Beijing, December 13 (China Youth Daily) -- This morning, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage hosted a ceremony to donate cultural relics into Tibet, and Ms. Suzanne Fratus of California donated two Ming Dynasty pottery figurines from China to the Shanghai Museum. Guan Qiang, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, attended the ceremony at the Beijing venue and announced the opening of the "Thousands of Rituals - Special Exhibition of Colorful Glazed Ceramic Figurines of the Ming Dynasty".
In April, the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco received a postal courier from Suzanne containing two colorful figurines and a letter about her family's relationship with the two figurines, expressing the hope that the cultural relics would be returned to the Chinese through the Chinese government and donated to the Shanghai Museum.
The State Administration of Cultural Heritage attaches great importance to it and immediately organizes the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics and the Shanghai Museum to carry out related work such as cultural relics appraisal, judging that these two pottery figurines are Cultural Relics of China, which is more similar to a set of Ming Dynasty colored glazed pottery figurines collected by the Shanghai Museum. In September, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage respected Suzanne's wishes and designated the Shanghai Museum as the recipient of the two pottery figurines. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage cooperated with the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, Ms. Suzanne, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Heritage, and the Shanghai Museum, and finally the two cultural relics entered Shanghai on November 26 and returned to the motherland.
On December 2, in accordance with the requirements of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Shanghai Museum organized experts to carry out physical appraisal and confirmed that the two pottery figurines were Ming Dynasty funerary tools, which were precious physical materials for studying the ancient Chinese burial system and pottery history, with important collection value, and were determined to be third-class cultural relics. The two cultural relics are the same as the tire quality of a set of Ming Dynasty pottery figurines in the Shanghai Museum, and the low-temperature lead glaze process applied to the surface, and the shape and production style are very similar to the pointed hat figurines in it, which should be works from the same period and the same region.
At the donation ceremony, a short video of susannah, a cultural relics donor, was played, and she said that the separation of the two clay figurines witnessed a century-old history and inspired people to be friendly, respect and help each other. She admired China's beautiful cultural and artistic achievements and decided to return it to her homeland. The two figurines return, not through monetary or political means, but because of the power of love and respect for the Chinese people.
Suzanne's grandfather, John Herbert Waite, practiced medicine in China in the early 20th century, obtained two clay figurines, brought them back to the United States, and handed them over to Suzanne to inherit. In 1983, in order to celebrate the sister cities between Shanghai and San Francisco, the Shanghai Museum went to the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco to hold "Shanghai Museum Collection - 6,000 Years of Chinese Art Exhibition". Suzanne found that the set of honor guard figurines exhibited on the exhibition was very similar to the pottery figurines she had hidden. The person in charge of the Shanghai Museum told him that the pottery figurines should come from the tombs of Chinese stolen nobles. Susannah loves ancient Chinese science and excellent traditional Chinese culture, has admiration for the Chinese people, and has been looking forward to returning cultural relics to Chinese people in a suitable way for nearly 40 years.
Zhou Maoyi, deputy consul general of the Consulate General in San Francisco, said that Ms. Susannah's donation of ancient cultural relics lost to the United States from China and returned to the people of Chinese is a very warm and noble act of righteousness, reflecting the mutual understanding and friendship between the Chinese and American peoples, hoping that through the two clay figurines in Tibet, more people will appreciate the value of Sino-US friendship and promote the healthy and stable development of Sino-US relations.
Guan Qiang said that since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, breakthroughs have been made in the recovery and return of lost cultural relics in China. This time, Ms. Suzanne returned the two pottery figurines to the people of Chinese, and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage coordinated with the Chinese Embassy in the United States, the Consulate General in San Francisco and the relevant departments of Shanghai Municipality to jointly promote the smooth return of cultural relics to the motherland.
"Ms. Suzanne's righteous act of returning the figurines to her homeland shows an admirable and noble character, shows the friendship of ordinary Americans for the Chinese people, highlights the 'true value of art' contained in the return of cultural relics, expresses the common aspiration of people of all countries to work together to protect the cultural heritage of mankind, and will surely lead more people from all walks of life to pay attention to and support the recovery and return of cultural relics, and promote the return of more lost cultural relics." Guan Qiang said.
Source: China Youth Daily client