The concept of a "museum" was originally a Western one. The word comes from the Greek mouseion, which was originally a seat of the Muses, a place of study. In the Enlightenment of the 18th century, encyclopedic thinking required all-embracing knowledge, and 19th-century imperialism collected trophies from cultures around the world.
「博物館」原是西方的概念，源自希臘的 mouseion，本來是供奉繆司，從事研究的地方；十八世紀啟蒙時期百科全書式的思想講求博物致知，十九世紀的帝國主義羅列天下文物而收之。