In 19860, the Second Opium War broke out in China, and the Anglo-French coalition army invaded Beijing, causing serious harm to the Chinese people. After the Anglo-French army entered Beijing, it plundered Beijing on a large scale, and a large number of precious cultural relics were lost.
Over the years, the Chinese people have been very nostalgic for the past and have a very special affection for cultural relics that have been exiled overseas. Therefore, a large number of experts and collectors are committed to recovering lost overseas cultural relics.
The Yuanmingyuan, which was plundered by the British and French forces, has a building called "Haiyan Hall", which is very cultural. Among them, the world-famous twelve bronze heads are collected here.
After the British and French troops entered the Yuanmingyuan, they plundered on a large scale, and the whereabouts of the twelve bronze heads were unknown. So far, except for the head of the chicken, the head of the snake, the head of the dog, and the head of the sheep, there is no news, and the other heads have returned to the motherland.
Among them, according to reliable sources, the copper head is now in the hands of a Taiwanese collector, but the collector has not been able to appear in public.
The return of the copper head must be full of ruggedness. Among them, the rabbit head and the rat head return to China are even more bizarre. A wealthy businessman sold two lots for 2.7 yuan and then donated them to the state. Afterwards, Fang knew that the two lots had not been paid.
The reason why the rabbit head and the rat head were able to successfully return to China was mainly due to a collector named Cai Mingchao. Cai Mingchao, who made his fortune in the clothing business in his early years, has since developed a strong interest in cultural relics.
After making his fortune, Cai Mingchao entered the antique industry and opened a ceramic culture company in the 1990s. In 2005, Cai Mingchao set up a private auction company, during which he paid special attention to Chinese cultural relics.
In 2006, Tsai Mingchao successfully photographed a Buddha statue in Hong Kong for HK$111.6 million. So far, Cai Mingchao's reputation has been greatly enhanced, and he has won the attention of countless Chinese people.
In February 2009, the news of the auction of rabbit heads and rat heads came from France, and the relevant Chinese departments immediately expressed strong condemnation after hearing about it.
In the end, the auction was held as scheduled. At the same time, Cai Mingchao also heard the news, he has always paid attention to Chinese cultural relics, and then made a commission, if there is a suitable person to auction this object, he will not participate in the auction.
The copper head proceeded as usual, and the starting price of the copper head was as high as 9 million euros. In the end, Cai Mingchao won the copper head for 31.49 million euros, equivalent to about 270 million yuan.
However, a dramatic scene appeared afterwards, when the payment link, Cai Mingchao refused to pay 270 million yuan on the grounds that he could not afford to pay.
After the incident came out, it immediately caused heated discussion, and some people pointed out that Cai Mingchao did not pay attention to honesty and hurt the image of the Chinese people. But Cai Mingchao responded that the copper head belonged to China, and they plundered it by illegal means.
Now we are asked to buy it back at a sky-high price, and I will not pay the money in any case. What Cai Mingchao said is not a lie.
On the surface, Cai Mingchao violated the relevant regulations, and under French law, Cai Mingchao will face 6 months in prison and a fine of 2500 euros.
Fortunately, the French side did not pursue cai Mingchao's relevant responsibilities. Since then, the collection has been held in France. After many negotiations, in 2013, the two bronze heads were able to return to China.
Nowadays, Cai Mingchao has long since withdrawn from the cultural relics circle, and because he has broken international rules, he is bound to be attacked by his crowd. However, Cai Mingchao's attitude of showing that the copper head belongs to China with his personal safety is really admirable.
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