People often think of China as monolithic, characterized by one land, one people, one culture. But there is no one China. In reality, China encompasses diverse landscapes, ethnicities, and social and lived experiences that cut across both space and time.
The curators of the Cyrus Tang Hall of China assembled this collection to explore the intricacies of this vast country and its evolution over time: pottery and stone tools from Neolithic villages, bronze vessels and weapons dating back to the centuries of the warring states, painted scrolls depicting ordinary life, and goods traded along the Silk Road.
Each object on display plays a role in telling China’s story. Together, these items examine the paradox of constant change and firm continuity that define more than 10,000 years of rich cultural history, from the Neolithic period to the present.
Exhibition highlights
An animated map of dynastic China’s shifting political borders
The Qingming scroll, a 27-foot-long painting of Chinese life along a prosperous river city and its outskirts
A shadow puppet performance of the epic tale Journey to the West
Recovered cargo from a trading vessel that sank in the Java Sea during the 12th or 13th century
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Learn about China
Ask an Artifact | China Toolkit
Discover what you can learn from the objects all around us when you look carefully and apply a specific disciplinary lens. Spanish subtitles available.
Exploring Objects | China Toolkit
Analyze objects using varied lenses, including anthropology, history, economics, geography, and art history.
Investigating the Qingming Scroll | China Toolkit
Learn about the contradictions depicted in the Qingming Scroll and compare it with present-day representations of idealized societies.
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Content to explore
China hall press kit
Multimedia materials are available to accompany articles and other press mentions (with proper credit and copyright adherence). Unless otherwise noted, all materials are © Field Museum.
Acknowledgments
The Cyrus Tang Hall of China is made possible with the generous support of the Cyrus Chung Ying Tang Foundation.
Additional support provided by the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund in Memory of Sue Ling Gin-McGowan.