The museum has a collection of over 120,000 pieces, includingbronze,ceramics,calligraphy,furniture,jades, ancientcoins,paintings,seals,sculptures, minority art and foreign art. The Shanghai Museum houses several items of national importance, including one of three extant specimens of a "transparent" bronze mirror from theHan Dynasty.

The Museum has an important collection of ancient coins from the Silk Road, donated since 1991 by Linda and Roger Doo. The collection contains 1783 pieces from the Greeks to the Mongol Empire.

It has eleven galleries and three special temporary exhibition halls. The permanent galleries are:

Gallery of Chinese Ancient Bronze
As a symbol of China's ancient civilization and cultural heritage, bronze artifacts have been regarded as important treasures ever since the Shang and Zhou dynasties. When you step into the gallery, you will feel being surrounded by a mysterious and artistic atmosphere in which ancient bronze artifacts are displayed in plain and archaic wooden showcases and set off by different levels of illumination. More than 400 pieces of exquisite bronzes are shown within the space of 1,200 square meters, providing an overall perspective of bronze art in ancient China.

Gallery of Chinese Ceramics
The collection of ancient ceramics is another unique feature of Shanghai Museum. Masterpieces of pottery and porcelain selected from different periods are displayed in a green background, giving a relaxed and harmonious atmosphere. More than 500 fine specimens are shown in the space of 1,300 square meters, including painted and gray pottery of the Neolithic period, proto-type celadon of the Shang, the Zhou, the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States periods, fine celadon of the Eastern Han and famous polychrome-glazed pottery of the Tang dynasty. During the Liao, the Song, and the Jin dynasties, celadon kilns emerged in various places of China. Green, white, black-glazed ware and porcelain with painted designs became popular, thus a wide variety of porcelain blossomed in lots of color. Throughout the Yuan, the Ming and the Qing dynasties, Jingdezhen was the center of porcelain production and its exquisite products became well known all over the world.

Gallery of Chinese Paintings
Chinese paintings have a long tradition and a unique style. This has been an art by using " dots and lines" as expressive skill and brush, inkstick, silk and Xuan paper as main implements. Taking a form of traditional Chinese architecture, the gallery is arranged into long corridor-like showcases with large panels of glass, upturned eaves and low banisters. In order to protect ancient paintings and provide audiences with a clear view as well, a sensitive lighting system is installed. More than 120 masterpieces ranging from the Tang dynasty to the present are shown within the space of 1,200 square meters. The exhibition fully displays age-old tradition and profound foundation of Chinese paintings.

Gallery of Chinese Calligraphy
Calligraphy is a writing art to express Chinese characters by using brush. With an age-old tradition, Chinese calligraphy originated in the Shang dynasty and matured in the Eastern Zhou period. During the Jin, the Sui and the Tang dynasties, a number of distinguished calligraphers emerged and calligraphic exploration were elaborated. Based on the achievements of previous periods, new skills and updated artistic conception were created during the Song, the Yuan and the Ming dynasties, inspiring diversified calligraphic schools and styles. During the Qing dynasty, calligraphers absorbed their predecessors' merit, advocated model and inscription on ancient steles especially those of the Northern Wei, and created fresh styles. The masterpieces of different periods are displayed chronologically to reveal a developmental trajectory of Chinese calligraphy. Perfect combination of showcases, sensitive illumination and exhibits makes this gallery full of brilliant taste of calligraphic art.


Gallery of Chinese Ancient Sculpture
Using gold, red and black as three basic colors, the gallery is full of a warm and serious atmosphere. Within a space of 640 square meters, more than 120 specimens are put either in shrine-like showcases separated by lotus-petal shaped partitions or on open freestanding pedestals. This special design and arrangement will give audience a true feeling of walking in grottos or temples. The exhibits, dating between the Warring States period and the Ming dynasty, reveal artistic styles of Chinese sculpture in different periods. The most attractive sculptures are Buddha statues with different styles, such as simple and delicate Buddha statues of the Northern Wei, elegant and vivid Buddha statues of the Northern Qi and the Sui dynasties, gorgeously shaped and full-bodied Buddha statues of the Tang dynasty, and novel and secular Bodhisattva of the Song dynasty. Audience could watch a process how Buddhism, a foreign culture, was merging into Chinese traditional culture.

Gallery of Chinese Ancient Jade
Using gold, red and black as three basic colors, the gallery is full of a warm and serious atmosphere. Within a space of 640 square meters, more than 120 specimens are put either in shrine-like showcases separated by lotus-petal shaped partitions or on open freestanding pedestals. This special design and arrangement will give audience a true feeling of walking in grottos or temples. The exhibits, dating between the Warring States period and the Ming dynasty, reveal artistic styles of Chinese sculpture in different periods. The most attractive sculptures are Buddha statues with different styles, such as simple and delicate Buddha statues of the Northern Wei, elegant and vivid Buddha statues of the Northern Qi and the Sui dynasties, gorgeously shaped and full-bodied Buddha statues of the Tang dynasty, and novel and secular Bodhisattva of the Song dynasty. Audience could watch a process how Buddhism, a foreign culture, was merging into Chinese traditional culture.

Gallery of Chinese Coins
China is among the earliest countries in the world to use coins. Taking the advantage of its super collection, Shanghai Museum provides a historical overview of Chinese currency in this 730 square meters gallery. More than 7,000 specimens show a historical development of ancient coins and economic exchange between ancient China and foreign countries. The light grayish background sets off primitive simplicity of these ancient coins. In addition, there is a special show room for ancient central-Asian coins from Silk Road generously donated by Mr and Ms. Roger and Linda Doo.

Chinaese Ming and Qing Furniture Gallery
Classical Chinese furniture has a long history of development and reached its climax during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Although furniture between the Ming and the Qing differed apparently in style, both of them are artistically successful. In this 700 square meters gallery, you will feel like walking in a traditional Chinese house with a garden behind grilled windows. Among more than 100 pieces of furniture, there are the Ming furniture that were simply in style but elegantly prepared or tightly formed by tenon- mortise technique and the Qing furniture that were imposingly produced and elaborately decorated. In addition, there is an exhibition of a study room and a drawing room, giving a vivid presentation of utilization.

Gallery of Chinese Seals
This is the first gallery specifically designed for displaying Chinese seals in the world. By using many advanced techniques, specimens are displayed in showcases with different levels and heights in coordination with supplementary exhibition. In a space of 380 square meters, more than 500 masterpieces between the Western Zhou and the Qing dynasty are selected from the collection over ten thousand pieces in Shanghai Museum. The display fully illustrates a long history of Chinese seals and diversified styles in different historical periods.

Chinaese Minority Nationalities'sArt Gallery
Glorious Chinese civilization has been created by various nationalities. Due to dive- rsified social and ecological environments, different nationalities in China have produced their rich and colorful cultures. Being set off by a warm background, various handicrafts of different nationalities provide audience with a happy and harmonious atmosphere within an artistic garden of Chinese nationalities. More than 600 handicrafts are shown in this 700 square meters gallery, including costumes, textiles, embroideries, metal wares, sculpture, pottery, lacquer wares, cane and bamboo plaited vessels as well as wooden masks.