Chinease Museaum, Finally

Sunday, September 12, 2010

For a good while now I have been planning to go to the Chinese Museaum. However for one reason or another this has not happened. Well now it has, and here it goes.

Woke up and got on the train to the city. After some map reading and asking for directions I finally found the museum (now remember i have been there already..... why did i not know where it was then...).

But here it is!

Concession was about 5$ which was fantastic. The first level contained the entrance desk and free entrance to their little shop (and i mean little, just a couple of paper fans and coins) along with the history of chinese in melbourne. The main level also had part of the museum dedicated to the Dragon.

This is the Millennium Dragon. It was meant to replace Dai Loong the Big Dragon which needed to retire. The Millennium Dragon is the worlds largest processional dragon. He leaves the Museum twice a year, for the Chinatown Chinese New Year Festival and MOOMBA festivities.
If I remember correctly, the practice of making dragons had died out. No one had made one for 2 generations until melbourne wanted one and then sent back to china to get one made. The grandson of a dragon maker agreed to give it a go so he worked it out and made the Millennium. If it wasnt for him and melbourne then dragon making might have completely died out.

This is the old dragon they used for parades before the Millennium Dragon was created. Its called Dai Loong the Big Dragon and its very old and run down looking. Definitively good they got a new one!

These are the props used during the parade. It includes Little Dragons, fish, crabs, dolphins, other random animals and weapons.







Lower ground: Lower level has a cool thing on chinese immigration during the Australia gold rush time. Its amazing how boys would leave their families, jump on a boat, and go to work in a new country, looking for gold to bring money back to their families in a few months time. They didnt expect to stay, and some of them went back. Others stayed longer due because they wanted to become richer in the mines. You werent allowed to take pictures so I respected their wishes. Here is what the pamphlet says about the exhibit: "through sound, smell and movement, the adventures of Chinese gold-seekers on Australias 19th century goldfields are recreated using contemporary technology, A deep, winding mine carved from the soil below the Museum takes visitors from one real life scene to another. From a sailing ship on the high seas to Cantonese food in Ah Changs cook shop. Seek your fortune in the temple of Guan Gong, be entertained by Cantonese opera in a goldfields tent theater and hear differs doubling their winnings in a Chinese lottery."

level 1: Level one had a changing exhibit of Chinese art. The art was by a couple of different people and consisted of photographs. They were on sale as well. The pictures were from the orient and were really nice. I felt bad taking photos of it so I didnt. However their was a piece of work there that seemed like a permanent exhibit so I grabbed a shot of it. Its a... well i dont rightly know what it is but it has wonderful carvings on it.

Level 2: Level 2 is the "Bridge of Memories Exhibition".
"The incredible ethnic diversity of Australias 21st century population of 22 million makes it one of the most culturally rich and linguistically divers nation on earth. Austalians come from over 200 different countries whose people speak 230 languages. Numbering close to 700,000 people, 3.3% of the Austalian population define themselves as ethnically Chinese. Most migrated here in the last 50 years.
The new Bridge of Memories Exhibition explores the complexities of "identity" through the personal experiences of Chinese Austalians who have migrated to Australia from China, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam."

No pictures here either. Essentially you went around to each country, read the facts about the country, read the story of an immigrant from that country, pressed a button to listen to what they had to say, and read facts of immigrant population and such in Melbourne. It took me a long time to go around the room.


Level 3: Gallery of Chinese Australian History
"The gallery contains artifacts and photographs depicting 150 years of chinese immigrants and their descendants in australia. On display are antique costumes; ceramics; musical and scientific instruments; wedding gowns woven in gold; the furniture of master cabinet makers; relics of market gardenrs, herbalists, and trades; and the stories of chinese community associations from the earliest mutual brotherhood groups through to the social and sporting clubs of the 20th century.


Here we go...

Musical instruments



God its been so long since I went to this museum. I believe this was a betting table??






Chinese inventions: Paper money (following a shortage of copper used to make coins), noodles (archaeological discovery of a 4,000 year old bowl of noodles supporst the chinese claim), silk (made by boiling silkworm cocoons which can then be spun, developed 6-3,000 BCE), abacus (used by 1,200 CE as a counting device), umbrella (386-532 CE, created form oiled paper made from the bark of mulberry trees and their design was very similar to the modern umbrellas we use today), compass (knowledge of magnetic pull of the earth was used by the 3rd century CE), and chopsticks (used for over 3,000 years).


Used to tell the direction of a tsunami - super cool!






Chinese herbalist materials





Bamboo weaving talent.







Cool soldier statue (used for the dead?)





Foot Binding Shoes: Foot binding was practiced in china from 10th century to early 20th century, although it was not a custom of the women from the north or the boat women from the south. the practice started amongst the nobility but from the 17th century millions of women of all socioeconomic backgrounds had their feet bound. A young girls foot were usually both between the ages of 5-7 years. the process involved an elaborate method of soaking the feet in various ingredients before the arch of the foot was broken. all of the toes except for the big toe were then bend beneath the foot and the foot tightly bound in cotton bandages. The process was excruciatingly painful and the girl would be rehabilitated for many years. Even as adults it was difficult for women to walk without assistance. The ideal shape of r a bound foot was shaped like the bud of a lotus flower- full and coming to a point at the front.


Wedding dresses with gold threads. Nothing against them but my wedding dress will not look like these!!












Amazing cabinet. Beautiful carvings.











The end of the tour. I took a walk back to the china mall where there is a target to go look (not buy) shoes. The streets looked cool so i had to take photos.




I then went on the train to go home. It was a long day in the museum but i feel like i could have used more time.