The Jiangning Imperial Silk Manufacturing Museum, a branch of the Nanjing Museum Administration, presents the history and culture of Jiangning imperial silk manufacturing, Nanjing brocade, and the famous Chinese classic—A Dream of Red Mansions.

 

Designed by Mr. Wu Liangyong, a famous architect and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the museum is built on the site of the former Jiangning Imperial Silk Manufacturing Bureau of the Qing dynasty. The overall architectural style of the Jiangning Imperial Silk Manufacturing Museum is based on the artistic conception of Chinese landscape paintings. Garden techniques were used for the layout of architectures built on terrains that increase in altitude from south to north. With the bureau’s original West Pond, Chinaberry Pavilion, Xuanrui Hall, West Hall and other buildings rebuilt, the museum, which looks like a Jiangnan landscape painting, is a classic work of art that combines elements of modern architecture and traditional Chinese garden techniques.

Permanent exhibitions include “Jiangning Imperial Silk Manufacturing”, “Royal Clothes Made of Nanjing Yunjin Brocade”, “Dream of Red Mansions Songs”, “Chinese Cheongsam”, and “Nanjing Brocade Boutiques”. In addition, there are demonstration and service facilities such as Red Mansions Cinema, Fashion Publishing Center, Silk Manufacturing Theater, Red Mansions Story-telling House, and Dream of Red Mansions Library.