Comparative Research In Theories And Practices Of Chinese And Japanese Museums

As close neighbors separated by only a strip of water, China and Japan are blessed with a long history of friendly contacts. Although the museums of the two countries share quite a few of similarities in cultural traditions and museum development paths, there exist, under the similar appearances, some obvious unknown differences. In recent years, along with the transformation of museum social functions, Japanese museums have been keeping abreast of the latest development in public education and media sponsoring cultural exhibitions. With marked characteristics, they could become objects that we could refer to and learn from. In comparison, Japan knows far more about Chinese museums than China knows about Japanese museums. While Chinese museums are facing new development opportunities today, it is necessary for us to understand and absorb experience from museums of other countries, including Japan. This thesis selects the comparatively big differences between China and Japan, or those points of Japanese museums that we could refer to and learn from, i.e., education, exhibition and conservation in museum practice, to do a comparative research. It is an analysis, summary and profound exploration, with examples when necessary, of practice and experience in above-mentioned three aspects of Japanese museum circles. The aim is to provide some primary resources for Chinese museum circles, so that we could absorb the advantages, discard the disadvantages and serve our own purposes.