Bringing history to life

Liu Yang, director of the museum and antique department of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, says that, last year, a further 382 museums were built, taking China's total to 6,565 museums, which between them welcomed 587 million visits in 2022.

"Museums should shoulder responsibility and undertake the mission to help spread traditional culture and build a modern civilization. We have to strive to make museums more interesting," says Liu, adding that the nation has implemented many policies to support museums in recent years.

"The role of museums in China has changed. Decades ago, museums positioned themselves as institutions for collection and protection. Now, they play the role of cultural service providers for the public. There are lots of good examples of museums providing innovative and interesting services," says Liu Shuguang, chairman of China Museum Association.

Henan Museum is such an example, providing diversified cultural services to attract visitors and establishing itself as a rising star in the museum firmament in recent years.

In 2021, a dance program, Night Banquet in Tang Dynasty Palace, performed and filmed at Henan Museum, went viral on the internet. It brought the institution widespread attention. The female dancers were dressed in Tang Dynasty (618-907) costumes and wearing makeup with typical characteristics of that period — inspired by glazed pottery figurines at the museum.

Now, it's common to see visitors, both kids and adults, wearing the same style in the museum. The service is provided by Henan Museum. It regularly offers free classes to teach people about various Chinese traditional costumes and makeup, even offering costume and makeup services for visitors to experience.

Another popular program at the museum is its concert, which sees musicians play ancient pieces of music with traditional instruments that are replicas of antiques collected by the museum — some of which were used more than 2,000 years ago. The clothing styles of the musicians are in line with the dynasties during which their specific instruments were originally played.

"The idea of the concert came about from the antique musical instruments in our museum collection. To display them in an exhibition is not as interesting as playing them and bringing them to life," says Ma Xiaolin, director of Henan Museum. He adds that the orchestra is often invited by big TV stations and cultural institutions to perform for a wider audience.

On the night of Dragon Boat Festival in June, the museum held a night gala that invited visitors to experience the lives of ancient people. It presented a runway show of ancient costumes set to music played by the orchestra. There was also tea drinking in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) style and food tasting of delicacies from that era.