chongqing

chongqing was originally the capital of the state of ba over three thousand years. the place was called jiangzhou during the western han dynasty. later on, it was changed into yuzhou during the sui, tang, wudai and northern song dynasties. before long, the place was renamed once more as gongzhou for a short period of time. by the time when zhao dun was confered the title of prince gong. he stayed in this place. for the sake of celebration, he renamed the city of gongzhou as chongqing (double celebration) immediately after he had ascended the throne. this name remains all the same over the previous eight hundred years, though the scope of this city had sometimes had a little change.

chongqing is subtropical, hot in summer. hence it had got the name "furnace city."meanwhile. chongqing has also got the renown as a "mountain city" because of its buildings on hillsides and mountains surrounding the city. the climate in chongqing is often cloudy and misty. so it is also called "the fog city". moreover, since the average annual precipitation is about l, 000 millimeters, the scene of raining in night appears from time to time.

chongqing has a couple of names. houses and apartment blocks built halt way up mountains from an undulating pattern, chongqing is, therefore, called "the mountaincity." standing at the confluence of the jialing and yangtze rivers, it is thus called "the rivertown" as well. surrounded by mountains. the city is subtropical, hot in summer. hence it is sometimes called "the furnance. the average annual precipitation is about l, 000 millimetres and most of them concentrated on the nights from may to october. as a result, there emerged such a much quoted line: "night raining on the ba mountains." owing to the plenty of raining, the air humidity is often as high as over 80 percent, so the weather conditions are often cloudy and misty. in such a case, the place is also known as "a city of fog."

chongqingmuseum

situated on the top of the pipashanmountain, chongqingmuseum was founded in 1951 as the southwestmuseum and was renamed as chongqingmuseum in 1955. covering a construction area of 5500m2, the museum has over 40 exhibiting halls with about 100,000 relics, which spans over 3000 years history from the ancient kingdom of ba and the near-mythical three kingdoms period to world war two and the chinese revolution.

these antiquities mainly include bronze ware, pottery, paintings, porcelain, sculptures, etc, of which relics of ba-shu culture, painting of various dynasties, terra-cotta and sculpture of the han dynasty and pottery and porcelain are most famous.

relics of the ba-shu culture: in this section, ba-shu bronze weapons are most noticeable. exquisitely made and elaborately engraved, these weapons, especially "round top axe" and "spear with two rings", all express distinctive local features of the ba culture.

terra cottas and sculptures of the han dynasty: these exhibits reflect the social life of the han dynasty with their vivid appearances and designs. various pottery figures, including storytellers, singers and dancers, musicians, cooks, etc, are meticulously carved with lifelike expressions and the surface carving of picture bricks and stones describe incisively people's yearning for a happy life.

pottery and porcelain: sichuan kilns have special local characteristics. in this section, tang tri-colour pottery products of the qiong kiln are the most famous. also, purple clay ware (zisha) of the ming and qing dynasties are also exhibited in this section.

the museum also has systematic collections of traditional cultural relics including: pictures and calligraphies of masters since the song dynasty.