I always thought that the beauty of Wuxi was the waves of Li Lake and the white walls and black tiles of the ancient town. It was not until I walked into the Wuxi Museum that I realized that the soul of this city was hidden in those cultural relics that spanned thousands of years, hidden in the stories between the lines, and stepping in, it was like breaking into the "Treasure Box of Time" in Jiangnan.
Different from the heavy and solemnity of other museums, the temperament of Wuxi Museum is unique to Jiangnan. As soon as you enter the door, the light and shadows sprinkle through the glass dome and fall on the display sign of "Wu Civilization", as if a layer of soft light was coated with three thousand years of history. No need to find a guide deliberately, walk slowly along the exhibition hall. The green glaze chime bells from the Warring States Period stand quietly in the exhibition cabinet, and the glaze color still condenses the temperature of the kiln fire back then; the jade pot spring bottle of the Ming Dynasty lies on brocade, the white glaze is like fat, and the tangled lotus pattern seems to be fresh with dew, as if it will flow down the bottle in the next second.
The most touching thing is not how precious the cultural relics are, but the "Wuxi gene" hidden in them. In the exhibition hall of "Ethnic Industry and Commerce", the yellowed account books, old machine tools, and product leaflets from the Republic of China quietly tell the past as the "cradle of industry" - the Rong family's factory drawings, the pencil lines are still clearly visible; the attendance pencil pendulum of the old factory was in the corner, as if you could still hear the crisp sounds a hundred years ago. It turns out that Wuxi’s “dare” does not come out of thin air, but is the tenacity engraved in the bones. From the industrial saving of the country a hundred years ago to the vitality now, it is in line with each other.
Turn to the Wu Culture Exhibition Hall, it was like opening a live book called "Jiangnan Zhi". The dialect wall on the wall is printed with "good" and "pretty good" Wuxi dialect. You can hear the soft Wu dialect by scanning the code, which instantly narrows the distance from this land. Although the Wu Yue bronze sword in the display cabinet is no longer as sharp as that of the past, it can remind people of the years when the golden swords and iron horses and fishing boats coexist in the Spring and Autumn Period. It turns out that Jiangnan is not only gentle, but also has the firmness hidden in bronze.
Even the corner outside the exhibition hall is hidden in surprises. In front of the floor-to-ceiling window at the end of the corridor, there are several wooden benches. Outside the window is the small garden in the courtyard, with bamboo shadows swaying, facing the cultural relics in the room. When I sat down and rested, the sunlight fell on the guidebook at hand. The booklet said "Wuxi, Wudi core, the pearl of the canal". I suddenly understood - every cultural relics and every story in the museum are Wuxi's "time code". They connect the past and present of the city, allowing you to touch its bones, blood and temperature inadvertently.
When leaving, the dusk had already passed the glass curtain wall of the museum, and there were still young people choosing in front of the "Archaeological Blind Box" cultural and creative stall at the door. Suddenly I felt that the museum was never a "warehouse of the old times", but a place that made history "live" - it lets us know that the beauty of Wuxi is not only the scenery in front of us, but also the stories that are precipitated in time and the tenderness and tenacity engraved in the city's genes.
If you come to Wuxi, don't just chase the scenery and go to the museum for a walk. Perhaps in front of a display cabinet or in a certain text, you will be filled with the soul of this city.
Have you ever found the "time story" that makes you excited in a museum in any city? Talk about it in the comment area, maybe you will have a new destination next time you travel~
