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About Shaanxi History Museum Qin-Han Branch
Shaanxi History Museum Qin-Han Branch (陕西历史博物馆秦汉馆) is a branch of the Shaanxi History Museum in Yaodian subdistrict (窑店街道), Weicheng District (渭城区), Xianyang (咸阳), inside the Qinhan New City (秦汉新城) of the Xixian New Area (西咸新区). Xi'an Daily describes it as the only museum in China devoted to showing the origins, development and contributions of Qin and Han civilization.
The building started out as a new home for the Xianyang Museum (咸阳博物馆). Ground was broken on 22 November 2012 below the Qin ruins plateau at Yaodian, and planned names over the years included Xianyang Bowuyuan (咸阳博物院), Qin Xianyang Bowuyuan (秦咸阳博物院) and Qin Culture Bowuyuan (秦文化博物院). In January 2017, while the museum was still being built, the Xixian New Area was handed to Xi'an to administer; this left the museum's ownership unresolved, and once finished it stood unopened for years. In 2022 it was transferred to the Shaanxi History Museum. It opened on a trial basis in December 2023 and formally on 18 May 2024; the National Cultural Heritage Administration had picked it as China's main venue for International Museum Day that year.
The architect Zhang Jinqiu (张锦秋) led the design. Seven separate buildings follow the pattern of the Big Dipper and are linked by raised, glass-walled corridors at different heights, a reference to the elevated walkways between Qin palace buildings. Five of them, representing the Dipper stars Yaoguang, Kaiyang, Yuheng, Tianquan and Tianji, are arranged symmetrically; Yuheng, in the principal position, stands for Qin, and the other six buildings for the six rival states. The galleries sit inside a raised platform, with the public halls built on top in the manner of Qin and Han terrace palaces. South of the museum a mist-fountain pool represents the Milky Way, crossed by a long bridge from the entrance plaza to the second-floor terrace; a pair of que gate towers (双阙) faces the main building, and the grounds around it are landscaped as a yuanyou (苑囿), the early form of the Chinese classical garden.
The permanent exhibition, 'All Under Heaven as One' (天下同一), a Qin-Han civilization theme show, fills two floors and 3,530 square metres with 732 objects or sets along a 1,194-metre route. It is built around the new institutions of the period, from politics and the economy to thought, culture, technology and exchange. Pieces singled out by Xi'an Daily include the Du tiger tally (杜虎符), a gold mythical beast and painted pottery cavalry figures. The museum forms part of the Great Qin Civilization Park (大秦文明园) and neighbours the Qin Xianyang City National Archaeological Site Park and the belt of Western Han imperial tombs.
What to look for
- 'All Under Heaven as One' (天下同一), the core Qin-Han exhibition of 732 objects or sets
- The Du tiger tally (杜虎符), one of the pieces Xi'an Daily singles out in the core exhibition
- A gold mythical beast and painted pottery cavalry figures
- Seven buildings laid out as the Big Dipper, joined by glass-walled raised corridors
- The mist-fountain 'Milky Way' pool and long entrance bridge to the upper terrace
- The paired que gate towers at the entrance
Location & getting there
Getting to Shaanxi History Museum Qin-Han Branch
- Search for 陕西历史博物馆秦汉馆 with 咸阳市 and 渭城区.
Find Shaanxi History Museum Qin-Han Branch
陕西历史博物馆秦汉馆 · 渭城区
No reliable map pin yet: search by the Chinese name.
Sources & visit information
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-23. Opening hours, admission and access arrangements are not covered; confirm current visitor information with the site.
Some facts checked against Wikipedia contributors, "陕西历史博物馆秦汉馆" · CC BY-SA 4.0.
Image credits & notes (1)
- The south gate of the Qin-Han branch of the Shaanxi History Museum, Weicheng District, Xianyang, before its official opening · 陕西历史博物馆秦汉馆南门（开放前），咸阳市渭城区Photo: Baomi · CC BY-SA 4.0 · taken 2023-06-10Resized for the web; the photo itself has not been edited. Thumbnails may show a cropped view.
