On December 1, 2020, the bronze statue of Ma Shou returned to the Yuanmingyuan, which is known to be the credit of Mr. Ho Hung-sun. However, Mr. Stanley Ho was able to buy a bronze statue of a horse head in the Old Summer Palace, which has nothing to do with Sotheby's in Hong Kong.
Because it was He Hongshen who paid the money, and the final consent was commissioned by the Chinese seller who sold the bronze statue of Ma Shou!
At the end of July 2007, when Sotheby's announced that it would auction the bronze statue of the horse's head in the Old Summer Palace on October 8, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage contacted the company to oppose the public auction of Chinese cultural relics looted by the invaders.
In mid-August, gambling king Ho Hung-sun also persuaded Sotheby's to sell him the bronze statue of the horse's head. "We are an international auction house and we can't just sell lots to Chinese buyers, it's unfair to other buyers in the world," Sotheby's said. ”
At The insistence of Ho, Sotheby's hong Kong finally agreed to tell the seller behind the bronze statue of Ma Shou and let them contact them directly.
This seller is a Taiwanese collector.
In 1989, a Taiwanese collector bought bronze statues of horse, tiger and bull heads for $1 million at an auction in London. The following year, he privately transferred it to several private collectors in Taiwan.
In September 2007, when the Taiwanese collector learned that Ho was going to buy it and donate to his homeland, he happily agreed to sell to Ho at a reserve price of HK$68 million, plus Sotheby's commission, totaling HK$69.1 million.
In this way, before the official auction on October 8, 2007, the bronze statue of the horse's head in the Yuanmingyuan was bought by Mr. Ho Hongshen in advance. And the commission that should be given to Sotheby's is not less at all.
By 2019, the bull's head, tiger's head, monkey's head, pig's head, rat's head, rabbit's head and horse's head in the Yuanmingyuan Zodiac have all returned to the motherland through different ways, and there are still 5 left.
So in whose hands are the remaining five bronze statues?
It is reported that the dragon head was quietly bought by a Chinese collector in Taiwan in 2018, and the other four bronze statues are still missing. However, with the prosperity of the motherland, I believe that all the cultural relics that have been lost will return home.
Mentioning several other bronze statues of the Yuanmingyuan zodiac that have returned home, there are some connections with Mr. Ho Hung-sun.
In Hong Kong and Macau, when it comes to gambling kings, people know that they refer to Ho Hongshen, who is worth 500 billion yuan.
As a representative of Macao's entertainment and gaming industry, Ho Hung-sin is not only a successful businessman, but also a patriot, who has done a lot of work to promote the smooth return of Macao and donated a large number of lost ancient cultural relics to the country.
In 1987, Ho donated 147 ancient Chinese cultural relics to the state.
In 2003, he paid HK$6 million to buy back the bronze statue of the pig's head in the Yuanmingyuan and donated it to the Poly Museum.
In 2007, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, he donated precious artworks with the theme of "return" to the country.
The bronze statues of tiger heads and bull heads that were originally scattered in Taiwan are also thanks to the help of Mr. Ho Hung-sun.
In November 2019, Mr. Stanley Ho officially donated the bronze statue of the horse's head in the Yuanmingyuan to the state. On 26 May 2020, Mr. Stanley Ho passed away at the age of 100.
If you want to learn more about the deeds of the patriot Ho Hung Sun, I recommend checking out the biography of Ho Hung Sun.
Because, he started from scratch to play a 500 billion business empire; from a down-and-out boy who no one can look up to on the street to a rich man who has been light in a hundred layers of flowers, this legendary experience can only be seen in film and television legends.