Chinese Buddhist heads collected by foreigners
Suppose your baby is in someone else's safe and is appropriated by someone else, what would you think? I believe that most people will definitely try everything to get it back. But has anyone ever wondered what to do with those top cultural relics of the mainland that were lost abroad during the war years? These top cultural relics embody the essence of Chinese culture for thousands of years and have a high cultural research value, but there are those who see money and eyes, even the country, who stubbornly occupy what does not belong to them and do not want to return it. In this issue, let's take a look at the top cultural relics that have been wandering away by the wind and frost of history.
8th Tiger Man Eater (You)
This is one of the bronze treasures of the late Shang Dynasty in mainland China, also known as the "Tiger 卣", with a total height of 35.7 cm and a total weight of 5.09 kg. It can be seen from the appearance that its main function is to hold wine, and it is the existing, well-known and valuable Bronze Ware of the Shang Dynasty in the world, and it is not an exaggeration to call it a national treasure among national treasures.
The name "Tiger" is mainly derived from the overall shape of the tiger, in which the tail and two hind feet of the tiger are used as a support point for the wine vessel, the two front paws surround the character, and the tiger opens its mouth as if to swallow the human head, and other animal ornaments are combined.
There were once two tiger mounds, which were said to have been excavated at the junction of Anhua and Ningxiang in Hubei Province, and finally they were scattered abroad after several turns. One of them is in the collection of the École d'Oriente in Paris, France, and the other is in the Izumiya Museum in Japan, which is used by tourists from all over the world to visit.
As one of the more famous bronze ceremonial vessels of the Shang Dynasty, its existence represents the aristocratic class at that time, and it is known from the tiger-style shape of the bronze and the ornamentation on the surface that the nobles at that time wanted to highlight the majesty of the so-called aristocratic power through it. Since the discovery of the tiger, there has been controversy over the name of the bronze. Mainland scholars have named it "Tiger Man-Eater", but Japanese scholars have called it "Milk Tiger". Mainly because scholars from the two countries have different views and opinions on the inner thoughts they exhibit. Although knowledge and culture have no borders, shouldn't Japan return the tiger houses in the Izumiya Museum in Japan as soon as possible?
7th Place Double Sheep Zun
In the bright and dangling display cases of the British Museum, there is a particularly eye-catching bronze statue, which is a bronze double sheep statue from the late Shang Dynasty in China. China had a period of poverty and weakness, and had little ability to fight back against the bullying of strong enemies. This has also led to thousands of precious cultural relics being moved back to their "homes" by red-eyed invaders.
Bronze Double Sheep Statue
According to relevant statistics, the British Museum is the country with the largest collection and exhibition of Precious Cultural Relics in China, and this bronze Double Sheep Statue collected in the British Museum may have come to The United Kingdom because of the war that year. From the overall appearance, this bronze double sheep statue not only retains the solemnity and atmosphere as a bronze, but also reveals the warmth and cuteness of the animal shape.
The bronze has a peculiar overall shape, consisting of two lambs connected on their backs, facing in different directions. Sheep, this animal in China's thousands of years of culture, generally represents the meaning of auspiciousness, in addition to the double sheep zun there are many cultural relics, on the surface of the choice to carve or make a sheep shape. But the double sheep statue is not the same as the others, and if you look closely, the sheep's belly is carved with a pattern like fish scales, and there seems to be a dragon on its legs that wants to take off at any time.
This bronze double sheep statue originally belonged to the mainland is now placed in the British Museum for many admiring audiences to enjoy. However, it still shows people around the world the superb craftsmanship of ancient China thousands of years ago and the extraordinary imagination of the Chinese nation.
British museum
Sixth place Five-colored parrot diagram
This is a masterpiece created by Emperor Huizong zhao of the Northern Song Dynasty in the mainland, and is now in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, USA. What a sad thing it is for a painting of a king of a country to be placed in an art museum in a foreign country.
The Five-Colored Parrot Is a horizontal scroll, and a colorful parrot jumps on the paper, in a cute form, as if talking to someone. Surrounded by flowers, it is a time of spring. It can be clearly seen that this is a realistic work, which highlights The good painting skills of Song Huizong.
Five-colored parrot diagram
Although Emperor Huizong of Song was not a good emperor with brilliant political achievements, in view of the feudal political system at that time and his status as the king of a country, he made an indelible impact on the artistic development of the Northern Song Dynasty, and promoted his hobby to the people, resulting in the Song Dynasty's brush painting of flowers and birds reaching the peak of the ancient history of the mainland.
The Palace Museum's Collection of Flowers and Birds from the Song Dynasty
However, the life of this painting is extremely bumpy, first in the hands of various dynasties or everyone, and then in the early Republic of China, it was collected by the Japanese collector Yamamoto Shujiro, and after his death, it was tossed and turned to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, USA. Between November 2, 2012 and January 3, 2013, the painting was exhibited at the Shanghai Museum on the mainland. I don't know when I will really be able to return to the mainland?
Shanghai Museum
Fifth Place Empress Dowager Buddha
The "Emperor Li Fo Tu" was specially built by Emperor Xuanwu in the Northern Wei Dynasty to commemorate his parents. It can be called the most distinctive work in mainland relief works, and its artistic value is extremely high. Among them, the Northern Wei Xiaowen Emperor Li Fo Tu is now in the collection of the New York Art Museum, while the "Wen Zhao Empress Li Fo Tu" is in the custody of the Nelson Art Museum in Kansas City, USA.
These reliefs truly reproduce the scene of Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei and Empress Wenzhao worshipping the Buddha, and make the most real and one-to-one restoration in terms of clothing, size and appearance, and combine the national art of the mainland with the foreign Buddhist art. These treasures in the sculpture world were quietly stolen by the American Ellen pu in the 1930s and Yue Bin, an antique dealer in the Beiping Glass Factory at that time.
Reifotu reproduced
However, their technology is not very good, judging from the traces of the destruction of the sculpture and the fragments of the reliefs searched by the adulterous merchants, the reliefs they stole may have suffered an accident. Now all we see in American art museums is reproductions, which has undoubtedly become the greatest tragedy in the history of human art!
Fourth place: Dawn Changing Tenmu Tea Bowl
As the name suggests, it was used by literati during the Southern Song Dynasty to fight tea. A black-glazed Jianzhan from the Jian'an Shuiji Kiln in Fujian during the Southern Song Dynasty, with its superb production process and dazzling shape, it has become a unique product, and now only four heirloom tea cups are preserved in the Jingjiatang Bunko Library in Tokyo, Japan.
One of the orphans
The Japanese are very fond of this cultural relic from the Chinese nation, because the obscure Tianmu tea bowl is left in the dark, and the flares on the surface will emit a strange light, and the Japanese call it the "universe in the bowl", as if the mysterious sky can be found in it, although its diameter is only 12 centimeters.
The second single product passed down from generation to generation
This kind of obsidian Tianmu tea bowl is not so easy to burn, and only at a specific temperature can the colorful halo appear. However, after the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, this firing technology was completely lost. Nowadays, people are curious about the production process of the Yao changing Tianmu tea bowl, and have been trying to restore this lost process, but it has not been able to achieve the expected results, which is a method that was mastered more than 800 years ago in the Southern Song Dynasty. It seems that the wisdom of the ancient working people of the mainland should not be underestimated!
The third of the orphans
3rd Place: "Funeral Post"
Students who like calligraphy should have heard of this work. "Funeral Post" is a cursive calligraphy work created by Wang Xizhi, the most famous calligraphy artist in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Now in the collection of the Miranomaru Shoshokan of the Miyauchi Agency in Japan until it was exhibited in Shanghai, this work has been in Japan for thousands of years and has been hidden in the deep palace compound.
Sannomaru Still Collection Part
As for why they went to Japan, there are two different theories. The first is that the three seals found in the "Funeral Posts" can be judged to have been introduced to Japan by the Tang Dynasty on the mainland, which is also related to the historical events when Japan sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty. It includes all types of skilled talent, and the two countries have been in contact with each other for more than 260 years. There is also a saying that it was brought by the monk Jian Zhen when he crossed to Japan, but according to the post, the time inferred by the three seals is obviously contrary to the time of the monk's east crossing, so this statement is obviously wrong.
"Funeral Post"
"Funeral Stickers" has only been displayed in front of the world a few times, such as the exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum in Japan in January 2006, and in March 2006, "Funeral Stickers" returned to China for a thousand years to exhibit, allowing Chinese people to have a glimpse of their style.
Second place Tang Zhaoling Liujun stone carving
The Tang Zhaoling Six Horse Stone Carvings were specially built to commemorate the six warhorses who followed Tang Taizong on the battlefield, and are rumored to have been jointly completed by the craftsman Yan Lide and the painter Yan Liben at that time. They are all placed in the north of Zhaoling, and are also known as "Zhaoling Liujun".
Tomb of Emperor Taizong of Tang
In 1914, the Frenchman Goranz secretly knocked down two of them, "Salu Purple" and "Fist Hair", and prepared to transport them away, but during the transportation, they were stopped by the local people. However, these two horses just came out of the tiger's mouth and fell into the clutches of the devil, and were enriched by the famous local warlords, and then the warlords fought, and the two horses were transported to Beiping, so that Lu Qinzhai, a famous antique dealer in china at that time, sold to foreigners for $125,000, and now the two horses are preserved in the museum of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Restored stone carvings
The remaining four horses did not escape the fate, although they were not sold, but they were seriously damaged. In 1918, in order to steal the remaining four horses, the American Bi Shibo arranged for people to smash the stone carvings, fortunately, during the transportation, the trip to the Shaanxi area was intercepted by the local people and transported to the Shaanxi Library for preservation. It was not until 1953 that the stone carving master Xie Dade, based on pictures and rubbings, perfectly reproduced the "Saulu Purple and Fist Hair" that had been exiled overseas, and displayed it in the Forest of Steles Museum together with the four warhorses preserved in the Shaanxi Library.
Tang Zhaoling Liujun
First place Bronze statue of the head of the zodiac in the Yuanmingyuan
The bronze statue of the twelve zodiac animal heads in the Yuanmingyuan was built during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, presided over by the Italian court painter Lang Shining, who initially intended to design a nude sculpture in line with Western aesthetics, but was considered by the emperor at the time to conflict with traditional Chinese ethics and morality, and then combined with traditional Chinese culture, the twelve zodiac animal heads were designed.
Zodiac restoration diagram
In 1860, the British and French coalition forces invaded China, and the famous burning of the Yuanmingyuan occurred in history, and the bronze statue of the twelve zodiac animal heads in the Yuanmingyuan was left out. Until December 2020, the head of a cow, a pig, a rabbit, a tiger, a horse, a monkey, and a rat returned to the mainland in different ways. Among them, the dragon head is rumored to have been preserved by a taiwanese mystery buyer. Unfortunately, four other headhunters are missing.
Burning the Yuanmingyuan
The loss of the bronze statue of the beast head of the 12 zodiac signs in the Yuanmingyuan is a miniature version of the loss of a large number of precious cultural relics in the mainland, and in many well-known museums or private collections abroad, the total number of Chinese cultural relics is 17 million pieces, even exceeding the number of mainland museums and folk collections.
Precious cultural relics lost overseas
Those precious cultural relics that symbolize the crystallization of the wisdom of the Chinese nation cannot be returned to a home, just like the hypothesis put forward at the beginning of the article, assuming that your treasure is placed in someone else's safe and is appropriated by others, what will you think? The recovery of cultural relics is not something that can be done overnight, but as a Chinese we must remember the importance of those cultural heritages to the sons and daughters of China.