Science and Technology Daily reporter Zhang Galen
"During the loss of the two figurines, they witnessed two world wars, countless epidemics, floods and famine. If they could speak, they would tell the world many things: be kind to people, respect each other, help each other. ”
On December 13, ms. Suzanne Fratus of California, USA, donated two Ming Dynasty pottery figurines in China to the Shanghai Museum. Suzanne wrote a special speech for this purpose. She said the two figurines returned to their hometown not through money or political means, but because of the power of love and respect for the Chinese people.
The return journey of the terracotta figurines dates back to April this year. Zhou Maoyi, deputy consul general of the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, recalled that when their consulate general received a postal courier from Ms. Suzanne, which contained two colorful figurines and a letter telling the 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.
It turned out that 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 Ms. 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". Ms. Suzanne found that a set of honor guard figurines exhibited on the exhibition was very similar to the pottery figurines in her collection. The person in charge of the Shanghai Museum said that the pottery figurines should come from the tombs of stolen Nobles in China.
Two clay figurines donated by Ms. Suzanne Courtesy of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage
Suzanne said she likes ancient Chinese science and excellent traditional Chinese culture, and has admiration for Chinese people. For nearly 40 years, she has been looking forward to returning the artifacts to Chinese people in a suitable way.
The State Administration of Cultural Heritage attaches great importance to this matter, and immediately organizes the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics and the Shanghai Museum to carry out cultural relics appraisal and other related work, judging that these two pottery figurines are Chinese cultural relics, which is more similar to a set of Ming Dynasty colored glazed pottery figurines in the Shanghai Museum. In September, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage respected Ms. 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.
Zhou Maoyi said that in the process of contacting Ms. Suzanne, he could feel that she had good and beautiful feelings for China and Chinese people. Ms. Suzanne lives in a small lakeside town in California. "We see that in relatively remote places, there are sparks of Sino-US friendship burning."
Guan Qiang, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, 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. Ms. Suzanne's righteous act of returning the pottery figurines to her homeland shows an admirable and noble character, shows the friendship of ordinary Americans for the people of Chinese, highlights the "true value of art" contained in the return of cultural relics, expresses the common desire 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.
Screenshot of an online meeting
In accordance with the requirements of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Shanghai Museum prepared the "Special Exhibition of Thousands of Ritual Images - Ming Dynasty Colored Glazed Pottery Figurines", and exhibited the two donated pottery figurines together with the Ming Dynasty color glazed ceremony guards in the collection of the Museum that was exhibited in San Francisco that year. A total of 68 cultural relics are exhibited in the exhibition, and the exhibition period is one month.
Editor: Zhang Qiqi
Review: Wang Xiaolong
【Source: Science and Technology Daily】