2010  Preface 

    Time flies in a flash.
     Here comes the time for summarizing our work. As usual, the assiduous work performed by Zhejiang Provincial Museum (ZPM) members is condensed in several thin sheets of paper, however, these several thin sheets can never fully display the delight of seeing the broken relics restored, can never show the fragrance of manuscript papers finished in lonely studies, can never represent the soft and elegant light shed on the cultural relics in display cases, and can never manifest the beautiful tunes from the ancient musical instruments enjoyed by the audience in the concerts. There are too many days and nights in painstaking work, too many figures in silent dedication that have contributed to the construction of ZPM.
     ZPM members, in great ambition, compiled a catalogue of the history of ZPM to celebrate the 80th birthday of ZPM and to commemorate its vicissitudes in those eventful years. However, we are disappointed to find that many images and materials of key events are lost in history; only a few words of fragments are left. When Traces of Time—Records of 80 Years of Zhejiang Provincial Museum came to us, we felt excited, but more, we felt the hardship of compiling the book and the disappointment of loss and incompleteness.
     It is undoubtedly a wise act to compile the yearbook of ZPM, not only for summarizing our work in a year, but for preserving memory for the later generations. It is our sincere hope that this yearbook keeps record of the industrious work and abundant fruits and provides an answer for the society to comment on our work.
     With diligence of several generations, ZPM has developed into a comprehensive museum devoted to humanities and sciences with strong local flavors integrating relics collection, academic researches, displays and publicity, not only ranking the top in Zhejiang Province, but listed into “The First-rate National Museum” and “The State-Level Museum Jointly Cultivated by the Central and Local Governments” enjoying some renown in the world. ZPM currently has 350 members and 100,000-odd cultural relics and materials. In a total floor space of over 40,000 m2, ZPM, with Gushan Branch, Wulin Branch, Gudang Cultural Relics Protection and Scientific Research Base, Memorial Hall of Huang Binhong and Former Residence of Sha Menghai under its administration, has had museum softwares and hardwares ranking the top in China.
     2010 sees the 81st anniversary of the founding of ZPM. In 2009, Wulin Branch established in the downtown of Hangzhou added to the space of exhibition; the title of “The State-Level Museum Jointly Cultivated by the Central and Local Governments” enabled ZPM to get financial assistance from the central government, which all laid sold foundation for ZPM to provide better exhibitions to the public. ZPM enjoyed a year of achievement in 2010 in cultural relics protection, academic researches, exhibitions, publicity and education. In particular, ZPM has successfully completed the construction of information database of precious cultural relics appointed by Zhejiang Bureau of Cultural Heritage, finished the renovation project of Wenlan Pavilion (Imperial Library), the key national protection unit and held exhibitions of “National Treasures”, “Age of Bronze”, “Heavenly Treasures from the Earth”, “Silk Road” and “Elites of the Century”, etc.
     Looking ahead, ZPM will pioneer forward with great diligence and meticulous work, scoring greater achievements in the years to come.

     Chen Hao
Director of ZPM
January 1, 2011