As early as 1913, the government of the Republic of China promulgated the Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics, which explicitly prohibited the outflow of national treasures, but when the state issued three orders to rectify the cultural relics market, a shocking case occurred.
In order to commemorate the six war horses that accompanied him throughout his life, Emperor Taizong of Tang ordered the brothers Yan Lide and Yan Liben to create the "Six Horses of Zhaoling".
Saroko and Fist Hair
The "Saroko" and "Fist Hair" of the Six Horses were stolen shortly after the decree was issued and sold to the University of Pennsylvania Museum for $125,000, setting a record for the largest cultural relics transaction in the United States at that time.
The impact of the incident was extremely bad, which aroused the great attention of the Republic of China government, and Lu Qinzhai, the largest cultural relics traitor in China, surfaced.
Lu Qinzhai was born in 1880 in Huzhou, Zhejiang. The Lu family was originally a local noble family, but when he was ten years old, his father was addicted to gambling and his mother committed suicide in anger.
Lu Qinzhai
Lu Qinzhai was sent to his uncle's house to raise, because he did not want to send people to the fence, a few years later he went to Huzhou to help the Zhang family. Lu Qinzhai was clever and clever, and he was able to bear hardships and stand hard work, and he was deeply pleased by Zhang Jingjiang, the great young master of the Zhang family, that is, one of the four elders of the Kuomintang in the future.
Zhang Jingjiang's father donated a second-grade candidate for him, and at the age of 25, he made up for the actual vacancy and went to France as a commercial counselor, and took Lu Qinzhai with him by the way.
Zhang Jingjiang registered a general transport company in Paris, mainly engaged in silk, tea, and also took care of some antiques. Because Zhang's uncle was a great collector in Jiangnan, Tongyun Company later specialized in antique cultural relics.
Zhang Jingjiang
Lu Qinzhai entered the industry at this time, and quickly showed an amazing talent for appreciation, and it took only eight years to stand alone. Zhang Jingjiang later followed Sun Yat-sen to the revolutionary cause, and felt more and more that Yuntong had become a burden, so he simply closed the company.
In this case, 28-year-old Lu Qinzhai set up his own portal and founded the "Laiyuan Company" in Paris. Without the support of the Zhang family, Lu Qinzhai's business was up and down, and it was not until 1911 that he quickly grew up after cooperating with The Shanghai antiques giant Wu Qizhou, opening semicolons in Shanghai and Beijing.
Because he earns money from foreigners, Lu Qinzhai has abundant funds and the offers he makes are far higher than his peers, so he has the right to take precedence in China. With strong strength and sufficient supply, Laiyuan Company has become a private company that sells the most precious cultural relics, has the longest operating time and the greatest influence overseas in just a few decades.
The damage caused by Lu Qinzhai to Chinese cultural relics is incalculable, and almost all major tomb robbery cases in the Republic of China are directly or indirectly related to Lu Qinzhai.
In 1913, the French businessman Paul Malone hired someone to infiltrate Zhaoling and smash the "Salu Purple" and "Fist Hair Lying", but during the transportation, he was captured by the Shaanxi overseer Lu Jianzhang.
At this time, Yuan Shikai happened to build a large garden in Beijing. The antique dealer Zhao Hefang asked Yuan Kewen, the second son of Yuan, to ask Lu Jianzhang for the two stone horses to decorate the Yuan family garden.
Zhao Hefang took Yuan Kewen's strips to Shaanxi to pick up the goods, but before the stone horses could be transported to Beijing, Yuan Shikai died. Zhao Hefang did not need to be in the way of Yuan Kewen, and sold it to Lu Qinzhai in another hand.
Lu Qinzhai helped the University of Pennsylvania Museum to transport the Erjun away by means of forged official documents and false customs declarations.
Lu Qinzhai in the "Red Chamber" in Paris
Regarding the smuggling and resale of cultural relics, Lu Qinzhai has always insisted:
I have always been involved in the trade of antiquities with the world in mind. I am convinced that works of art know no borders and that they travel the world like silent ambassadors, known and appreciated by the world.
Europeans and Americans regard him as a cultural messenger, but China is eager to cramp him and peel his skin. In 1948, tan Jingwei, a famous collector in Shanghai, punished him for making old fakes, resulting in a loss of millions of francs. The cultural world applauded.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the state seized Lu Qinzhai's uninvited goods and captured Lu Qinzhai's four kongs. In 1952, Lu Qinzhai announced his withdrawal from the cultural relics market due to lack of supply.