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From the library to the auction site, the stolen cultural relics were only discovered a second time …
An ancient case has sounded the alarm for cultural protection
Our reporter Wang Guangyan
Sixteen years after the theft, part of the letters from the Sichuan Provincial Library’s “Fish Goose Collection” cultural relic collection has recently appeared in the Guangdong Chongzheng Auction Co special promotion for “Guyi Qingfen · Old Books and Letters.” ., Ltd. On September 10, the auction house responded that it noticed voices questioning the origin of the lot and decided to withdraw the auction. On September 13, the Sichuan Provincial Library issued a statement confirming that the relevant auction items were cultural relics stolen from the library in 2004 and have been temporarily detained by the police. This is the second time that some cards from the “Fish Goose Collection” have been auctioned. An old case of the theft of cultural relics has reappeared as an investigative opportunity.
flagrant
The cultural relics were auctioned the following year
Lin Sijin is a famous writer and educator in modern times, and the first curator of the Sichuan Provincial Library. The “Fish Wild Goose Collection”, which was inscribed and signed by him, is a letter from many calligraphers and masters of traditional Chinese painting to Lin Sijin, a famous Southwest Chinese scholar, including letters to Lin Sijin, such as the famous calligrapher Xie Wuliang and master of traditional Chinese painting Huang Binhong. It has an important documentary value.
The Sichuan Provincial Library responded on Weibo that these cultural relics were stolen on December 13, 2004. “After the document theft occurred, our library immediately took emergency measures to thoroughly investigate the hidden dangers of the library, install a surveillance system and increase the security force. In addition, problems at work have been carefully corrected and the protection of the document collection has been strengthened in terms of management systems, facilities and equipment, and the implementation of responsibilities. ” . However, the Sichuan Provincial Library was unable to provide further details about the theft.
The intrepid thieves even brought these works to the auction market in June of the following year. According to the auction information released by Shanghai Chongyuan Auction Co., Ltd., in the spring large-scale art auction on June 30, 2005, the “Fish Goose Collection” was sold for RMB 308,000. After a lapse of 15 years, these lots were sent to Guangdong Chongzheng Auction Co., Ltd. to collect and select their lots.
Asking for responsibility
Why is it difficult for auction houses to find the source of lots?
The “Cultural Relics Protection Act” clearly stipulates that state-owned cultural relic collection units are prohibited from donating, renting or selling cultural relics in their collections to other units or individuals. So why did this cultural relic that was stolen in 2004 successfully pass the review and sold 308,000 yuan?
“Auction houses are obliged to ask bidders about the source of the lot, but it is often difficult to find out,” said Ji Tao, a researcher at the Auction Research Center of the Central University of Finance and Economics. In the actual batch collection, the origin of many batches is vague. For example, the client said that it was collected by the elders decades ago, but now it is too late to find out, or the client lied to the auction house and the auction house has no idea of its authenticity. “
According to Guangdong Chongzheng Auction Co., Ltd., it used the “China Stolen (Lost) Cultural Relics Information Publication Platform” to verify Lin Sijin’s collection of the lot involved, but could not find the registration information. The art market commentator Mu Jianping analyzed that if the auction company does not know that the lot is stolen, it does not have to take legal responsibility. To some extent, this provision allows the auction company to “ignore liability.”
trigger the alarm
Plugging the gaps in the fountain is the key
In recent years, some of the stolen cultural relics have been on the auction floor. For example, Xiao Yuan, the former librarian of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, once dropped more than 100 paintings by Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Bada Shanren, and other celebrities at the museum, and the auction proceeds exceeded 100 million yuan. , He was sentenced to prison. At the end of last year, Xiling Yinshe was planning to auction the supposedly unearthed cultural relics, which was also urgently stopped by the State Administration of Cultural Relics and reviewed further.
“The number of cultural relics and works of art auctioned each year can reach 100,000. A very small number of cultural relics sold illegally were difficult to notice in the past,” said Liu Jiuzhou, a senior collector. He Guanglun, director of the Sichuan Provincial Library, said in an interview with the media that when “The Collection of Fish Goose” was first auctioned in 2005, because the Internet was not as developed as it is now, it was not reported the auction information for this batch of collections. For so many years, the Sichuan Provincial Library has been closely following these cultural relics.
“Today’s auction targets have a lot of images and text on the Internet. Once important cultural relics are stolen and flow into the auction market, they will quickly attract attention.” Ji Tao said that compared to domestic auctions, private transactions, smuggling out of the country, etc. More secretly, “we must start from the source and consider how to prevent these cultural relics from being lost.” Only through thorough investigation can we close the loopholes in the theft of cultural relics and protect the nation’s cultural treasures.
