“The Great Chinese Museum”

“The Great Chinese Museum”

“The Great Chinese Museum” opened in Boston from 1845 to 1847 to coincide with a major new US-China trade treaty. Zboray and Zboray (2004:275-276), in their thorough study of the museum, conclude that “the museum demonstrated, if the viewer was receptive to its message, that China had developed a refined and complex civilization like that of the West,” and that this underscored the desirability of China as a new trading partner. The museum’s exhibits depicted not only a recreation of the signing of the trade agreement, but also highlighted the antiquity of China’s culture through depictions of the Great Wall and imperial palaces, underscoring the vast antiquity of that country to further legitimize China’s increasing role with the West. During its two-year run in Boston, the museum won ecstatic reviews in the local press, and drew tens of thousands of visitors.