the relics excavated by father findery in Lamma Island, the 58 Eastern Han Dynasty funerary objects unearthed from Li Zhengwu's Han Dynasty tomb, and the relics excavated in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong archaeological society before 1976. These archaeological collections record the human activities in Hong Kong over the past six thousand years and are important materials for studying the ancient history of Hong Kong.

Folk collection

The museum has set up a collection reflecting the traditional lifestyle of different ethnic groups in Hong Kong, including farm implements, furniture, daily tools for rural and fishermen, fishing equipment, fishing boat models, etc. it helps to clarify and understand the lifestyle of fishermen and farmers, as well as the traditional farming methods and fishing industry. At the same time, the collection has more than 5500 pieces of clothing. From the late Qing Dynasty to the 1970s, they belong to different ethnic groups, ages and social strata. From these cultural relics, we can find out the geographical environment, historical development, values, myths and legends, religious beliefs and customs of various ethnic groups, which will help us to study the history and culture of ethnic groups in Hong Kong.

In the collection of traditional industries and daily necessities, the museum has collected more than 850 puppet supplies and musical instruments, more than 1500 wedding and sacrificial articles, various traditional industry utensils and literature. These rich folk collections are helpful to study the development of traditional festivals, beliefs, customs and folk crafts in Hong Kong.

Local history collection

The museum has a total collection of over 70000 pieces of local history, which are valuable materials for studying the history of Hong Kong. Among them, historical pictures and old postcards are valuable materials for studying the history of Hong Kong, because they can truly reflect the life of early Hong Kong. At present, there are more than 14000 historical pictures in the collection. They are mainly street scenes and people's livelihood scenes of Hong Kong before World War II. The earliest pictures can be traced back to the 1860s. In addition, the museum also has a collection of more than 19000 historical documents, including books of account, certificates, business and government letters and textbooks, which will help to study the social, economic and educational development of Hong Kong.

The museum is also dedicated to collecting local philatelic products. At present, it has a collection of more than 4000 philatelic products, which helps to study the history of Hong Kong's postal service. At the same time, the collection of about 5500 coins and banknotes is mostly used in Hong Kong over the years, but also covers the currencies of Guangdong, Macao and other places, so as to trace the economic development of Hong Kong and its neighboring areas. In addition, the museum also collects a lot of industrial products, commercial supplies, furniture, and cultural relics of Dr. Sun Yat Sen himself and his family. The artifacts of various departments of the former Hong Kong British government were actively collected by the museum when it returned to China in 1997.

Exhibition Research

The Hong Kong Museum of history is dedicated to collecting, studying and recording information related to Hong Kong's historical and cultural heritage. Since 1983, the museum has carried out 22 research projects. The results of many research projects have been used in exhibitions and museum publications.

The floor area of the museum is 17500 square meters, of which the exhibition hall occupies 8000 square meters. The exhibition hall consists of a 1000 square meter thematic exhibition hall with regularly changing themes, and eight long-term exhibition halls with a total area of 7000 square meters. The permanent exhibition of "Hong Kong Story" introduces Hong Kong's 400 million years of natural environment and 6000 years of historical development and cultural heritage.

The museum will hold a variety of special exhibitions to assist the permanent exhibitions. These topics cover individual topics within the scope of the museum, but the content is more comprehensive and extensive. Through these exhibitions, different aspects of Hong Kong's historical and cultural heritage can be introduced in more detail to complement the permanent exhibition

Chinese PinYin : Xiang Gang Li Shi Bo Wu Guan