As a country with extremely developed Oriental civilization, China has always been proud of its many amazing cultural treasures in history.
Among them, the Yuanmingyuan, which was built during the Qianlong period and later unfortunately destroyed in the fire of the Anglo-French coalition army, carries our exquisite skills and humiliating history.
The bronze head of the zodiac sign, which was originally located in the Haiyan Hall of the Yuanmingyuan, has experienced and witnessed a humiliating history in modern China, and the return of the bronze head lost overseas seems to confirm our revival.
Spray water timing, Wei Wei is a grand view
Haiyan Hall in the Yuanmingyuan, built in the 24th year of Qianlong, according to the "Sun in the Sun" in the "Wenyuan Yinghua": "Heqing Haiyan, Shihe Nianfeng", the name of Haiyan Hall is a symbol of "Haiyan River Qing, the world is too peaceful".
Speaking of the architectural treasures in Haiyan Hall, we have to mention the bronze head of the zodiac.
The bronze statue of the head of the beast is in the shape of an "eight" figure, which is arranged on the stone platforms on both sides of the fountain in the Haiyan Hall. Each copper head represents an hour—two hours.
At each hour, the corresponding copper heads will spray water for two hours, and at noon, all the copper heads will spray water together, which is quite spectacular.
Experienced war and lost overseas
In 1860, during the Second Opium War, when the Anglo-French army invaded China, the decaying Qing Dynasty was vulnerable, Emperor Xianfeng fled with a group of concubines and ministers to take refuge in the Chengde Palace, and Beijing fell under the iron heel of the invaders.
Greedy Western colonists plundered the city of Beijing, burned and looted, and finally set their sights on the Yuanmingyuan. After looting the treasures in the Yuanmingyuan, in order to cover up their crimes, the British and French forces burned down the Yuanmingyuan.
The Yuanmingyuan, which symbolizes Chinese culture, has since been destroyed, leaving only the ruins of the broken wall. The treasures in the Yuanmingyuan were also taken overseas by the invaders, which naturally included the bronze heads of the zodiac.
Sinister intentions, driving up prices
Because the loss of cultural relics overseas is so important to us, many patriots have spontaneously sought and wanted to buy them back and wash away our shame.
Western robbers who illegally appropriated these artifacts were not aware of the meaning, but were willing to cooperate when they saw that patriots were willing to pay for them.
However, when they saw our feelings of urgency and cherishing, they showed their hideous faces and began to raise the price of these cultural relics in order to make huge profits, which was really outrageous.
After a rough ride, a difficult return
The price-raising behavior of the descendants of the Western colonists who occupied the bronze head provoked the anger of many people, and even some Western collectors said that they could not accept it.
The Pino family in France bought the rat and rabbit heads of the bronze heads at the French auction for 28 million euros, and they later donated the rat heads and rabbit heads to China free of charge.
In 2003, He Hongshen, known as the "gambling king", bought back the pig head for 6 million yuan and donated it to the state free of charge.
In 2007, Ho bought another horse head for HK$69.1 million, which he later donated to the state. And it is on the horse's head that we can once again see the exquisite skills of our ancient craftsmen.
Amazing technology, breathtaking
After the horse head was handed over to the country, the relevant experts used modern X-ray technology to identify and study it, and the results presented under the microscopic technology were surprising.
Experts found that the casting of the horse's head was made of the traditional lost wax method of one pour, and there was no sign of secondary pouring. Not only that, but the horse's head under the microscope can still make people finely distinguish each part, and even the fine hairs on the horse's mane are clearly visible.
In order to fully display the artistic value of the horse's head, the casting craftsmen also specially selected the red copper with fine color ratio as the raw material, so that the entire artistic effect is impeccable.
No wonder experts, after technical identification, have lamented that this is impossible.
After the trip, we have not gathered together yet
Over the years, after the help and donations of many patriots and enthusiasts, twelve zodiac bronze heads, and now 7 have returned to the motherland.
The 5 whose whereabouts are temporarily unknown are still uncertain. There are rumors that the dragon's head is hiding in Taiwan, while the remaining snake heads, chicken heads, dog heads, and sheep heads have not even heard a word.
The bronze head of the Zodiac was originally only part of Many Of China's cultural treasures, but because it carries a memory of a humiliating history, it has attracted special attention.
brief summary
In today's increasingly powerful China, there are many, many cultural relics that have been lost like the bronze heads of the zodiac.
Finding their traces and returning them to the motherland, in addition to allowing us to recreate the exquisite craftsmanship and splendid culture of that year, as part of history, they deserve to be pursued and commemorated, in memory of that humiliating and defiant historical time.
And even if some cultural relics have died, the meaning of culture will not be dissolved by time.
References: Wenyuan Yinghua, Draft History of the Qing Dynasty