Tianjin Old City Museum is located in the Xu Family Courtyard on Dongmenli Street in the Old City. It was originally the home of Xu Pu'an, the comprador of the British Mercantile Bank. It was built during the Republic of China and has a construction area of 2,400 square meters. The three-courtyard west wing of this traditional residence has been restored as the living room of the old Tianjin people, recreating the living scenes of the people living in the old city. It adopts the Chinese architectural style, with blue bricks and hard roofs. The overall building faces north and south, with Qianzhai Xunmen. The central axis consists of three courtyards, and there are arrow paths on the east and west sides. Its architectural carvings are elegant and exquisite. It is the only well-preserved typical traditional residence with three courtyards and four courtyards in Tianjin city. It now covers an area of 1,381 square meters and a construction area of 711 square meters. When the Old City began large-scale urban transformation, Mr. Feng Jicai and many experts and scholars went deep into the Old City several times to conduct on-site cultural relics inspections, and proposed to transform the Xu Family Courtyard into China's first donated museum-Tianjin Old City Museum. The Old City Museum exhibits more than 3,600 cultural relics donated by the public, including the "official weights" used to weigh grain at Tianjin Canal Transport Terminal in the Qing Dynasty, mahogany "lamp boxes", the boundary monument of the Jiangsu Guild Hall, and a "refrigerator" from the Republic of China period, as well as thread-bound books recording Tianjin folk customs, old records, wooden kettle covers, wooden covers, and stoves, as well as century-old copper beds, table clocks, hand-cranked record players, radios, etc.
Poem of the heritage generated by AI
Philosophy related to the heritage
From the perspective of Eastern philosophy, the Tianjin Old City Museum is not only a place to display history, but also a living book that records the flow of time and the accumulation of culture. In Taoist philosophy, the emphasis is on "Tao follows nature". Every exhibit and every brick and tile in the Old City Museum seem to be telling the harmonious coexistence of nature and human society. The Confucian idea of "benevolence" is reflected in the museum's respect for history and the inheritance of culture. It allows people to appreciate history while also feeling the respect for their ancestors and expectations for the future. The Buddhist concept of "cause and effect" is also reflected in this land. Every step of historical development is like a link in the chain of cause and effect, guiding us to think about the relationship between the past and the future. From the perspective of Western philosophy, the Tianjin Old City Museum is a place to explore the relationship between "existence and time". Heidegger's theory of "existence and time" allows us to see not only historical objects in the museum, but also traces of time and the meaning of the existence of these objects in the long river of time. At the same time, as a public space, the museum also embodies the idea of social contract theory. It is a carrier of social common memory and a place where people build social identity through common historical memory. In addition, each exhibit in the museum is like an independent "subject". In Kant's "intersubjectivity" theory, they form a dialogue with the visitors. This dialogue is not only the transmission of knowledge, but also the exchange of emotions and ideas. In summary, whether from the perspective of Eastern philosophy or Western philosophy, Tianjin Old City Museum is not just a static exhibition space, it is a dynamic field full of philosophical thinking, guiding us to explore the profound meaning of history, culture, time and existence.