The first exhibit we saw was really quite wonderful, The Yin Yu Tang House, a reconstructed Chinese home dating back to the early 1800s. Directly translated, Yin Yu Tang means Hall of Plentiful Shelter. The home belonged to the Huang family for over eight generations and was purchased by the PEM, disassembled piece by piece, and rebuilt at the museum in Salem in 2003.
The traditional structure with open roof and central courtyard gives one a true look at the experience of everyday life in rural China, where the home was the center of family life and the domain of women and children. As the fortunes of the Huang family (they were merchants) rose and fell, the home went through periods where it was richly furnished, to times when entire sections were taken over by family creditors or seized by the communist government. An audio guide gave a clear narrative as we wandered from room to room; it was remarkable to feel transported to another time and place!
In addition to the home, there were also displays of clothing, photographs, furniture and implements that were used by the Huang family. A small room with video screen showed several films, one of which depicted the recent wedding day of a typical rural couple, whose marriage was arranged and had never even met until the day of the wedding. A second film showed the dismantling and reassembly of the house structure...neat stuff for a history buff like me.
No picture taking was allowed so I had to grab these from the internet (yes, I am probably violating some copyrights, but hopefully not). The PEM has a great interactive website if you can't make it to the museum yourself, but it was so worth the trip.
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