Akademik

The National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature is the largest state-level literature museum in China. Set up in 1985 at the initiative of noted writer Ba Jin and opened to the public in May 2000 in Beijing, the museum gives an in-depth account of the evolution of modern Chinese literature from the late Qing through the 1970s, with a focus on pre-1949 literature. In an area of 15,000 square metres, the museum holds about 300,000 manuscripts, translations, letters, diaries, photos, audio and videotapes, relics, books, magazines and newspaper clippings. In addition to an archive and a research library, the museum has three permanent displays.

The first is a chronological presentation of the most significant events in China’s literature since the late Qing, including single authors and their central works as well as various literary circles. The second highlights the accomplishment of several distinguished writers like Lu Xun (1881–1936), Lao She (1899–1966), and Bing Xin (1900–99), while the third represents literary collections and other items of interest that have been donated by famous Chinese writers over the past fifteen years. It also features reproduced studies and personal items of various writers. Although the museum’s original mission to highlight the horrors of the Cultural Revolution has not been met, it still holds one of the largest and finest literature collections in the country and is a central place of research for those interested in pre-1949 Chinese literature.

See also: museums