The two generations of emperors of the Qing Dynasty left priceless national treasures to posterity, and the state purchase was rejected, so why did he donate to the United States free of charge
China is a big country, with a history of five thousand years and a long civilization, carrying the thickest history and culture in China, on the mottled oracle bones of the years, in the bamboo pieces eroded by wind and dust, in the Silk Road that stretches for three thousand miles, and in the splendid Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, everywhere records the charm of the great power of the East, and they also support the backbone of our national pride. However, in China's thousands of years of history, the land of Shenzhou has experienced countless wars and fires, and the sons and daughters of China have also suffered hardships. Therefore, many antique national treasures representing Chinese culture and civilization were plundered by foreign powers, and in the Qing Dynasty, which is the closest to our modern era, the Yuanmingyuan, known as the "Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens", was destroyed by the three-day fire of the British and French coalition forces, and 1.5 million cultural relics and national treasures were lost overseas.
The Yuanmingyuan is the humiliation of the Chinese, but also the eternal pain in the hearts of Chinese, any Chinese with conscience will regret the loss of a million pieces of national treasure, there are many patriots, but also for the return of national treasures to China silently make efforts, some antique collectors do not hesitate to go bankrupt, from abroad to buy cultural relics representing China's history and culture, selflessly donated to the motherland, there are also industrialists from abroad to photograph China's national treasures, let him return to the motherland, the famous Macau gambling king Ho Hung-sin, has many times taken China's national treasures from abroad, Donated free of charge to the National Museum, the lost Yuanmingyuan Zodiac Pig Head, he also spared no expense to let them return to the embrace of the motherland from scratch.
Patriotic feelings are things that grow in the bones of people with conscience, and a person's patriotic feelings are all from the bottom of their hearts, and whether they have patriotism or not depends on what he has really done for the country. There are countless collectors of antique cultural relics in China, of course, there are cultural relics that can be called national treasures in their homes, you can't ask them to dedicate those cultural relics to the country, of course, you can't say that they are not patriotic if they don't dedicate them to the country, that's their private property, we can't stand on the moral high ground, use patriotism to kidnap them, but there is one thing that is still worthy of our satisfaction, even if it is privately hidden, those national treasures are still in China.
People's ideological realm and moral character are different, some people spare no effort to return national treasures to China, and some people dedicate national treasures to foreign countries regardless of people's opinions. In China, there is a collector and connoisseur of cultural relics named Weng Wange, whose ancestor is a high-ranking official of the Qing Dynasty, a heavy minister of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Weng Tonggong, who has served successively in the posts of Shangshu of the Household Department and the Ministry of Works, minister of military aircraft, etc., or the emperor of the Tongzhi and Guangxu dynasties, whose artificial poetry and painting, especially calligraphy, is famous in the world, he is also an important politician in the Qing court, and he is also a source of left and right in the official field, such as Fish Deshui, and the Yang Naiwu and Xiao Cabbage case, which has been well known for hundreds of years, it is he who has been unjustly punished for his Zhaoxue.
Although Weng Tonggong was said to be a high-ranking Han official, his talent was deeply valued by the Qing Dynasty, and his power was so great that even many of the Eight Banners disciples could only look up to him. The Qing Dynasty has one of the most peculiar phenomena, whether it is large and small officials, are constantly accumulating wealth, the famous wealth collection master and Yan, can be described as rich and enemy of the country, and the emperor knows that he is very greedy, but also turned a blind eye, or reuse him, in such a big environment, Weng Tonggong naturally also left a lot of property for future generations, to Weng Wange's generation, the family still treasures a considerable number of cultural relics and antiques, and each piece is a priceless treasure.
Among the treasures passed down by Weng Tonggong, one is a picture scroll that Weng Wange regards as a strange treasure, and it is also the most valuable in the Weng family's collection, this painting is called "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River", which is about ten meters long. This national treasure picture, the state once wanted to buy at a discount, but was rejected by Weng Wange, let alone donated, and later he was auctioned off by the Shanghai Library for 4.5 million yuan in the auction situation. It is understood that many of the treasures of the Weng family are treasured abroad, and when China was not yet liberated, in order to take refuge, Weng Wange transported the treasures of the family overseas, which is also one of the important reasons why his family treasures can be preserved.
Weng Wange's collection is his own private property, such as "Yangtze River Wanlitu", of course, he has the right not to donate or sell to his own country, this point, we can not blame, but, as a Chinese, with the blood of yanhuang descendants, in the past ten years, he has donated more than 20 pieces of Chinese national treasures overseas free of charge, such a practice, it is really difficult to accept, if it is sold to abroad, we can not say that you are mercenary, is a businessman who only recognizes money, but why do you want to donate for free? Of course, this has also aroused many doubts and puzzlements among the Chinese people, and public opinion is also full of condemnation.
Some people believe that the cultural relics record human history, it belongs to the world, and no matter which country Onwango donates, it is a contribution to mankind, but he did not take into account the feelings of Chinese, which is an unintentional act. This explanation seems to me to be far-fetched, if Weng Wango's previous donation was really unintentional, then on the eve of his birthday, he later donated all 183 precious antiques from his family to the Museum of Boston, USA, free of charge. Among the nearly 200 cultural relics, there are calligraphy, painting, embroidery and rubbings, each of which represents the culture and civilization of China in that period, and its historical span is as long as 13 centuries, which is not only an antique cultural relic, but also a historical document and material, which is a witness to Chinese civilization.
For Weng Wange's practice, not only the Chinese people are puzzled, the Chinese officials are also very puzzled, his family in addition to these 183 cultural relics, there are more treasures, considering that it will no longer be lost, the state put forward the idea of buying back, but he immediately politely declined, why is this? According to Onwango, the reason why he donated 183 cultural relics to the United States free of charge was entirely out of the need to better protect them and find a better home for them. This explanation of his not only did not get the understanding of the Chinese people, but also attracted a wave of condemnation and condemnation, and some people directly questioned, "Are China's national museums not qualified to treasure your antiques?" "Your practices and statements like this have the meaning of obviously discriminating against your own country, don't forget that you are yellow-skinned and dark-eyed!"