The museum, located in Shanxi's provincial capital Taiyuan, is home to about 400,000 cultural relics and 110,000 old books.

Shortly after the Second Sino-Japanese War the institution's collections were heavily damaged and partially moved to Japan.

Amongst its important artefacts are those related to Sima Jinlong (d. CE 484), including a large number of tomb figurines from his tomb including those made of lead-glazed ceramics.

After the completion of the new building in 2005 it was officially renamed the Shanxi Museum.

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