Cultural Relics

China had imperial and private collections of cultural relics in each dynasty, but the first museum worthy of the name in China was set up by foreigners in the mid-19th century. The first museum established by the Chinese themselves was the Nantong Museum, which was set up by industrialist Zhang Jian in 1905. In 1912, preparations were made for the construction of the History Museum, the first national museum after the founding of the Republic of China, in the former Imperial College (the highest educational administration in the previous feudal China) in Beijing. In 1949, there were no more than 21 museums in China.