[5] The founding collections came principally from three sources: a batch of artifacts gathered by the Communist 3rd Field Army during the civil war from accidental finds and confiscations of private property and brought to Shanghai upon the Communists' conquest of the city; artifacts confiscated by the customs service; items sold by private collectors due to political pressure during political purges and purchased by the government.

[1][2] During the metal-gathering campaign of the Great Leap Forward, the Shanghai Museum participated in rescuing bronzeware from metal that had been confiscated or donated and were sent to be melted down.

For his role in ensuring a large, purpose-built home, it is said that Shanghai Museum owes much of its current existence to Ma Chengyuan, its director from 1985 until his retirement in 1999.

He also made many trips abroad to solicit donations, mainly from the Shanghai diaspora who had fled to Hong Kong after the Communist revolution, raising another $10 million.

The Shanghai Museum houses several items of national importance, including one of three extant specimens of a "transparent" bronze mirror from the Han dynasty.

The permanent galleries are:[9] The museum has an important collection of ancient coins from the Silk Road, donated since 1991 by Linda and Roger Doo.