Chinese Lion Dance Costume 舞獅
subject: Festival, Lion, Costume, Folk culture, Chinese New Year
description: A lion costume used a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture and other Asian countries in which performers mimic a lion's movements. The lion dance is one of the most important traditions at Chinese New Year. It is performed to bring prosperity and good luck for the upcoming year. The lion dance is also a way to create a festive atmosphere and bring happiness. Performed in a lion costume, accompanied by the music of beating drums, clashing cymbals, and resounding gongs, lion dances imitate a lion's various movements or demonstrate martial arts agility, depending on the style.
date: Three-kingdoms period (220–280 AD)
format: 2-3 men size
type: Craft

​Bolang Gu 撥浪鼓
subject: Toy, Kids, Play
description: The rattle-drum is one of the oldest and most traditional toys in China.
date: Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC)
format: Palm size
type: Craft

Erhu 二胡
subject: Chinese music, Sound, Craft
description: The erhu is a bowed spike-lute chordophone of the Han Chinese (‘er’ means two; ‘hu’ originally meant ‘barbarian,’ but now ‘fiddle’).
date: Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD)
format: Wooden
type: Craft

Dizi 笛子
subject: Bamboo, Chinese music, Sound
description: The dizi is a Chinese transverse flute, a major Chinese musical instrument.
date: Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD)
format: Long, Cylindrical
type: Craft

Pipa 琵琶
subject: Chinese music, Sound
description: The Pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12 to 26. According to Han dynasty sources, the origins of the name “pipa” refer to how the instrument is played. “Pi” meant “to play forward” and “pa” means “to play backward”. However, as no other types of sources reference this etymology; scholars suspect that the instrument more likely originated outside China, and that its name references a foreign language term.
date: Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD)
format: Wooden texture, Height: 103cm, Width: 32cm
type: Craft

Suona 嗩吶
subject: Chinese music, Sound
description: Suona, Wade-Giles romanization so-na, also called laba, Chinese double-reed woodwind instrument, the most commonly used double-reed instrument.
date: Jin Dynasty (265-420 AD)
format: Hand-held size
type: Craft

Gong 鑼
subject: Chinese music, Sound
description: It is an percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat, circular metal disc which is hit with a mallet.
date: Northern and Southern Dynasties (420–589 AD)
format: Metallic, Diameter of 50 cm-150 cm
type: Craft

Meat-shaped Stone 肉形石
subject: Meat-like object, Stone, Jade
description: This mouth-watering chunk of stewed pork belly with a gratuitous layer of fat and glistening sheen is actually a piece of rock—jasper to be exact—that was cleverly carved and dyed to resemble a succulent piece of meat by an anonymous Qing dynasty artist in the 19th-century.
date: Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD)
relation: Meat Stone
format: Rough surface, Layered colours
type: Craft

Jadeite Cabbage 翠玉白菜
subject: Mineral, Jade, Vegetable-like objects
description: Another piece of rock that has been carved into the shape of a Chinese cabbage head. It even has two insects crawling among the leaves.
date: Late Qing Dynasty (1644 AD- 1911 AD)
format: Small, Reflective and bright colour, Smooth texture
type: Craft

Cloth Tiger 布老虎
subject: Animal, Toy, Folk culture
description: The Cloth Tiger, which had been very popular in the ancient times of China, is a cloth-made toy. It is a folk handicraft with strong local color due to its varieties and popularity.
date: Unknown
format: Colourful, Palm-sized
type: Craft