Located near the scenic Singapore River, the Asian Civilisations Museum houses 11 galleries which showcase over 1,300 artefacts from the Museum’s growing collections on the civilisations of China, Southeast Asia, South Asia and West Asia.
With much to see, I began my self-guided tour at the second storey of the museum. Surrounded in a splash of red, the eye-catching Trade Ceramics in Southeast Asia exhibition, located at the Shaw Foundation Foyer, captured my immediate attention. Upon closer inspection of the beautiful display, I learnt that they were export wares from China, Vietnam and Thailand.
Did you know that these adorable miniature vessels – arrow vase, bird-feeder and teapot – are from 13th-14th century Longquan, Zhejiang province?
As for these beautifully decorated covered boxes, miniature vase and jarlet, they are from 15th-16th century Vietnam!
Having feasted my eyes on the ceramics exhibition, I made my way to the galleries. The first interesting display that caught my eyes were these burial pottery.
Next to the display is a red button that my “itchy” fingers could not resist. When pressed, a skeleton appears at the bottom of the burial pottery! How cool is that! =)
A few steps away lay another fascinating display.
It has a trunk but is not an elephant.
It has a crown but is not a king.
It is scaly but is not a fish.
Can you guess what it is?
It is the makara, a processional ornament from Kelantan, Northeasten Malay Peninsula, made out of Nangka wood, zinc, brass and copper plates. I have photoshopped in a clearer imagine (courtesy of the ACM), as the original picture is not too clear. (^.^)
At the adjourning gallery, one gets to appreciate the intricate designs of several high-quality Qur’ans produced in Shiraz, a major centre for Qur’an production in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Not to be missed is the writing paraphernalia used by calligraphers and scribes from the 13th to 20th centuries to produce their work. And if your eyes are sharp, you would have noticed the scissors at the bottom left of the picture. The scissors is part of the set as it was needed to trim sheets of paper.
The next gallery, my personal favourite, is devoted to the Chinese culture. Did you know that there were 4 levels in the Chinese hierarchy? At the top of the hierarchy was (of course!) the emperor, the most powerful individual in China. In fact, he was considered the Son of Heaven!
Below is a picture of the Kesi robe with nine dragons and twelve imperial symbols from the 18th century, Qianlong period.
And here’s an interesting snippet, only the emperor’s robe had 5-clawed dragons!
A curious person with time on hand, I spent a few moments trying to spot a few imperial symbols. The most obvious would the libation cups! One cup has a tiger to signify physical strength while the other a monkey to signify cleverness.
The next item I spotted was the axe. And if memory serves me right, the axe represents the power to punish.
At the next hierarchy level are the peasants whose hard work and toll for the country place them ahead of the scholars (much to my surprise!). Below is a snapshot of a peasant with a cart-load of fruits.
The scholars, third in the hierarchy, are remembered for their studious nature, and hence, represented by a study table (with scrolls in the background) and their stationery set.
Last on the hierarchy are the merchants who are seen as people who benefits from the hard labour of others. They are represented by some porcelain wares. Can you guess what is the porcelain animal? It’s a rabbit! : )
Around the bend, I was greeted by this teahouse signage.
The sign aroused my interest and I hastened my steps to see what awaited me at this teahouse replica. My attention was attracted to the table and its accompanying backdrop. So this was how a teahouse looked like in the olden days!
Diagonally across the table are two opera costumes which jotted my memory of opera performances in teahouses in some period dramas. It would have been nice if I could travel back in time for a moment to experience it all.
There is also a wall with mini buttons at the bottom to teach one how to say tea in different languages. Sadly, the paper pasted on the wall informed me that the machine was “not feeling well” for the day. =(
And just as I ended my tour of the second storey, I came across this intriguing fact. During the Ming Dynasty, 60kg of tea could buy a horse! If I could go back in time, I would definitely be a tea merchant, regardless of the hierarchy that came with it ; ) The scale below is there for us to place items onto the weighing pan to visual what we could get for 100kg of tea.
My visit to the Asian Civilisations Museum has been entertaining, interesting and fulfilling! The only regret I had was that I spent too much time on the second storey and run out of time to check out the exhibits on the first storey.
The Asian Civilisations Museum is located at 1 Empress Place, near Raffles Place MRT. Its regular opening hours are 9am to 7pm Tuesday to Sunday, 1pm to 7pm on Mondays, 9am to 9pm on Fridays. Admission is $8/adult, $4/student and senior citizen, free for children aged 6 and below. Free admission on Friday nights, 7pm to 9pm.
http://www.acm.org.sg/visitus/admissioncharges.asp
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