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On June 5438+ 10, 2003, more than a dozen famous China cultural relics experts gathered in Beijing, strongly condemning and protesting a statement jointly issued by the British Museum, Louvre Museum, etc. 19 European and American museums and research institutions. In their statement on the importance and value of world museums, these European and American museums, which have collected a large number of cultural relics plundered from other countries and nationalities, claim that they are opposed to returning artworks, including those obtained by looting and other improper means in the imperialist war of aggression, to their countries of origin.
China is an ancient civilization for thousands of years. According to incomplete statistics, there are more than/kloc-0,000,000 exquisite China cultural relics in more than 200 museums in 47 overseas countries. Among them, a large part was usurped when it was invaded and humiliated in modern times.
European and American museums issued a statement against the return.
China experts gathered to protest and refute.
On February 9, 2002, the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum in New York and other European and American 19 museums and research institutions issued the Statement on the Importance and Value of the Universal Museum (hereinafter referred to as the Statement). Although the declaration also stated that "the International Federation of Museums firmly believes that illegal trade in cultural relics, artworks and works of ethnic minorities should be resolutely stopped." But at the same time, it claimed: "These items acquired before should be treated according to different values and sensitivities, and should reflect the characteristics of the previous era. These commemorative works were stored in museums in Europe and America decades or even centuries ago, and they were obtained under different conditions. For a long time, these acquired items, whether through purchase or gift exchange, have become part of the museum where these items are preserved and extended to the countries where these items are collected. " Finally, the statement said: "Calling for the return of these works that have long belonged to the museum's collection is an important issue for the museum in recent years. Although it needs to be discussed and treated differently, we should admit that museums serve the people of not only one country, but all countries. ..... it is disrespectful to all visitors to restrict the museum's collection of different and diverse works. "
Although the rhetoric is euphemistic, the attitude of refusing cultural relics and artworks to return to China in the declaration is still very clear. Moreover, the declaration intentionally blurs an important fact: their large collection of cultural relics and artworks was obtained by illegal means such as looting during the imperialist war of aggression.
On June 65438+1October 2 1 this year, more than ten famous China cultural relics experts and scholars, such as Wang, Li Xueqin and Luo, gathered in Beijing Poly Building under the organization of the special fund for rescuing the lost overseas cultural relics of China Social and Cultural Development Foundation to protest and refute the above statement of European and American museums.
Luo, president of the China Cultural Relics Society, said whose things have not been returned. Since the Opium War, a large number of precious cultural relics in China have been scattered overseas by improper means, which is a historical fact. If this statement is adopted, the door to the return of cultural relics will be closed and it will be difficult for people to accept it.
Mr. Wang, a well-known expert on cultural relics, said that the precious cultural relics handed down from ancient China are the spiritual wealth of people all over the world, but people should never be allowed to sneak around and rob them openly. Buddhist statues such as Yungang and Longmen Grottoes, Dunhuang murals, national treasures of Yuanmingyuan, etc. All belong to the cultural relics plundered from China and should be returned free of charge.
Li Xueqin, a famous scholar, believes that the loss of a large number of cultural relics has caused irreparable losses. The ancient civilization's demand for recycling cultural relics did not start from now. Greece has been demanding the return of cultural relics for 30 years. The loss of cultural relics is an old problem, and the reaction of third world countries is particularly strong. China, as a country with a large loss of cultural relics, should also have its own voice. If a country is weak, third world countries can form alliances through the people.
The number of China cultural relics lost overseas is huge, and the situation varies widely. Experts believe that lost cultural relics should be treated differently. Some in history have been lost and given to others. However, the looted cultural relics must be recovered and beheading must be completed.
Mr Xie Chensheng believes that the loss of cultural relics can be divided into two periods. More than 100 years before the founding of New China, China was poor and weak, and a large number of cultural relics were lost, which was not only an economic problem, but also a political and historical problem. At another time, since the 1990s, many cultural relics have been lost due to grave robbery and smuggling, mainly due to economic problems.
Xie Chensheng believes that under the premise of assistance, we should draw a clear line between legal and illegal. Illegally lost cultural relics must be recovered by legal means. If we use economic means, it will stimulate losses and turn good things into bad things.
Experts attending the meeting also said that saving national treasures and protecting cultural relics is a righteous act to conform to public opinion and win the hearts of the people. You should have a firm belief, which cannot be done by one generation. You must do it from generation to generation. This is related to the national spirit and the long-term cause of rejuvenating China.
The Special Fund for the Rescue of Lost Overseas Cultural Relics also issued an open letter saying: "The Declaration for the first time expressed its opposition to the return of works of art, including cultural relics and works of art obtained by illegal means such as plunder in the imperialist war of aggression. This contradicts the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illegal Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, runs counter to justice and fairness, and tramples on the legitimate rights of the infringed countries and nations. ..... Art is the wealth of all mankind. We don't object to the worldwide spread of China's cultural relics, but they can only be appreciated by * * *, not by * * *. Many works of art in China have spread abroad through fair trade and mutual benefit. They are placed in many museums around the world for people to watch and study, which makes the people of China feel gratified and proud. But this cannot be confused with the cultural relics lost through immoral, unjust or even illegal channels in the war. ..... If the museum exhibits works of art that have been illegally plundered or even incomplete, it is an artistic misfortune and a blasphemy against human civilization. "
How much do you know about overseas China cultural relics?
Chinese civilization has lasted for 5,000 years, which constitutes an indispensable cadenza in the history of world civilization. The excellent culture of the Chinese nation, represented by cultural relics such as calligraphy and painting classics and craft treasures, is a precious artistic wealth and cultural heritage left by China to the world. Today, they are scattered like pearls in museums, art galleries and private collections around the world. According to incomplete statistics, in more than 200 museums in 47 countries, there are more than/kloc-0,000,000 exquisite China cultural relics.
According to Mr. Zu Shilong, the special fund for rescuing lost overseas cultural relics, China cultural relics have been scattered overseas through five channels:
1. Normal trade or gifts. For example, porcelain was a major export product of China in ancient times. Since the Tang and Five Dynasties, it has been exported to all parts of the world together with silk, tea and other commodities.
The second is brought out by overseas Chinese.
3. Being plundered in the war. Since modern times, China has been invaded by imperialism repeatedly, and a large number of cultural relics have been plundered every time.
4. Being illegally excavated or stolen.
5. Being cheated at a low price.
Zu Shilong said that the above situation should be analyzed in detail. All China cultural relics left abroad in normal communication should not be investigated, but those looted, stolen or defrauded should resort to international law for recovery. Zhao Hong, who is also in the special fund for rescuing lost overseas cultural relics, said that China's national treasures mainly flow to modern imperialist countries such as Britain, France, Russia, the United States and Japan. In the British Museum, the China cultural relics on display are only a fraction of the total number of China cultural relics, but a whole hall has been filled with Dunhuang murals. In the French National Library and Jimei Museum, Dunhuang cultural relics in China are unparalleled in the world. Almost all the cultural relics of the Xixia Dynasty, which was once brilliant in the history of China, were taken away by Russia. With guns and a large sum of dollars, the United States has also occupied a large number of fine ancient cultural relics in China, and in recent years, China cultural relics have often been auctioned at sky-high prices in the auction market. In order to obtain the largest known Western Zhou heavy weapon known as the "first treasure tripod", Japan once killed and set fire to people, broke down walls and doors, and dug three feet into the ground without success. 1945 at the end of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, according to the rough statistics of China government, the Japanese army plundered more than 3.6 million pieces of China cultural relics, 1870 boxes.
Why is it difficult to return the looted cultural relics in modern China?
In 1980s, China government began to integrate the protection of historical and cultural heritage with the international standards, acceded to many international conventions on the protection of cultural relics, adhered to the solemn position of recovering historical stolen and illegally exported cultural relics in China, and successfully recovered many lost cultural relics by diplomatic and legal means.
However, we also see that the cultural relics that have been returned to China are mainly lost due to illegal smuggling in recent years. However, according to international conventions, it is still difficult to recover a large number of national treasures lost in the war in modern China.
Mr. Zu Shilong, the special fund for rescuing lost overseas cultural relics, said that there are many reasons. For example, the Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Relics stipulates that any cultural relics robbed or lost due to war should be returned without time limit. There is no time limit here. First, no matter when the war breaks out, you can always ask for it back. However, although this principle has been basically recognized internationally, there is no "culture" at present. Although international conventions stipulate that looted cultural relics should be returned to the returning countries, some western countries-which also have the largest collection of lost cultural relics in China-have not signed these conventions so far. In fact, the convention has no legal effect on these countries.
In addition, for some reasons, these national museums are subjectively unwilling to return the cultural relics lost in China, and even have strict restrictions on visiting and taking photos, which makes it extremely difficult for the government to make representations.
The voice of the country of origin demanding the return of cultural relics is constantly rising.
In fact, for a country in China, the looting of cultural relics is not a bad thing. Since the colonial period after17th century, the cultural relics of the colonized countries have been plundered almost without exception. For example, the famous code of hammurabi was discovered and transported by a French archaeological team in Susa, Iran, and is now kept in the Louvre Museum. In North Africa and West Asia, due to Napoleon's Crusades, a large number of Egyptian antiquities were stolen to France. 1800, the British ambassador to Turkey even planned to transport the Parthenon and Greek mythology sculptures to the British Museum in London.
Since11960 s and11970 s, some newly independent countries have begun to realize that a nation's cultural heritage helps to enhance national consciousness, stimulate pride and generate attraction. Therefore, the call for "return" or "repayment" of looted national cultural relics is getting louder and louder, and some relevant international treaties have been signed one after another. 198 1 year, the United Nations passed a resolution requiring museums and public and private collection institutions in various countries to return all or part of their illegal cultural relics to their original countries. It can be seen that it is a moral principle recognized and accepted by major international organizations to rebuild damaged cultural heritage by returning cultural relics that have been rudely deprived.
However, due to the above reasons, there are still many difficulties in realizing this principle in reality. For example, Elgin marble sculpture, originally placed in the Parthenon in Greece, was a work of art in Athens in the 5th century BC. /kloc-At the beginning of the 9th century, Elgin, an Englishman, bribed relevant officials, brought them back to Britain and sold them to the British government, and now they are in the British Museum. 1983, the Greek government formally requested the return of the stone carvings, but it was rejected by the British government and has not been resolved so far.
However, history is advancing and civilization is progressing. In the past 30 years, there have also been many cases of returning national cultural relics. For example, 1977 Belgium returned thousands of cultural relics to Zaire; In the same year, the Netherlands returned to Indonesia a large number of cultural relics, including Buddhist and Hindu statues; 1997, a batch of Mycenae precious cultural relics stolen for more than 20 years were transported back to Athens from the United States; In 2000, Britain returned to Egypt the head of an Egyptian queen about 3,000 years ago, and so on.
Several Major Cultural Relics Loss Events in China
Modern China is a humiliating history. In the hundred years after the Opium War, the Chinese nation was bullied and plundered by western powers, and a large number of national treasures were robbed and secretly taken away, and they lived in foreign countries for a long time. Several historical events are the peak of cultural relics loss in China.
Yuanmingyuan was killed.
1860, the British and French allied forces looted and burned the Yuanmingyuan, known as the "Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens", and the fire lasted for three days. Since Kangxi, more than 6,543.8+10,000 statues made of pure gold, silver, jade carving and bronze in Yuanmingyuan have been collected by successive emperors, and have since been lost. There are 3,503 kinds of ancient books, including 79,337 volumes, in Sikuquanshu collected in Wen Yuan Pavilion of Yuanmingyuan, and all of them have been lost since then. Yuanmingyuan has more than 10 million pieces of Shang and Zhou bronzes, fine porcelain of past dynasties, rare books of ancient books, famous paintings and calligraphy, which have been lost since then. French emperor Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte specially built the China Cultural Relics Museum in Fontainebleau Palace to collect the national treasures of Yuanmingyuan; The British Museum has Gu Kaizhi's "A Picture of Women's History in the Eastern Jin Dynasty" (a copy of the Tang Dynasty), and a white horse with a length of 3 feet and a height of 2 feet copied by ministers and family members during the Qianlong period. ...
Eight-Nation Alliance went to Beijing.
1900, Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, and the precious cultural relics and ancient books hidden in many palaces, including Yongle Grand Ceremony, were looted by the great powers. After this catastrophe, Beijing's "savings since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, from laws and regulations to national treasures, all went up in smoke".
Dunhuang was robbed.
1On June 22nd, 900, a man surnamed Yang who was hired by Wang Daoshi, the host of the Mogao Grottoes, to clean up the sand accidentally discovered the Tibetan Sutra Cave behind the north wall of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. The news spread everywhere, and Obruchev, a Russian, was the first to take away the Dunhuang suicide note. 1905, 10 In June, he used only six packages of inferior paraffin as bait and got five packages of precious manuscripts from Wang Daochang. 1907 In March, the Englishman Stein came to Dunhuang and stole thousands of exquisite Buddhist scriptures and silk paintings, with about 200 taels of silver, including 29 boxes. Since then, Stein came to Dunhuang for the second time and exchanged 500 taels of silver for more than 570 priceless hand scrolls from Taoist Wang. Later, pelliot, a Frenchman, with his excellent knowledge of Sinology, visited Dunhuang for three weeks and stole all the essence of the Tibetan Sutra Cave for 500 taels of silver, accounting for more than 6,000 volumes and 10 wooden cases. It was not until this time 1909 that the academic circles in China and the Qing government learned about the great discovery of Buddhist scriptures in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes. Then until the autumn of 1923, Warner stripped off the exquisite murals of Mogao Grottoes 12 and took away one of the most exquisite colored sculptures in the Tang Dynasty.
Oracle Bone Inscriptions loss
1899, Wang, a scholar of epigraphy in the Qing Dynasty, bought a keel in a Chinese medicine shop in Darentang, Caishikou, because of illness, and found that the back of the bone was vaguely engraved with words, which was difficult to distinguish. Surprisingly, Oracle Bone Inscriptions found it. Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins is royal archives in the late Yin Shang Dynasty in China, covering almost all aspects of the Yin Shang era 3,000 years ago. However, since the date of excavation, the Oracle bones in Yin Ruins have been lost, searched and swept away in various names. At present, there are about 200,000 pieces of Oracle bones in Yin Ruins, and nearly 30,000 pieces have been lost overseas, covering Japan, the United States, Britain and other countries 12.
Puyi's "Inside job and stealing from oneself"
1922, the last emperor of the Qing dynasty, Puyi, smuggled six boxes of 1200 exquisite paintings and calligraphy out of the palace. These cultural treasures traveled with him in Beijing, Tianjin, Changchun and other places for 22 years, and were sold from time to time on the way. In the meantime, Yan, a great painter in the Tang Dynasty, moved out of Tianjin and changed hands with the Japanese. After World War II, it was collected by Boston Museum. Li, a great painter in the Northern Song Dynasty, and Han, a great painter in the Tang Dynasty. The Wu Niu Tu with the same name also flowed out of Tianjin, and it is said that it is now hidden by a Japanese law professor.
1945 When Japan surrendered, Puyi fled hastily, and the remaining cultural relics in the "Xiaobailou" in Changchun were looted by soldiers and bandits. These scattered national treasures were called "Northeast Goods" by antique circles at that time, and many of them flowed out of China through various channels. Only the Metropolitan Museum of New York has 17 pieces. Among them, Guo's "One Tree Flat Color Map" in the Northern Song Dynasty is hidden in the United States; Mi Fei's Poem on the Boat in Wujiang River is hidden in the United States; In the Southern Song Dynasty, Jiang Shen's "Landscape of Mountains and Rivers" contained beauty; In the Northern Song Dynasty, Song Huizong's "Birds in the Golden Autumn" was hidden in Britain. ...
Sun Dianying "robbed the tomb"
1928, Sun Dianying, a warlord, led a brutal excavation of Qianlong Mausoleum and Cixi Mausoleum in Qing Dynasty. The national treasures gathered in the tombs were looted, and most of them were used by Sun Dianying to buy arms, and they were lost to foreign countries, causing huge losses, which are still incalculable.
"Beijingers" lost their brains.
1929 On February 2nd, at Zhoukoudian, 50km southwest of Beijing, Pei Wenzhong, aged 25, unearthed the skull of the first Peking man who had been sleeping for 500,000 years. Since then, two more skulls have been unearthed. During the Anti-Japanese War, 194 1 year, the skull safety of "Beijingers" stored in Peking Union Medical College Hospital was threatened. After consultation, it was decided to transport the skull of Beijingers to new york Museum of Natural History for temporary storage. On February 5, 65438, the US Marine Corps escorted the box containing the skull of "Beijinger" and prepared to board the cruise ship "President Harrison" in Qinhuangdao. On February 7th, 65438, the Pacific War broke out. President Harrison was intercepted by the Japanese on the way to Qinhuangdao and ran aground in the Yangtze River. Since then, the whereabouts of the skull of "Beijingers" have been unknown, which has become a historical mystery.