Shanghai Wood Culture Museum

The Shanghai Wood Culture Museum covers an area of over 13,000 square meters and is composed of six major sections: the Wood Civilization Exhibition Hall, the Ancient Wood Culture Hall, the National Arts and Crafts Master Hall, the Dream of the Red Chamber Culture and Art Hall, the Craftsman Classroom, and the Temporary Exhibition Center. The museum includes a conference center, an experience area, a gift sales area, and a coffee and dining area as part of its public supporting facilities. It is a national AAA-level tourist attraction, a model science popularization venue in Shanghai, a consumer education base for redwood by the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission, a publicity base for endangered timber by the State Forestry Administration, and a labor education practice base outside school for Baoshan District’s ‘Learning by Doing’ program. The museum integrates famous wood science popularization, wood carving art, furniture architecture, and cultural dissemination, organically combining the original ecological famous wood culture with wood carving craftsmanship, guiding a value system that respects and loves wood, utilizes wood to its fullest potential, and promotes sustainable development. The Wood Civilization Exhibition Hall begins with the opening chapter of ‘great virtue carries all things’, where we respect trees as we respect elders, learning to be grateful for the selfless dedication of wood with a solemn and sacred heart. The middle chapter ‘wood carries the way’ uses home furnishings, mortise and tenon joints, and architectural ideas as carriers to reflect the ‘order’, ‘etiquette’, and ‘inclusiveness’ in excellent traditional philosophy. We warn against the self-destructive behavior of indiscriminate logging and advocate for the rational use of resources to form a value system of sustainable development and use, which is also the meaning of our respect for wood. The final chapter showcases redwood science popularization, allowing everyone to recognize, understand, and identify famous woods, integrating education with entertainment, promoting social development with culture, and bringing culture into thousands of households. In the Ancient Wood Culture Hall, we can appreciate the shape, lines, textures, colors, and the stories hidden behind them from different sides, angles, and distances; we can also feel the different styles and artistic conceptions it conveys as a whole, gaining a fresh aesthetic experience and understanding the unique artistic ideas and unrestrained ideological content that ancient wood wants to express. The Arts and Crafts Master Hall gathers the classic works of forty-eight national arts and crafts masters. Their works, with different styles, are dazzling and breathtaking, excelling in Buddha, human, landscape, flower, bird, insect, and grass carvings. Zhejiang Dongyang wood carving, Yueqing boxwood carving, Chaozhou gold lacquer wood carving, Fujian longan wood carving, and other different wood carving schools are displayed in the hall, highlighting the exquisite carving skills of the representative masters of each school. Their works are an exhaustive interpretation of nature, a sublimation of cultivation, and a perfect fusion of quick wit and spirituality. The pinnacle work – The Dream of the Red Chamber Culture and Art Hall displays cultural and artistic furniture, which took 15 years to carve and create, led by Lu Guangzheng, Feng Wentu, Gao Gongbo, and Lin Xueshan, four master craftsmen from the Asia-Pacific region, who were responsible for the overall creative concept and the creation of key large components, inheriting the essence of Chinese national quintessence, and integrating famous wood, famous artists, and famous works into one.
Using Indian old sandalwood collected globally for 25 years, the long scroll of Dream of the Red Chamber characters by famous Chinese painter Dai Dunbang was crafted by Lu Guangzheng, a master of Asia-Pacific and arts and crafts. It took five years to create a set of precious full-carving art furniture. There is only one set in the world! It can be described as an astonishing and peak masterpiece. In order to enhance the educational function of the museum and increase interactivity and experience, we have developed a series of courses called ‘The Evolution of Wood’, which are divided into many project sections such as wood and furniture, wood and music, wood and sports. Combining theory with hands-on activities, we abandon boring simple classes and enhance the experience of the handicraft part. There is also a special craftsman classroom for course activities and team building. The temporary exhibition center regularly holds special exhibitions. Various arts and ideas collide here through works. So far, more than 100 exhibition activities such as the Shanghai Citizen’s Handicraft Competition, the exhibition of Ming and Qing characteristic furniture, and the exhibition of high-quality agarwood have been held. Opening hours: From January 1st to February 9th, open from Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00 – 17:00; closed all day on Monday from January 1st to February 9th; closed all day from February 10th to February 17th; from February 18th to December 31st, open from Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00 – 17:00; closed all day on Monday from February 18th to December 31st; open from 9:00 to 17:00 on New Year’s Day, Labor Day, Dragon Boat Festival and National Day.

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