The bronze statue of the beast head in the Yuanmingyuan, also known as the "bronze statue of the beast head of the Twelve Zodiac Signs in the Yuanmingyuan", was originally part of the fountain outside the Haiyan Hall of the Yuanmingyuan in China, and was a red bronze statue during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty.
At that time, the Jesuit priest in China, Lang Shining, personally designed these 12 animal heads, representing 24 hours of the day, and when the time came, they would take turns to spray water, just thinking about the scene, it was fascinating. However, in 1860, two robbers entered here with a big swing, leaving 12 bronze statues scattered in all directions, and we will never see the spectacle of that year.
With the improvement of China's strength and the efforts of countless patriots, some bronze heads have returned to the embrace of the motherland, such as the famous "Macau gambling king" Mr. Stanley Ho, who invested 69.1 million Hong Kong dollars to auction the bronze statue of ma shou and then donated it to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. So far, the 7 animal heads of cattle, monkeys, tigers, pigs, rats, rabbits and horses have returned to the motherland.
Regarding the "rat head" and "rabbit head" among them, although the data shows that it is "donated by the French Pino family to China free of charge", many people do not know that there is a touching story in it.
On October 7, 2006, Cai Mingchao, a well-known mainland collector and the first mainland buyer to pocket a high-priced art, won the "Ming Yongle Gilded Bronze Statue of Shakyamuni Shakyamuni" at the Sotheby's Auction in Hong Kong, China, at a price of HK$116.6 million, setting a record for the highest auction in the world so far for Chinese art, and more importantly, ending the bronze Buddha's history of floating overseas for more than half a year.
This unknown businessman who started in the handicraft business has become popular in the auction world overnight, and many people do not understand why he did this, but Cai Mingchao always knew in his heart that he wanted to do his best to bring back the lost overseas national treasures! At that time, the abbot of the Shaolin Temple, Shi Yongxin, said: "This is a major event in the Buddhist community. "I am very sure of Mr. Cai Mingchao's behavior.
In 2009, the rat head and the rabbit head appeared at the Christie's auction in Paris, France, and Mr. Cai Mingchao, who heard the news, immediately rushed to this place, and finally bid for 31.4912 million euros (about 270 million yuan) to the Rat Head and Rabbit Head in the Yuanmingyuan. So why did he make such a move?
Let's first look at the background at that time, for the purchase of Chinese cultural relics that were "snatched" by others in the form of "buyback", most of the Chinese are unacceptable, which is very easy to understand, when people from all walks of life condemned christie's auction of China's animal heads, but the other party did not care at all, insisted on auction. Under such circumstances, Mr. Cai Mingchao made a choice.
He took 2 animal heads under great pressure and risk, and refused to pay, and at the press conference on March 2, Mr. Cai Mingchao said: "As a Chinese, at such a moment, we should stand up, I just did my duty and made our voice heard." However, I can't pay for this. "Winning a round of applause shows the attitude of everyone at that time."
At this time, the French side learned of the matter and immediately launched a heated discussion, one side believed that Cai Mingchao had to bear criminal sanctions: 6 months imprisonment and a fine of 22,500 euros; the other side believed that he should be subject to civil penalties and huge compensation to the auction house. Of course, all this is up to Christie's and the Foundation to decide.
This matter lasted until April 26, 2013, when the French Pinault family announced in Beijing that they would "donate" to the Chinese side the bronze rat and rabbit heads that had been lost overseas. This was the final decision made by France, and no penalty was imposed on Cai Mingchao. When the dust settled, Mr. Cai Mingchao finally sighed and said, "Finally back, congratulations, congratulations!" ”
After refusing to pay the 2 beast heads at that high price, Mr. Cai Mingchao announced his withdrawal from the auction industry, because he was worried that his behavior would be imitated and cause a very bad impact on the circle, so he resolutely faded out of the public eye.
To this day, many people in the Chinese auction industry mention Cai Mingchao and call him a "national hero" with great respect.
Reference: "I won't pay you!" "Eight songs have returned to China's snakes, chickens, dogs, and sheep heads are missing"