Shanghai's leap from racecourse to museum

By RICHARD GATE

The superb Shanghai Museum is as good a reason as any to go to China at present. On the site of Shanghai's old racecourse, it covers the entire field of China's artistic genius through the centuries. Exhibition halls are devoted to ceramics, sculpture, bronzes, painting, calligraphy, jade, coins and furniture.

The museum building is unique - a round top sitting on a square base, symbolising the ancient Chinese belief that the Earth is square and heaven is round.

The exhibits are displayed beautifully. There are no windows in any of the galleries, and artificial lighting creates shadows that emphasise the shape of the objects.

Not surprisingly, the largest exhibition is devoted to ceramics, with examples of the proto-porcelain from the 16th to the 11th century BC; the polychrome work of the Tang dynasty (AD518-907); the celadon and white work of the Song dynasty (960-1279); the blue on white of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and the various styles of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).

The Chinese bronzeware on show is even more interesting as the pieces date from the 21st to the fifth century BC and are mostly in amazingly good condition. The museum has a complete set of "Zhong", or bronze bells, from the ninth century BC, which play an eerie tune of which visitors become aware as they approach.

The exhibition of Chinese sculpture is equally absorbing, arrestingly displayed against coloured backgrounds and illuminated by carefully designed lighting. Most is Buddhist-inspired but there are some fascinating genre figures from the pre-Buddhist period and later dynasties.

In the gallery devoted to furniture, only pieces from the Ming and Qing dynasties are on display. Of these, the Ming furniture is undoubtedly the finer, with slim lines and elegant shapes.