{{Short description|National military museum in Beijing, China}} {{Infobox museum | name = Military Museum of the<br>Chinese People's Revolution | native_name = 中国人民革命军事博物馆 | native_name_lang = zh-Hans-CN | image = Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution 201709.jpg | image_size = | caption = Main entrance of Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution | alt = | map_type = | map_caption = | map_alt = | coordinates = {{coord|39|54|27.61|N|116|19|03.80|E|display=title, inline}} | established = | dissolved = | location = Beijing, China | type = | collection_size = | visitors = | director = | president = | curator = | public_transit = | parking = | network = | website = {{URL|eng.jb.mil.cn}} }}
thumb|right|Aircraft in Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution
The '''Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Military Museum of Chinese People's Revolution |url=http://eng.jb.mil.cn/AU/ |access-date=2024-03-31 |website=eng.jb.mil.cn}}</ref> is the national military museum of China, located in Haidian, Beijing. The collection mainly focuses on military equipments and cultural relics reflecting the military history of the People's Liberation Army, ancient and modern Chinese military history, and world military history.<ref>{{Cite web |title=军博简介 |url=http://www.jb.mil.cn/jbgk/jbjj/ |access-date=2024-03-31 |website=www.jb.mil.cn}}</ref>
==History== [[File:Beijing Military Museum Main Hall.jpg|right|thumb|The museum's main hall before 2010s reconstruction, with a Dongfeng 1 (SS-2) missile in the center]]
The museum was one of the Ten Great Buildings erected in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China,<ref name=":Ho">{{Cite book |last=Ho |first=Denise Y. |title=Red Legacies in China: Cultural Afterlives of the Communist Revolution |date=2016 |publisher=Harvard University Asia Center |isbn=978-0-674-73718-1 |editor-last=Li |editor-first=Jie |series=Harvard Contemporary China Series |volume= |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |chapter=Making a Revolutionary Monument: The Site of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party |doi= |jstor= |editor-last2=Zhang |editor-first2=Enhua}}</ref>{{Rp|page=29}} construction of the museum began in October 1958 and ended in August 1960, when it was inaugurated.<ref>{{cite news |title=中国人民革命军事博物馆 |url=https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/hqyl/hongse/2009-09/23/content_8726953.htm |access-date=3 May 2024 |work=global.chinadaily.com.cn}}</ref> On March 12, 1959, approved by the Chinese Communist Party's Central Military Commission, it was officially named the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution (hereinafter referred to as the Military Museum). Chairman Mao Zedong inscribed the name of the museum, and on August 1, 1960, officially opened to the public on the Armed Forces Day.<ref>{{cite news |title="50多岁"的中国人民革命军事博物馆完成第一次改扩建-中国新闻网 |url=https://www.chinanews.com.cn/m/cul/2017/08-01/8292542.shtml |access-date=3 May 2024 |work=www.chinanews.com.cn}}</ref>
The museum was comprehensively reconstructed in 2012–2017 and reopened with a larger central hall that hosts a display of aircraft and missiles. The reconstruction allowed for a considerable expansion of the exhibition surface, from 60,000<ref>{{cite web |title=China People's Revolution Military Museum |website=china.org.cn |date=2003 |url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/kuaixun/73574.htm}}</ref> to 159,000 square meters.<ref>{{cite web |website=China Services Info |title=The Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution |date={{date|2018/08/30}} |url=https://www.chinaservicesinfo.com/s/201808/30/WS5ce75953498e079e680218e5/the-military-museum-of-the-chinese-peoples-revolution.html}}</ref>
==Collections== The museum's four floors include ten halls, the largest of which is the Hall of Weapons. The Hall's extensive holdings of antiquated weaponry showcase domestic and foreign weapons, including blades, small arms, artillery, tanks, armored personnel carriers, anti-air weaponry, jet fighters, rockets and rocket launchers, and cruise missiles. Foreign weapons include Soviet tanks purchased or donated during the 1950s and 1960s, Japanese weaponry captured during the Second Sino-Japanese War, American weaponry captured from the Kuomintang during the Chinese Civil War and from UN forces during the Korean War. In addition, the Hall of Weapons displays equipment from China's space program, such as satellites and a two-seat orbital capsule.
With two exceptions, the other halls are largely historical exhibits, combining plaster sculptures, maps, paintings, artifacts, movies, and plaques (in Chinese, with select ones translated into English). The other nine halls include: *The Hall of the Agrarian Revolutionary War: Confrontations between 1927 and 1937 of the Chinese Communist Party and the ruling Kuomintang *The Hall of the War to Resist Japanese Aggression: The 1937–1947 Second Sino-Japanese War *The Hall of the War of Liberation of China: The 1945–1949 period of the Chinese Civil War *The Hall of Ancient Wars: Internal and external wars during the 4,000 years before the Qing dynasty *The Hall of Modern Wars: Internal and external wars between 1940 and 1949 *The Hall of National Defense and Army Building: Modern military achievements and developments since 1949 *The Hall of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea: Chinese involvement in the Korean War *The Hall of Presents: Gifts to the Chinese military or state by foreign militaries or states *The Hall of Cheng Yunxian's Sculptural Arts: Plaster reproductions of sculptures of world leaders, historical figures, Chinese Communist Party leaders and scientists by Cheng Yunxian
== Equipment, Planes, Tanks, Artillery and various small arms on display ==
=== Planes ===
* Soviet Mig-15 Bis * Nanchang Q-5 * Mig-15UTI * AN-2 * Xi'an H6 * Tu-2 * Captured P-51 Mustang * Shenyang J-8 * Shenyang J-6 * Mig-15 Repainted with North Korean Airforce roundels * Chengdu J-7 * F-86 Sabre from a defected pilot in 1963 * P-80 shooting star * Tachikawa Ki-55 * De Havilland Canada U-6A Beaver * Shot down U-2 Spyplane * Shenyang JJ-6/FT-6
=== Tanks And Armoured vehicles ===
* M46 Patton Captured during the Hoengsong fighting<ref>{{Cite web |title=M46 heavy tank captured by CCF |url=https://www.koreanwaronline.com/arms/M46Captured.htm |access-date=2024-02-04 |website=www.koreanwaronline.com}}</ref> * T-62 545 Captured during the Sino-Soviet conflict * T 34–85 captured during the Sino- Vietnamese war * M42 Duster * Type 95 So-ki * M5 Stuart * CV-33 * LVT(A)-4 * M24 Chaffee * Type 97 Chi-Ha (Gongchen tank) * M44 Self-propelled howitzer * M4 Sherman with the gun barrel missing, possibly Sherman number 012403 * M4A3E8 Sherman * LVT * M36 Tank Destroyer "Jackson" * Type 62 * M29 Weasel * [https://tank-afv.com/coldwar/UK/oxford-carrier.php Oxford Mk1] * Universal carrier * Type 59D * Type 63 * Type 63 AFV * M-8 Greyhound
=== Missiles ===
* Hy-1 Anti-ship Missile * Dongfeng 1 (SS-2) * Dongfeng 2 (CSS-1) * Sa-2 SAM
==Gallery== <gallery caption="" widths="175px" heights="175px"> File:Flag & Insignia Captured During Korean War (9885666323).jpg|Flag of the US 31st Infantry Regiment and UN insignia, captured during the Korean War. File:Eastwind EQ2050 - 2.jpg|Chinese Dongfeng EQ2050 vehicle File:Machineguns, Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution.jpg|Second Sino-Japanese War Machine guns File:The two cars.JPG|Cars of Zhu De and Mao Zedong File:Chinese nuclear bomb - atom missile A2923.jpg|Chinese first atomic bomb File:Chinese PF98 120 mm rocket launcher.jpg|Chinese PF-98 120 mm rocket launcher File:DF2 in Museum.JPG|A Dongfeng 2 (CSS-1) medium-range balltistic missile File:Type 72 metallic anti-tank mine 1.jpg|A Type 72 metallic anti-tank mine on display at the museum File:ZBD-04 - front right view.jpg|A ZBD-97 IFV vehicle File:Dongfeng 1 at Beijing Military Museum.jpg|A Dongfeng 1 (SS-2) missile seen from the balcony File:Type 95 SPAAG - Beijing Museum 1.jpg|A Type 95 self-propelled anti-aircraft (SPAAG) vehicle File:M-79 Grenade Launcher, Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution.jpg|An American M79 grenade launcher File:PLZ 05 self propelled gun.jpg|A PLZ-05 155 mm self-propelled howitzer File:Chinese_KS-1_SAM_mobile_launcher.jpg|A KS-1A mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) launcher vehicle </gallery>
==See also== {{commons category|Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution}} * List of museums in China
==Notes== {{reflist}}
{{Haidian District}} {{Buildings and Structures in Beijing}} {{Museums in Beijing}}
Category:Museums established in 1960 Category:Military and war museums in China Category:Museums in Beijing Category:Tank museums in China Category:National first-grade museums of China Category:Buildings and structures in Haidian, Beijing Category:People's Liberation Army General Political Department