The Military Museum of the Chinese
People's Revolution is China's first comprehensive museum of military history.
Located at Fuxing Road of Beijing, the museum was completed in July 1959 and
opened to the public on August 1, 1960.
The museum is composed of two four-storeyed
wings and a seven-storeyed main building topped with the gilded emblem of the
Chinese People's Liberation Army. The museum has a construction area of about
60,000 square meters, of which more than 42,000 square meters is for exhibition
halls.
The museum has a collection of over 120,
000 ancient, modern and contemporary military relics, including daggers of
the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC), the Huns'iron swords of the Eastern Han
Dynasty (25-220), cannons used in the Opium War, the seal of Zuo Zongtang (one
of the important warlords in the early years of the Republic of China), a
telescope used by Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, and a pistol used by Zhu De during
the Nanchang Uprising, etc. Besides, the museum has over 45,000-odd historical
photographs, 67,000 documents and more than 4,500 artworks.
There are nine exhibition halls. The
exhibition halls of the Second Civil Revolutionary War (1927-1937), the War of
Resistance Against Japan (1937-1945) and the Third Civil Revolutionary War
(1945-1949) depict the 28 years from the founding of the Chinese Communist Party
in 1921 to the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The
exhibition hall of the Protection of Socialist Revolution and Construction
introduces how the People's Liberation Army safeguarded the national security,
safeguarded and took part in the socialist construction, and carried out
self-development and modernization. The exhibition hall of the War to Resist US
Aggression and Aid Korea displays the history of Chinese People's Volunteers
fighting against the US aggression shoulder to shoulder with the Korean army
from October 1950 to July 1953. The exhibition hall of arms displays armament
and booties of the People's Liberation Army and Chinese People's Volunteers, and
some ancient arms.
The other three exhibition halls set up
after the year 1983 include sections of the First Revolutionary Civil War
(1924-1927), Ancient Wars and Modern Wars.
The museum has launched exhibitions such as
the Exhibition of Learning from Comrade Lei Feng, the Exhibition of
Contributions of Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, He Long, Chen Yi and Luo Ronghuan, the
Exhibition of Armament Technological Renovation of the Whole Army, and the
Exhibition of Fine Arts Works of the Whole Army, etc.
Publications of the museum include Wall
Maps of Chinese Revolutionary Army, Selected Maps of Chinese
Revolutionary Wars, Artwork Florilegium of the Military Museum, and
War of Resistance Against Japan, etc.