Hainan Memories in a Museum — From Artifact Exhibits to the Classical "Natural History" Tradition hainan-museum-and-classical-antiquarianism_en

 

Museums and Memory: The Classical Chinese Tradition of Antiquarianism

The Hainan Provincial Museum, taking as its guiding thread Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang's phrase "A Wondrous Land in the Southern Seas" (Nanming Qidian), unfolds the millennia-long cultural history of Hainan Island through nine permanent exhibitions. From artifacts salvaged from shipwrecks along the Maritime Silk Road, to Hainan agarwood renowned since the Song dynasty, to the rare Huanghuali rosewood with its "ghost eye" grain patterns — each exhibit serves as an envoy of time, presenting the past of this tropical island to the world. Located in Haikou, this museum is not only the best window into Hainan's culture but also continues the essence of the classical Chinese "natural history" (bowu) tradition. Stepping into the Hainan Provincial Museum is like stepping into a living history of Hainan civilization.

China's classical "natural history" (bowu) tradition runs deep. From the magnificent and fantastical accounts of山川 and products in the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing) to Shen Kuo's observations and records of natural phenomena in his Dream Pool Essays (Mengxi Bitan) during the Northern Song, the ancient Chinese "study of things" (bowu zhi xue) was consistently permeated by a spirit of "investigating things to attain understanding" (ge wu zhi zhi) — comprehending the universal principle through the knowledge of all things. Cao Zhao's Essential Criteria of Antiquities (Gegu Yaolun) from the Ming dynasty systematically discussed methods for authenticating ancient artifacts, marking the transition from the classical "natural history" tradition to modern "antiquarianism." The exhibition approach of the Hainan Provincial Museum, structured around the theme of "A Wondrous Land in the Southern Seas," is a modern interpretation of this traditional bowu spirit: through the connections between objects, it constructs a complete knowledge genealogy of Hainan Island.

💡 Summary

From the mythical geography of the Classic of Mountains and Seas to the nine exhibitions of the Hainan Provincial Museum, China's "natural history" tradition has evolved from imagination to empirical evidence, from the private collections of literati to public cultural spaces. A museum is not merely a venue for displaying artifacts — it is a vessel of national memory and a space for the reconstruction of cultural identity. At the Hainan Provincial Museum, every artifact speaks to us of the vicissitudes and glories of this "Wondrous Land in the Southern Seas" — together they form the collective memory of Hainan Island and provide a vivid contemporary example for understanding China's classical "natural history" tradition.

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