"The next auction items are the two major finales of this auction, both of which are royal relics from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty."
Hong Kong, China, 2002. An auction was in full swing, and when it came to the final treasure, the auctioneer's introduction satisfies everyone's appetite, and everyone present is holding out their heads and staring at the two treasures.
Then, two treasures were slowly carried up to the stands, unveiling the mystery: the sterling silver mandala, that is, the artifacts used to sacrifice and enshrine the Buddha, at an auction reserve price of HK$100,000; the lotus petals are pasteled with a golden seated statue of the Infinite Life Buddha, with an auction reserve price of HK$2 million.
The merchants and rich people who participated in the auction were attracted by the dazzling Statue of the Infinite Life Buddha and could no longer take their eyes off, competing to increase the price, and the auction site was full of fire, and all kinds of roars were endless.
The staff of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, who had been sitting calmly on the side to supervise the auction, after seeing these two treasures, thoughtfully pondered, and Orr shouted out in surprise: "This! Isn't this a treasure of the Palace Museum?! ”
01 Theft of cultural relics from the Palace Museum: Allocated to the Chengde Cultural Relics Bureau in 1972
How will the treasures of the Palace Museum circulate to auctions in Hong Kong? Could it be that it was stolen? The staff member quickly contacted the staff of the Palace Museum in Beijing and verified the inspection registration information through the person in charge of the auction. The two treasures at auction have original labels consistent with the records of the Palace Museum.
The so-called original label is the "imprint" left by the museum on each collection when collecting treasures, so as to distinguish between genuine fakes and treasures.
The sterling silver mandala is printed with three marks: "Liuping 20388", "Review 22", and "So 16081", and there are also equivalent labels on the seated statue of the Infinite Life Buddha, but the numbers are different.
This is enough to prove that the two pieces in this auction are flowing out of the Palace Museum! How can national treasures, national treasures, tolerate coveting and stealing by the younger generation for profit? After the relevant leaders of the State Administration of Cultural Relics learned of this incident, they immediately dispatched personnel to start an investigation, and it was inevitable to dig three feet into the ground to find this daring thief.
"Qing Dynasty National Treasure Appears at Hong Kong Auction!"
"Treasures from the Forbidden City were auctioned in Hong Kong after they were stolen!"
As the news appeared in the newspapers, the people of the mainland and Hong Kong were very sad and angry, and demanded that the state must find out the truth and severely punish the thieves.
Chengde, Hebei Province, which is a city with a long history and beautiful scenery, has two major architectural complexes: "Royal Garden, Summer Resort" and "Royal Temple, Outer Eight Temples".
Chengde's historical atmosphere is very strong, and it attracts countless tourists every year.
In 1972, considering Chengde's urban history and local museum conditions, the Palace Museum allocated a batch of Qing Dynasty collections to the Chengde Cultural Relics Bureau, hoping to help Chengde build a historical and cultural tourism city faster and better.
According to the information recorded by the Palace Museum, this sterling silver mandala and the Infinite Life Buddha statue are among the cultural relics.
Along this clue, the investigation team came to the Chengde Cultural Relics Bureau, and contacted the director of the Chengde Cultural Relics Bureau for the first time, and the two sides docked on the theft of cultural relics. The Chengde Cultural Relics Bureau quickly dispatched a group of staff to assist the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in the investigation.
One of them, Li Haitao, director of the Security Department of the Waiba Temple Cultural Relics Management Office, was originally conducting legal popularization on the street.
Just as he was about to take a break, Li Haitao received a call from the director of the bureau, who told him about the theft of cultural relics and the investigation sent by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
Li Haitao immediately jumped up from the ground: "This is impossible! Those two artifacts are now in the storeroom! ”
When the staff of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage arrived, the group immediately came to the Cultural Relics Warehouse of the Outer Eight Temples. Opening the door of the storeroom, Li Haitao led the crowd to a corner, and was seeing that the immeasurable Buddha statue was quietly placed in a glass cabinet without a trace of wavering, and the pure silver mandala city was also next to it.
Now the crowd was confused. Could it be that what is auctioned off in Hong Kong is a fake?
Immediately, some people questioned that all the cultural relics at the auction held in Hong Kong were inspected by experts hired by the responsible company, and there could be no fakes.
Immediately someone said, since the Hong Kong company can find experts, we also look for it, find someone to see if the real thing in this warehouse is genuine.
Not daring to delay for a moment, the State Administration of Cultural Relics immediately notified a group of cultural relics experts of the highest level in China and rushed to Chengde to identify the two cultural relics.
Li Haitao and the rest of the group stood anxiously to the side, pacing repeatedly. The experts who hurried to the room were sweating profusely, and they did not drink a sip of water and rushed into the room to start studying. The identification process lasted about an hour, and finally the experts jointly announced the answer.
These two collections in the cultural relics warehouse of the Eight Temples of Chengde Are fakes! Not only that, but many other things in the storeroom are also fakes that can be seen on a closer look!
Suddenly, a silent cloud covered the hearts of everyone, and everyone was a little unable to accept this fact. However, at this point, only by quickly finding out the origin of the matter can we give the public a truth and an explanation to the country.
02 There is no way out of the sky, where is the treasure lost?
The theft and transfer of cultural relics has exceeded the scope of the cultural relics bureau, and they have to contact the Chengde police to get help from the police. When the national treasure was stolen, the Chengde Police Department naturally did not dare to be careless, and quickly dispatched the best group of personnel in the bureau to form a team to study the theft case.
First, the police began to investigate whether there was a possibility of theft by outsiders. Police carefully examined the defensive measures and layout of the warehouse and finally concluded that it was impossible.
The warehouse as a whole can be seen as a "back" word, there is no window throughout, composed of square brick walls on all sides, the outermost library door is wooden, enclosing the small room inside, the gap in the middle is not large, and there is no cultural relics placed. The real hiding of the cultural relics is the small room inside, which also has no windows and only a safe iron door to enter and exit.
Each door has an iron lock, and the key is kept separately by two people. There is no possibility of entering or leaving except to open the library door with two keys. Unless it is really possible to fly over the wall and change the shape of the shadow, the Great Luo Jinxian will also take this "Golden Armor Iron Barrel Array" for no reason.
And the police carefully checked the fingerprints and footprints inside and outside the warehouse, and found no abnormalities. In this way, it can be ruled out that it is an outsider theft.
However, if it is said that it is an insider theft, it is also somewhat difficult to establish.
According to the regulations of the local cultural relics department, this warehouse is protected by a director and 5 staff members, if someone wants to enter the warehouse, two or more people need to apply, with the written approval of the cultural relics department, accompanied by and supervised by the staff of the security department.
Judging from this provision, there is indeed no loophole, everyone enters together, supervises each other, and has official escort, and there is no opportunity to commit crimes.
However, the police soon discovered that there was a loophole in the regulation. That is, Li Haitao, as the director of the Security Department, can also accompany the applicant to enter, and with his position, he is fully capable of avoiding others and transferring packages.
Thinking of this, the police locked down Li Haitao and launched a secret investigation. Sure enough, the more he investigated, the more suspicious points Li Haitao was found. After obtaining enough evidence, the police immediately carried out a surprise arrest of Li Haitao.
In Li Haitao's home, the police searched for nearly 100 rare cultural relics, basically all of which were collected in the local cultural relics department! Li Haitao, who was originally full of nonsense, tried to pass the customs in an attempt to fool through the customs and refused to entertain, had to admit his criminal facts at this time.
Li Haitao is a person who loves cultural relics very much, and he is also very concerned about the protection, many people do not understand, why is he?
03 Li Haitao: Interested in history, Fudan returned to serve as a cadre
Li Haitao was born in 1960 in Chengde, Hebei Province. He did not study well since he was a child, in addition to being very interested in history, other subjects are very poor, after graduating from junior high school, Li Haitao also did not have the idea of continuing to study, so he signed up for the army.
In 1981, Li Haitao was discharged from the conscripts and was assigned to work in the Cultural Relics Department of the Outer Eight Temples. When he first arrived, Li Haitao was just an administrator, responsible for daily inspection and maintenance. However, Li Haitao is quite interested in history and cultural relics, and still insists on staying in the cultural relics department for research after work every day.
At that time, he was very fond of reading books about cultural relics and historical events, and then comparing them with real cultural relics, and this intersection of history and reality made him feel very happy. Although the salary is not high and the status is average, Li Haitao enjoys it and is very intoxicated.
In the fourth year of his work, Li Haitao was trained by the Cultural Relics Bureau, first sent to the History Department of Fudan University to study cultural knowledge, and when he returned, he was directly promoted to the backbone of the unit and the middle-level leader. After undergoing systematic professional learning, Li Haitao's knowledge level related to historical relics has obviously improved by several grades, and the originally vague concept has become clear.
Relying on the advantages of his work unit, Li Haitao has published many very valuable papers. The papers also allowed him to move up the ladder faster, all the way to the head of the Security Service.
Although the director of the Security Department has many conveniences, in the final analysis, the salary is still not high, and the work is related to cultural relics, and social communication is very limited. But Li Haitao has always enjoyed it, he is obsessed with studying these heirlooms, and he does not care about salaries and the like.
Li Haitao is often seen riding his broken bicycle, carrying an old cloth bag to and from work. His home was also very simple and simple, and he could not find a single thing of value.
But soon, his state of mind changed because of one thing.
04 The Fall Begins: The Prison Guards Steal, Drop Bags of Cultural Relics and Sell Them Overseas
One day in August 1993, Li Haitao welcomed a special guest, Yan Mou. Yan mou is Li Haitao's classmate when he was studying in Fudan, Yan is also quite interested in historical relics, and the family conditions are good, and he took good care of Li Haitao at the beginning.
Yan learned that Li Haitao worked in a cultural relics office, so he decided to visit him on the pretext of traveling to Chengde and "conspired to make a big deal".
At the wine table, Yan accompanied Li to drink a few bowls, and began to introduce his true purpose by knocking on the side.
"Old Lee! You are not a small official here, how much money can you take in a month? Yan asked politely.
"You see what you said, what an official I am, it is just an ordinary job, ordinary income." Although he didn't care how much money he had, Li Haitao was obviously poked in the pain.
"I have enough to eat and drink, unlike you, Lao Yan, who has a lot of money, and can travel everywhere!" Li Haitao said slightly lonely.
"What's my little money?" You are sitting on the treasure mountain and do not know how to dig, and you are in the blessing and do not know the blessing! I tell you, we had a classmate Luo Laowu before you remember? ”
"I remember, I was dressed in rags, I liked steamed buns and pickles all day, and I didn't let go of books."
"Haha, it's him, I saw him last time in Beijing, and people now open an antique shop, hundreds of thousands of dollars a year!" Yan deliberately exaggerated his tone and sighed.
Li Haitao was also shocked, Yan Mou was also counted, a good villain is a rich family's son, this Luo Mou was once even more depressed than himself, and now he has turned around and made a fortune. Li Haitao's heart was very unhappy.
Yan mou observed that Li Haitao's face had changed, and said several "examples", without exception, they were Li Haitao's "peers", but now he has made a fortune, becomes the boss, and lives happily.
"Old Li, you can also try, our relationship, I don't help others, can I still help you?" Yan finally led his purpose out.
At this time, Li Haitao had nothing else in his mind, all thoughts such as "one hundred thousand a year". He asked nervously, "How can I?" ”
Yan Mou said: "You can give me your treasure collection, and I will help you find a good seller!" ”
Li Haitao finally couldn't bear it, he told Yan that he still had an antique vase in his hand, and he couldn't find a good seller. The two hit it off immediately and agreed to wait for Li Haitao to take the vase and trade in cash.
Where did Li Haitao collect any vases?! Naturally, he could only steal from the relics. This bottle is more special, it was originally prepared to be put in an exhibition collection, but due to the change in the layout of the venue, the unit let Li Haitao be responsible for bringing this bottle back. When Li Haitao put the bottle, he did not put it back in place, but placed it in a good and hidden corner, so it is really easy to take it out now.
The next day Li Haitao met Yan at the hotel. Li Haitao took out this treasure bottle that was tightly wrapped in old newspapers from his briefcase, and Yan Mou's eyes lit up when he looked at it: "Qianlong Official Kiln!" Good stuff! This is worth a lot! ”
Li Haitao listened, his whole body was trembling, he trembled and handed the porcelain bottle to Yan Mou, Yan Mou was also very happy, and took out 100,000 yuan in cash from the bag at the moment, neatly coded on the table.
Li Haitao saw ten red and bright banknotes placed in front of him, his breathing suddenly became urgent, he gasped for breath, and his chest seemed to explode, and his brain was blank. He quickly put the money into his bag, said two incoherent words, wiped the cold sweat from his head and jumped out. As soon as he went out, he forgot to ride his bike and ran all the way back home.
When he got home and closed the door, Li Haitao took out the money and played it carefully, counting it one by one. 100,000 yuan! According to his income at that time, he needed to not eat or drink for about ten years to earn enough! Now it's a day away.
Li Haitao, who knows the taste of the marrow, continued to keep in touch with Yan, and the two cooperated for three years. He was responsible for stealing cultural relics and handing them over to Yan, who settled them with cash on the spot and then peddled them. Many treasures have been lost overseas, bought and collected by wealthy merchants in Britain, the United States and other countries, and it is difficult to recover them.
When the theft was carried out, Li Haitao would enter the warehouse with others, and then pretend that he wanted to go somewhere to check it, so there was a gap for acting alone. He took advantage of this time to complete his theft. After putting the real thing in his bag, Li Haitao will also put a fake in the cabinet.
This is where he is clever, Li Haitao has long known that someone will regularly check the warehouse, in case he is found to be missing, he will naturally be caught. So he bought porcelain clay, gold and silver powder and brick stoves, and with his own insight and experience, after each theft was completed, he personally made a fake and put it in place. Li Haitao has been immersed in this way for more than ten years, and the imitation list he made is almost exactly the same in appearance. So every time the people who came to check did not find any clues.
05 Greed is not enough for the snake to swallow the elephant and fall into the net of justice
Later, Li Haitao himself also had some understanding of the market, until Yan Mou gave very little, and there were a lot of profits in the middle that he sucked away. So Li Haitao terminated the cooperation with Yan and turned to sell it himself.
Li Haitao began to contact the seller frequently and found a new patron Liu. Liu is a Chinese-American who specializes in the business of taking treasures from China and selling them to Americans at high prices. Liu's bid was much higher than Yan's, so Li Haitao cooperated with him for a long time.
Li Haitao became more and more greedy, at first he only stole some ordinary cultural relics, and later these things could not satisfy his desires. So he locked his eyes on several important cultural relics in the storeroom, including the Buddha statue of the Immeasurable Life that was mentioned earlier. This Buddha statue is a national second-class cultural relic, which is extremely valuable.
But Li Haitao didn't care about its internal value at all, he only cared about how much this Buddha statue could sell, and no matter how precious the cultural relics, he only stuffed it with rotten newspaper and put it into his broken bag.
The statue of the Buddha of Infinite Life was sold by Liu to a company in Hong Kong, hoping to sell it for a high price through auction. Therefore, this Buddha statue became the key to the failure of the matter, and the supervisors broke the situation and let Li Haitao's scum behavior end badly.
According to the final statistics, Li Haitao stole more than 250 cultural relics in ten years, several of which are national second-class cultural relics, and the total value is immeasurable.
In 2010, after a review by the Supreme People's Court, the Chengde Intermediate People's Court sentenced Li Haitao to death. His greed was punished with the harshest punishment, and many of the national treasures he had harmed had been lost overseas and would be difficult to retrieve.
Historical relics are the accumulation of a nation for thousands of years and are the precious wealth of a country. They carry the extraordinary wisdom of Chinese ingenious craftsmanship, inheriting the spiritual origins of different eras. They should be safely protected for the grandchildren of Yanhuang to always look up to and be proud of, not as a tool for personal profit, stained with filth in dirty transactions!
("Yan Mou" and "Li Mou" in the text are pseudonyms)
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1, Twenty years ago, a Buddha statue was auctioned in Hong Kong, involving a major case of national treasure theft and sale