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Original title: 25 years of transnational recovery of these cultural relics have finally returned home Source: Science and Technology Daily
The three-colored seven-star plate from the Tang Dynasty, the blue and white porcelain from the Song Dynasty, the stone-carved horses from the Yuan and Ming dynasties … 68 smuggled cultural relics lost in Britain for 25 years finally they returned to the embrace of the fatherland.On November 18, at the fourth quarterly periodic press conference held by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Guan Qiang, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, presented that since January this year, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage has worked in close cooperation with foreign affairs, customs and other departments of our station. With the strong support of the British Embassy, to overcome the adverse effects of the new corona pneumonia epidemic, it took 10 months to retrieve these cultural relics back to China.
Some returned cultural relics.Luo Zheng / PhotoReach a satisfactory conclusion of the 25 years of transnational appeal
After the appraisal organized by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the collections of cultural relics recovered this time are rich in typologies, beautiful in appearance and more exquisite. Some cultural relics have important historical, artistic and scientific value. Guan Qiang pointed out that the return of these cultural relics has brought a successful conclusion to our government’s 25-year transnational cultural relic recovery operation and is of great historical significance.
In February 1995, the British police notified the Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom that alleged Chinese cultural relics had been discovered during the investigation of an international crime of cultural relics. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage initially identified them as cultural relics that were prohibited from leaving the country. In March of that year, British police carried out “Operation Water Sailing” and intercepted a large quantity of cultural relics transported to Britain by the suspect. The State Administration for Cultural Heritage sent staff to the UK for identification and confirmed that they were smuggled Chinese cultural relics.
In April 1995, our staff identified smuggled Chinese cultural relics seized by British police. Photograph courtesy of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage
Under the unified deployment of the State Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Justice, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, the Supreme People’s Prosecutor’s Office, the former Ministry of Culture and the Office of Cultural Relics, etc. they jointly formed the “Task Force to Recover Smuggling of Chinese Cultural Relics by British Police”. Various methods are used as a resource, such as civil litigation, negotiation and negotiation, etc. Under pressure from the Chinese side, in February 1998, the two main suspects in the case signed a return agreement with the State Administration of Cultural Heritage; in May of the same year, more than 3,000 returned cultural relics were sent back to Beijing.
In August 1998, another suspect in the case reached an agreement with the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and returned 7 cultural relics. However, in the case, a buyer of cultural relics refused to participate in the negotiation and the cultural relics involved were seized by the British police. The State Administration for Cultural Heritage has never abandoned the resource, is in contact with the Chinese Embassy in the UK and the British police, and has been following developments for a long time.
In January 2020, the London Metropolitan Police contacted our embassy in the UK and reported that because the buyer’s whereabouts were unknown and the period of detention exceeded the prosecution period, the batch of cultural relics involved in the case it was classified as ownerless and they offered to request the lot of cultural relics. Go back to the Chinese government.
The State Administration of Cultural Heritage immediately organized the resumption of the recourse mechanism, drafted a recourse plan, organized an expert assessment and formed a recourse list based on the UNESCO Convention on Methods to Prohibit and Prevent Import and Export illicit cultural property and the illegal transfer of its property (hereinafter referred to as the “1970 Convention”), a letter of appeal was sent to the British side to formally request a return on behalf of the Chinese government. On July 29, Yu Peng, Minister Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in the UK, led a team to the UK warehouse to conduct an on-site inventory. The National Cultural Heritage Administration eventually identified 68 relics and the London Metropolitan Police agreed to return them all.
On October 20, 68 cultural relics arrived in Beijing safely by plane.Ma Xiaochen / Photo
On the afternoon of October 20, these cultural relics arrived safely at Beijing Capital International Airport on Air China flight CA938. Beijing Customs immediately inspected the platform to facilitate customs clearance. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage organized the China Cultural Relic Exchange Center, Beijing Lu Xun Museum and the China Cultural Relic Information Consultation Center to divide the work and cooperate to complete the inspection of cultural relics during the night and store them.
68 cultural relics spanning from the spring and autumn period to the Qing dynasty
After the cultural relics arrived in Beijing, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage immediately organized experts to carry out physical identification. After expert discussion and research, the batch of 68 cultural relics includes 13 second-class cultural relics in 3 groups, 30 third-class cultural relics, and 25 general cultural relics. Cultural relics include porcelain, ceramic, stoneware, bronze, etc., and the time period is spring and autumn. From the Warring States Period to the Qing Dynasty, the geographical distribution included Jiangxi, Anhui, Fujian, Henan, Shaanxi, Hebei, Guizhou, etc.
“In general, cultural relics are relatively rich in types, good-looking and more exquisite. The three-color plates with seven stars from the Tang Dynasty, the blue and white porcelain from the Song Dynasty, the stone-carved horses from the Yuan and Ming dynasties, a group of four celadon plum vases from the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties and have an important history. And scientific value, “said Deng Chao, deputy director of the Administration’s Policy and Regulation Department State of Cultural Heritage and director of the Office for the Return of Cultural Relics.
Among them, a set of eight Tang Sancai seven-star plates is composed of a support plate, six small cups, and one large cup. The outer wall of the plate and the body of the cup are glazed with yellow, green and white enamels. The enamel is bright and shiny. This seven-star plate set is a reproduction of real life in the Tang Dynasty and also reflects the magnificent level of craftsmanship of Tang Dynasty pottery.
Tang Sancai Seven Star Plate.Luo Zheng / Photo
A group of 4 celadon plum vases and lids from the late Yuan and early Ming dynasty have great consistency from an enamel and craft perspective. They can come from the same grave. They are extremely rare and are now classified as a group of cultural relics.
Celadon plum vase and lid in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties.Luo Zheng / PhotoA stone carving horse from the Yuan and Ming dynasties, compared to similar stone carvings unearthed from the Tusi tomb of Bozhou, Zunyi, Guizhou, and similar glazed pottery unearthed from the Shu King family cemetery in Chengdu, is considered a carving. stone from the Yuan and Ming dynasties discovered in the southwest region. Rare.
Horse carved in stone in the Yuan and Ming dynasties.Luo Zheng / PhotoA set of 3 small dance and music servants with lead glaze, red tire, lead glaze, relatively complete, with remaining glaze, which may reflect the development of low-temperature lead glaze technology in the Han Dynasty and the content of music and dance in the Han dynasty. It is rare in archaeological materials unearthed in the past Especially the set of glazed ceramic music and dance servants is even more rare.
Lead the glazed ceramic music and dance servant.Luo Zheng / PhotoThere is reportedly a large amount of blue and white porcelain from the Song Dynasty in this batch of cultural relics. From the comprehensive perspective of shape, glaze and firing technology, the production kilns for this batch of blue and white porcelain include the Jingdezhen kilns in Jiangxi, the Jinxi kilns and the Fanchang kilns in Anhui. The popularization and diffusion of blue and white porcelain production technology in the Song dynasty also reflected the social and economic development and commercial prosperity at that time.
If you want to know more about this batch of cultural relics, you can enjoy them one by one in the column “25 years of return: successful recovery of 68 cultural relics of Great Britain” on the home page of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the “1970 Convention”. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage has created a special web page on its official website to display cultural relics and the process of recovering them in China online, and present the “first show” of the relics after their return to the general public. , Share with the international community the “Chinese story” of the recovery of cultural relics.
