About the Museum

The Preparatory Office of Hubei Provincial Museum was established in 1953, with its origins tracing back to the Hubei Provincial Public Science Laboratory, founded in 1928. In 1989, the Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology was established as an independent institution after being spun off from the Hubei Provincial Museum. Then in 2002, Hubei Provincial Museum and the Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology began operating jointly. Again in February 2023, they began to operate independently. Finally in August 2023, the Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Exchange Information Center and the Hubei Provincial Arts and Crafts Research Institute were fully integrated into Hubei Provincial Museum.

As a treasure trove of ancient Jing-Chu culture and a national key museum jointly supported by China's Central Government and the local government, Hubei Provincial Museum was designated as a “National Cultural Living Room” during the 2018 China-India head-of-state diplomacy. It houses a collection of over 460,000 objects, including 1,095 classified as Grade-One National Cultural Relics.

The museum is also responsible for safeguarding one item recognized as national-level intangible cultural heritage, seven at the provincial level, and one at the district level. Among its most notable holdings is the set of chime bells (bianzhong) from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of the State of Zeng, which has been inscribed on the prestigious UNESCO Memory of the World Register. With a total floor area of 125,000 square meters and an exhibition area of 38,000 square meters, the museum features an integrated layout comprising “four exhibition halls, three centers, and two bases”. Its permanent exhibitions include key displays such as “Marquis Yi of Zeng” and "A Panorama of Chu" the along with more than 200 special exhibitions, among them “Treasures from the Uffizi Galleries, Italy.” The museum has been honored with numerous national awards, including ”Most Innovative Museum in China“ and the Excellence Award for China’s “Top Ten Museum Exhibitions”. It is a national demonstration base for patriotic education, a national base for science popularization, the first cross-strait archaeological teaching and exchange base in China, a national 5A-level tourist attraction, and a model unit for civilized tourism. It also serves as a key research base for the protection of unearthed wood lacquerware, a national key protection unit for ancient books, and a national center for the restoration of ancient books. Furthermore, it is an executive council member of the China Museums Association, the chairman unit of the Committee for Musical Instruments, and the president unit of both the Hubei Museums Association and Hubei Provincial Society of Arts and Crafts.