Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution

Last updated
Military Museum of the
Chinese People's Revolution
中国人民革命军事博物馆
Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution 201709.jpg
Main entrance of Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution
Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution
Location Beijing, China
Coordinates 39°54′27.61″N116°19′03.80″E / 39.9076694°N 116.3177222°E / 39.9076694; 116.3177222
Website eng.jb.mil.cn
Aircraft in Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution 20170919.jpg
Aircraft in Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution

The Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution [1] is the national military museum of China, located in Haidian, Beijing. The collection mainly focuses on military equipments and cultural relics reflecting the military history of the People's Liberation Army, ancient and modern Chinese military history, and world military history. [2]

Contents

History

The museum's main hall before 2010s reconstruction, with a Dongfeng 1 (SS-2) missile in the center Beijing Military Museum Main Hall.jpg
The museum's main hall before 2010s reconstruction, with a Dongfeng 1 (SS-2) missile in the center

The museum was one of the Ten Great Buildings erected in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, construction of the museum began in October 1958 and ended in August 1960, when it was inaugurated. [3] On March 12, 1959, approved by the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, it was officially named the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution (hereinafter referred to as the Military Museum). Chairman Mao Zedong inscribed the name of the museum, and on August 1, 1960, officially opened to the public on the Armed Forces Day. [4]

The museum was comprehensively reconstructed in 2012-2017 and reopened with a larger central hall that hosts a display of aircraft and missiles. The reconstruction allowed for a considerable expansion of the exhibition surface, from 60,000 [5] to 159,000 square meters. [6]

Collections

The museum's four floors include ten halls, the largest of which is the Hall of Weapons. The Hall's extensive holdings of antiquated weaponry showcase domestic and foreign weapons, including blades, small arms, artillery, tanks, armored personnel carriers, anti-air weaponry, jet fighters, rockets and rocket launchers, and cruise missiles. Foreign weapons include Soviet tanks purchased or donated during the 1950s and 1960s, Japanese weaponry captured during the Second Sino-Japanese War, American weaponry captured from the Kuomintang during the Chinese Civil War and from UN forces during the Korean War. In addition, the Hall of Weapons displays equipment from China's space program, such as satellites and a two-seat orbital capsule.

With two exceptions, the other halls are largely historical exhibits, combining plaster sculptures, maps, paintings, artifacts, movies, and plaques (in Chinese, with select ones translated into English). The other nine halls include:

Equipment, Planes, Tanks, Artillery and various small arms on display

Planes

Tanks And Armoured vehicles

Missiles

See also

Notes

  1. "Military Museum of Chinese People's Revolution". eng.jb.mil.cn. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
  2. "军博简介". www.jb.mil.cn. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
  3. "中国人民革命军事博物馆". global.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  4. ""50多岁"的中国人民革命军事博物馆完成第一次改扩建-中国新闻网". www.chinanews.com.cn. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  5. "China People's Revolution Military Museum". china.org.cn. 2003.
  6. "The Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution". China Services Info. 30 August 2018.
  7. "M46 heavy tank captured by CCF". www.koreanwaronline.com. Retrieved 2024-02-04.


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