The return of the 12 zodiac bronze statues in the Yuanmingyuan to the embrace of the motherland has been a fervent hope in the hearts of many Chinese.
At that time, the 12 sprinklers at the entrance of the Haiyan Hall in the Yuanmingyuan were essentially only ornaments, but under the brutal acts of the great powers at that time, the head of the beast was taken away, leaving behind the body of the beast that could not be taken away.
The ruined Yuanmingyuan is a warning left by history to future generations, and the weak can only be bullied.
For many years, China has been determined to retrieve these 12 animal heads, but due to the long time, the circulation of animal heads is very secretive, and many collectors themselves like to hide the golden house, so it is normal to find the whereabouts.
In 2018, the Dragon Head of the Yuanmingyuan was born, bought by a mysterious Chinese at a sky-high price of 24 million, and even hoped to hand it over to the state for free.
First, the dragon's head appeared
On the afternoon of December 17, 2018, at the auction in Paris, France, a Chinese auctioned the dragon head of one of the 12 zodiac signs for 24 million.
Although not back in the embrace of the motherland, the new owner is a Chinese or excited people in the country to hear the news.
Originally it was the treasure of our country, and it was a great fortune to be stored by the Chinese and not to be exiled.
Compared with other unaccounted for beast heads, it is already a very gratifying news in the hands of the Chinese, but after all, it is a national treasure, and most netizens still call on this unknown collector to hand over the dragon head to the state.
However, three years have passed, and there is still no news that the dragon head has returned to the country.
It now seems that the dragon's head return to the country is still debatable, but it is comforting to know that it is preserved intact somewhere in the world.
Not too many people are bothered by the fact that it is not handed over, but it is enough to be preserved in the hands of the Chinese bloodline. For those who have been displaced, the Chinese people can never forget.
At that time, the iron hooves of the Eight-Nation Alliance went straight to Beijing from Tianjin, attacked Beijing in one fell swoop, and wantonly damaged the Yuanmingyuan, which symbolized the height of qing dynasty art.
These 12 zodiac beasts are a masterpiece of the combination of Chinese culture and Western culture.
The Yuanmingyuan, founded in 1707, has a 150-year history of renovation and is itself a grand scale and a fine example of architecture, of which it is unknown how many valuable cultural relics there are, and it is not surprising that the shape of its royal garden has a large number of rare treasures.
The 12 bronze statues of beasts were made by Qing Dynasty craftsmen using specially refined alloy copper, and the designer was Lang Shining from Europe. The design of Western art coupled with the domestic creation technology has led to the current 12 zodiac animal heads, it is said that in the production process, the fine degree of the animal heads has been specific to the fine fur pattern of the animals.
In fact, these 12 zodiac head is not a simple decoration, the ancient originally divided the 24 hours of the day into 12 hours, and the role of these 12 zodiac head is related to these 12 hours.
There is a beast head distributed on each fountain, and at each hour, there will be a corresponding zodiac sign to spray water into the fountain. Especially at noon, the 12 zodiac signs will spray water together, and the picture is very exciting.
It is a pity that such a scene can only be imagined in the records of books and literature.
After the invasion, such a spectacular scene has no chance to be appreciated again, and the current country is committed to retrieving the 12 beast heads in the hope of retrieving the treasures belonging to our country, after all, their original departure was also forced.
Second, the beast head reappears
In that year, Mr. Ho Hung-sun auctioned the pig's head and horse's head at a high price and returned them to the country free of charge, and in 2013, the French Pino family also returned the rat head and rabbit head to the mainland. In addition to the sponsorship and support of the two rich people, the head of the ox, the head of the monkey and the head of the tiger also returned to the mainland through different channels.
The dragon's head is now missing, but four more are still in a state of no news.
Even after many years, the reappearance of these beast heads can also attract the blood of collectors present, and it is said that at the auction in 2018, when the dragon head appeared, all collectors and rich people boiled over.
At that time, there was no reserve price for the auction of the dragon's head, that is, those who were willing to auction could directly participate in the auction, and the first person to bid at that time directly raised the card for 1 million euros. Leaving aside the reasons for the collector's willingness to collect the dragon's head, the reaction of everyone present here alone can show the popularity of the beast's head.
In the end, the Chinese who successfully auctioned for 24 million yuan are still unknown because of their identity secrecy.
The only thing that was known was that the dragon head was back in the hands of the Chinese.
At present, the beasts that have not yet received the news in China are still snakes, sheep, chickens, and dogs, and these four beast heads have no news at all.
It is a bit rude to have someone's desire to return the collector to the country free of charge, and Mr. Ho has such a move, only his personal will, but cannot be used as an act to frame others.
The beast head is of great significance to Chinese, but in fact, it is only a bronze product, and the actual value is not large.
The reason why we have such a great pursuit of the twelve beast heads and our continuous traditional culture is very closely related, for us, each beast head can return to China is our ancestors' consolation and remember the history of the year.
We are attracted by the head of the beast recorded in the books, but also to be able to see the style of the year.
Third, do not forget history, forge ahead
The 12 zodiac signs have specific meanings for each Chinese, and even our definition of each year contains elements of the zodiac signs.
The behavior of the great powers in that year made the whereabouts of the 12 zodiac signs unknown, and this behavior for us is tantamount to the theft of the fruits of traditional culture.
The obsession with retrieving the head of the 12 zodiac beasts is to hope that we can set an example for the next generation of the future, and the splendid cultural achievements described in books are so amazing even when they come to reality.
The wisdom possessed by the ancestors of the Chinese nation is by no means exaggerated, and the Chinese culture, historical value and historical significance contained in these 12 zodiac signs are far beyond its own value.
The four beast heads whose whereabouts are now unknown are actually warning us to remember the national shame and keep forging ahead, and history is not to provoke disputes, but it is indeed a driving force for our progress.
Even now, we have become rich and strong, but we have not been able to achieve rejuvenation, and in the rest of our lives, we should strive to truly realize the grand rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.