Early in the morning, I arrived at the Museum of the Southern Yue Royal Mausoleum which was adjacent to Yuexiu Park. Immediately what struck me was the contemporary design of the museum. With my Beijing student card, I received a student rate of RMB $5 over the regular RMB $12.
The first building of the museum housed a good collection of Han-Tang dynasty pieces. Being early, I was able to enjoy the displays all to myself. I was impressed by a large collection of some 200 ceramic pillows on permanent display. The second part of the museum was the actual mausoleum. The exhibit was such that visitors could walk around inside the tomb itself and explore its various chambers. I was surprised at how small it was...and I did feel a little strange reading descriptions which pointed out where the bodies were found. The third building of the museum showcased the actual pieces found within the mausoleum. It struck me that what I was seeing was none other than the very pieces I had studied in my Chinese Art History class with Professor Lingley at UH. I was able to witness, in person, a particular piece which had fascinated me from the textbook: a bodysuit completely made out of jade, sewn together with strands of red silk. Though the bodies in the tombs had long decayed and virtually turned to dust, the jade suit remained intact. Thinking of it now however, the jade looked in awfully good condition for its age. The King of Wen, inhabitor of the "suit", was buried with many jade bi as well and I was able to see the largest jade bi disc found intact in all of China on display. I was also able to see iron swords which looked more like tree bark now and gold and jade seals used by the King and his 4 wives (two of which were named Lady Right and Lady Left). To my surprise, three Japanese tour groups came through the museum while I was there. I had no idea the Japanese took tours to Guangzhou.
I really enjoyed visiting this museum and found it to be the highlight of this trip to Guangzhou. The unfortunate thing I find at most museums in China though is that, even though photos are prohibited, museum staff don't really care. People were taking lots of flash photography.
I heard from my roommate that another one is the making right at this moment and is being excavated just off of Beijing Lu.
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