China Umbrella Museum: Photos, Map & Reviews [2024]

China Umbrella Museum Highlights: Must-See Features and Attractions

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The China Umbrella Museum is located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. The misty rain south of the Yangtze River has derived a unique umbrella culture. The aesthetics of the umbrella, the poetry of the umbrella and the symbolic meaning of the umbrella are accompanied by the wheel of this historical development, rolling out a unique cultural trajectory. The China Umbrella Museum is a museum that comprehensively displays umbrella culture, umbrella history, umbrella stories, umbrella-making craftsmanship and umbrella art represented by China. It is the world's first umbrella-themed museum. The construction area of the exhibition hall of the China Umbrella Museum is 2411 square meters, and the construction area of the temporary exhibition hall is 527 square meters. Located in the historical and cultural district of Gongchen Bridge West, with Gongchen Bridge as a landmark, it forms a museum full of rich history and culture with Hangzhou Arts and Crafts Museum, Chinese Knife and Scissors Museum, Chinese Fan Museum and Handicraft Living Exhibition Hall as a whole. The community has become a new cultural landscape in the north of Hangzhou. Walking through the museums is a journey of discovery with nostalgic feelings flowing through the memory of the canal. The museum also has an interactive area, where you can assemble parts for the umbrella, paint the umbrella surface, and repair the umbrella.

Umbrella World, a one-stop solution to unlock the past and present of umbrellas

Umbrella, also known as San, is a mobile pavilion, a hat with a long handle. Tracing back to the origin of the umbrella, some say it was the canopy of the Yellow Emperor's chariot, some say it was King Wu of Zhou who used lotus leaves as a prototype to avoid rain, and some say it was Lu Ban in the Spring and Autumn period. The closest to the modern umbrella is the car umbrella in the Warring States period, that is, the canopy on the chariot. China is the first country in the world to invent umbrellas. After the invention of paper in the Han Dynasty, it began to replace silk. During the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, paper coated with tung oil became the material for umbrella surfaces, marking the birth of oil-paper umbrellas. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, silk umbrellas became popular. During the Five Dynasties, there were umbrella-making workshops, jokingly called 'Gao Mi Hou'. During the Song Dynasty, green oil-paper umbrellas were widely used. They were often used for climbing, riding horses in rainy and snowy days, and setting up stalls. The umbrella ribs are made of 'Mengzong bamboo' grown in winter, which is cut after soaking in water. Then, the fan-shaped cotton paper is glued to the frame piece by piece with cottonseed oil. After drying, it is coated with waterproof tung oil. The craft of making oil-paper umbrellas is still preserved in Meinong, Taiwan. Among the treasures are Yuhang oil-paper umbrellas and Jiulu oil-paper umbrellas in Wuyuan. In the Qing Dynasty, black cloth umbrellas were also made in Guangdong, Fujian and other places, and sold abroad. Hangzhou Du Jinsheng Silk Weaving Scenery Factory pioneered the West Lake silk umbrella, using light bamboo to make umbrella ribs. Brushing flowers, painting flowers and embroidering flowers on the umbrella surface, commonly known as the 'three flowers' in the silk umbrella craft. In ancient China, the use of umbrellas had a strong hierarchy. The emperor used a canopy when he went out; the Song Dynasty stipulated that the people and officials should use green umbrellas, and the emperor used red and yellow; the Ming Dynasty stipulated that the common people could only use paper umbrellas, and they were not allowed to use Luojuan cool umbrellas. From the Later Wei period, umbrellas were officially used in official ceremonies and became a part of royal ceremonies. In ancient Egypt and Babylon, as well as in the East in Japan, Myanmar and Thailand, umbrellas were also a symbol of social status. The ancient Egyptians gave religious meanings to papyrus umbrellas and peacock feather umbrellas, and umbrellas were regarded as the incarnation of the goddess Nut. Two thousand years ago, Greek women used umbrellas to shade the sun. In the Roman Curia, the Pope used the umbrella as part of the ceremonial guard. Paper umbrellas were introduced to Japan from China via the Korean Peninsula during the Asuka period, and were originally used as Buddhist instruments in Buddhist ceremonies. He and the umbrella began to be widely used among the people from the Edo period. Kabuki uses pink umbrellas, geisha hold purple umbrellas, and Kabuki men hold black or tea brown umbrellas. At every grand celebration, someone always holds a red silk umbrella with a diameter of 2 meters for the emperor, which is a symbol of the emperor's absolute authority. The 'Flower Umbrella Festival' held in Chiang Mai every January or February, holds a 'Bosang Miss' beauty contest. Louis XIII of France, who changed his exquisite umbrella every day, was called 'Umbrella Maniac'. Britain is known as the 'Kingdom of Umbrellas'. Under the promotion of businessman John Hanway, holding an umbrella is a symbol of prudent virtue. In the mid-17th century, umbrellas began to enter the lives of Europeans. In the 19th century, with the successful development of the curved steel umbrella frame, umbrellas truly entered people's daily lives.

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