Time capsule of a country's past

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The National Museum of China dates back to July 9, 1912, when the Kuomintang government's former education minister Cai Yuanpei and his subordinates established the National Peking Museum of History, the country's first public museum.

The temporary venue for the museum was Guo Zi Jian, former Imperial Academy of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The museum occupied 210 rooms of the old academy, with a floor space less than 10,000 square meters.

The exhibits in its collection were later transferred to the compound near the Meridian Gate in 1918 and relocated in 1950 to the Hall of Military Valor - both in the Forbidden City.

The museum was originally intended "to offer the vast populace an essential complementary education at schools and colleges", in Cai's words.

But the physical museum wasn't built until 1959, and in a different form.

Former chairman Mao Zedong decided at an August 1958 Politburo meeting in Beidaihe, Hebei province, to build the museum at its current location.

Some experts, including Lu Zhangshen, now the museum's director, believe the building was located east of Tian'anmen Square to mirror the Great Hall of the People to the west.

Traditional beliefs hold the left (east) side of the square, situated to the south of the Tian'anmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace) Rostrum of the Forbidden City, should be reserved for ancestors, while the right (west) side is for ceremonial activities concerned with State and foreign affairs.

It was among the symbols of socialism constructed when the former Soviet Union exerted great influence in China. It was constructed within a year.

The old buildings actually housed two museums constructed at the same time - the National Museum of Chinese History and the National Museum of Chinese Revolution.

The National Museum, Great Hall of the People, Military Museum and Agricultural Exhibition Center were all built to commemorate the 10th anniversary of New China's founding.

Building materials were brought in from around the country, and architects and engineers from the Soviet Union were involved.

The completed structures were hailed as "landmark achievements of socialist society construction" and were among Beijing's "top 10 monumental buildings".

The National Museum of Chinese History and the National Museum of Chinese Revolution merged into the National Museum of China in 2003.