introduction
China is an ancient civilization with a long history, and in the history of five thousand years of development, the industrious and intelligent Chinese people have created many valuable wealth, which has amazed the world. However, unfortunately, in modern China, it has suffered an unprecedented century-old catastrophe, and many precious cultural relics have been exiled overseas and have not returned, which has made countless Chinese feel lost and regretful.
01
After the founding of New China, in order to retrieve these precious cultural relics in exile, the state has made great efforts and engaged in strong debates with Western countries. In this protracted battle, many people in China have also made great contributions to it. Mr. Ho Hung Sun, a Gambling King of Hong Kong, once spent 69.1 million Hong Kong dollars to buy the horse head of the Yuanmingyuan and immediately returned it to the state, as one of the twelve zodiac signs of the Yuanmingyuan, the horse head finally returned to the embrace of the motherland.
▲He Hongshen and Ma Shou took a group photo
As soon as this matter came out, it was widely reported by the domestic media, and Mr. Ho Hongshen was also supported by countless netizens, who expressed great praise and gratitude for his selfless behavior. How can it not be exciting that the horse's head, which was lost in that catastrophe, was finally able to return home after a hundred years? In order to celebrate this happy event, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the China Museum also held a grand ceremony to warmly welcome Ma Shou back to China.
▲Bronze statue of pig's head
"Sick Book": "The humble did not dare to forget the country, and the matter must wait for the coffin." In fact, this is not the first time that Mr. Ho has contributed to the cause of the return of Chinese cultural relics. As we all know, as early as 2003, Mr. Ho Hung-sun had helped in the purchase of pig heads in the country. At that time, after many inquiries and understandings, China finally learned the whereabouts of one of the twelve bronze heads, the pig head. At that time, the owner of this precious cultural relic was an American collector, and after some negotiations between the Chinese side and it, the American collector finally offered a price of 6 million US dollars to China, and Mr. He Hongshen, after knowing it, directly helped the country to pay the money, so that the pig head returned to China smoothly.
▲Cai Mingchao
Of course, in addition to Mr. Ho Hongshen, there are countless collectors in China who have deep patriotic feelings like him, who are actively searching for Chinese cultural relics overseas, hoping to help those treasures that belong to our country and can return to China, and Cai Mingchao is the most special one. In 2009, when he bought rabbit and rat heads for 270 million at an auction in France, all the Chinese boiled over, and what happened afterwards shocked the world.
▲ Rabbit head and mouse head
02
After taking the rabbit head and the rat head, Cai Mingchao refused to pay the auction house, and his reason was very simple: the rabbit head and the rat head were originally Chinese cultural relics, so why should they pay others. At that time, at the auction in France, the rat head and rabbit head, which are one of the bronze heads of the chinese zodiac, were auctioned by the auctioneer. When China learned of this incident, it quickly made contact with the French side, to which it firmly and strongly expressed its opposition to the Unauthorized Auction of Cultural Relics Belonging to Our Country by France. However, the French side ignored the opinions and attitudes of the Chinese side and always insisted on going its own way, wanting to auction off the two Chinese cultural relics.
▲ The Pino family returns the rabbit head and the rat head
Just when everyone was deeply sorry for it, Cai Mingchao, a famous collector in China, suddenly appeared and auctioned these two copper heads on the spot at a high price of 270 million, and people seemed to see the hope of the return of rabbit heads and rat heads. However, just when all the Chinese were immersed in the joy that the cultural relics were about to return to the motherland, Cai Mingchao's refusal to pay made people very puzzled, and then he said: Since the copper head is a cultural relic left over from China, it cannot be bought and sold, and it is reasonable for himself as a Chinese to take it away.
▲Cai Mingchao's press conference old photos
Although Cai Mingchao's approach has greatly hit the arrogance of French auctioneers, in fact, this practice is very risky, and many people think that such a breach of credibility and rules is very bad. Doing so will not only have a very bad impact on his own social image and personal fame and fortune, but even damage the reputation of the entire Chinese collection community to a certain extent. But Cai Mingchao said that it does not matter to sacrifice his reputation for the return of cultural relics, and his approach has also been supported by a large number of netizens.
epilogue
On April 26, 2013, under great pressure from all sides, the Pinault family in France finally decided to return the bronze rabbit and rat heads that originally belonged to China to China free of charge. Cai Mingchao, who received this news, was very excited and conveyed his joy about the matter through his friends. "Difficult to walk": "Long winds and breaking waves will sometimes hang directly on the clouds and sails to the sea." "The return of cultural relics is inseparable from every Chinese who silently dedicates themselves in the process, and I believe that with the joint efforts of all Chinese, those cultural relics that are still floating overseas will one day return to their homes."
Resources:
"Sick Book", "Difficult to walk"