The Nanjing Museum is located inside the Zhongshan Gate of Nanjing City. lts predecessor was known as the Central Museum Preparatory Location. The complex of buildings represents an amalgamation of east and west, with the great hall copying the style of a Liao-dynasty palace.
The Museum currently holds some 400,000 objects in its collections, among which are some of the most famous objects in China. These include the only complete set of 'jade suits sewed with silver thread' in China, which are world renowned. In 1982, a Warring States period Chu State tomb was excavated from which stellar pieces were retrieved that also form some of the extraordinary treasures in this museum.
The calligraphy and paintings collections are also very special. Among the 100,000 objects that have officially entered the collections, most are Ming- and Qing-dynasty works of artists who lived in the Jiangsu area. Among these, the most special are the 'Wu Men painting school,' 'Yangzhou painting school,' Jinling painting school,' as well as a small number of Song and Yuan-dynasty works. Most of the representative works of the modem Chinese painter Fu Baoshi (1904-1965, painter, art historian), and Chen Zhifo (1896-1962, modern arts educator) are stored here.
The Nanjing Museum holds the objects excavated by archaeologists in the early part of the twentieth century that were moved to Nanjing when the Palace Museum moved southward. These include excavations in Heilongjiang, Xinjiang, Yunnan, Sichuan, Gansu and other places. Collections also include artifacts from the southwest parts of China of the Naxi tribe, the Yi tribe, the Miao tribe, and other national minorities.