In recent years, there is extensive and well-informed discussion on "made in China". To sustain healthy economic and social development and achieve the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, it is necessary to upgrade "made in China" to "created in China" and promote the transformation of China from a "big manufacturing country" to a "powerful manufacturing country". In this process, talented people with pioneering spirit, open mind, superb skills and the courage to pursue excellence are indispensable.

In May 2015, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage solicited an exhibition project on the theme of "promoting excellent traditional culture and cultivating the socialist core values", so the idea of "carrying forward the spirit of labor and the great character of the working people" came into our vision. Museums should pay attention to social hot spots, tell "Chinese stories" with cultural relics and inspire the public with historical experience.

The Chinese history of creation is long and splendid, and it has ascended one peak after another in the development of the world's material civilization. "Made in China" swept the world as early as 2,000 years ago through the silk road and has long influenced the development of world civilization. Through the cultural relics, we can see the changes brought to human life by the achievements of material civilization, but it is difficult to understand the initiative of the makers of each object. When Chairman Mao visited our Museum in 1958, he remarked that "It is very important for the people to know their own history and the power of creation". Through the exhibition of the manufacturing process of cultural relics, we hope to show the creativity and inheritance of Chinese craftsmen’ skills. By exploring the concepts of traditional Chinese creation, the spiritual outlook and life attitude of craftsmen in their process of creation, the audience may have a better understanding of the "spirit of craftsman" in their shaping of the Chinese civilization，which is our goal of the exhibition.

The spirit of craftsman also meets today’s social needs. We analyze the technic characteristics of the cultural relics under the background of the productivity level at the time and elaborates the spirit of the time and creation idea with the help of cultural relics in different historical stages.

The exhibition is divided into five units.

The first unit is "Brave exploration of the forerunners". Cultural relics in this unit are represented by Neolithic pottery, hand tools and carving symbols. These tools of production and living seem to us to be so crude, but the process from scratch to existence, from existence to refinement contains the spirit of the creator，who were daring to create and brave to innovate.

The second unit is "Joint force by a thousand hands". Cultural relics in this unit are mainly bronzewares in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The birth of these heavy and beautiful-ornamented bronzeware requires many processes, such as ore mining and smelting, standard casting and pattern cutting and welding. Under the production conditions at that time, cooperation should be the unanimous choice of the craftsmen.

The third unit is "Smart thinking and smart work". In this unit, the audience will appreciate ancient craftsmen's smart thinking in terms of understanding rules, applying wisdom, summarizing experience, and using things well. They were good at integrating their life experience into the process of creation to fulfill the function of the handicraft; and they had good aesthetic tastes as well as fertile imagination in their creation.

The Fourth unit is "The pursuit of perfection". Ancient Chinese people held an objective and rational view on the relationship between the function and form of objects, and believed that beauty and quality should complement each other and in harmony with each other. The beauty of both material and form of Huizhou ink and lacquerware have embodied the strict requirements of craftsman and their pursuit of perfection.

The fifth unit is "The vehicle of truth", which is the sublimation and summary of the exhibition. "Using tangible things to deliver intangible value" is the core of ancient Chinese concept of "objects". Abstract ideas are attached to concrete items. It is of great significance to the continuation and inheritance of Chinese civilization as well as to the innovation and development of it, and ancient craftsmen are the direct implementers of this process.

“First a man of virtue，then a master of crafts. ” In the ancient Chinese concept of “object”, to create an item did not mean to meet actual needs only. Consciously or unconsciously, ancient craftsmen used the object they made as the channel to express their thoughts and convey their value. Hence their pursuit of perfection and their source of innovation. The craftsmen expressed the values and lifestyle of the Chinese nation in a materialized form, which is an important reason for the continuation and development of the Chinese civilization. What the ancient craftsmen have pursued for thousands of years was the unification of the external and the internal, of accumulation and innovation, of efficiency and quality and of material and spirit, which still has significant reference today, especially when the “made in China” is in urgent need of transformation and upgrading.

Sticking to the "spirit of craftsman" is an effective way for us to actively practice socialist core values. The socialist core values that we advocate today are gradually developed and improved on the basis of the excellent traditional Chinese culture and are the continuation of the latter in the modern society. They are connected internally. The "spirit of craftsman" presented in the exhibition is not only advocated by socialist core values, but was verified in the course of history. The ancient craftsmen used their industrious and creative hands to show their value, show their talent and defend their dignity, which is the cornerstone of our rock-firm standing in the family of nations. We shall let the spirit of craftsman be well-accepted in the whole society. The effective way to actively practice socialist core values is that everyone does his own work well, that everyone relates his ideal of life to the "Chinese dream" of national prosperity and rejuvenation, and that everyone turns the goals of national development into his own conscious actions.