In the Old Summer Palace Museum, 7 animal heads stand quietly. The cultural relics full of wind and frost quietly look at the present prosperity and prosperity.
At the beginning, the Eight-Nation Alliance burned the Old Summer Palace, smashed and looted, and took away countless precious cultural relics, and even the 12 zodiac beast capitals outside Haiyan Hall were directly taken away.
Over the years, seven beast heads have returned to their homeland one after another, but five are still wandering and their whereabouts are unknown.
What many people don't know is that three of the seven beast heads that returned were auctioned by Poly Group at auction and brought back to their motherland.
And all of this is closely related to He Ping, the current honorary director of Poly Group. So, what kind of person is he, and how did he bring the beast's head back to his homeland?
The storm at the auction
At the beginning of 2000, Christie's Hong Kong announced that it would auction Chinese antiquities, and there were even rumors that animal heads would appear at auction.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau of China wanted the cultural relics to return to China safely, so it sent a special letter to the auction house, asking them to suspend the auction of the national treasure beast head.
Sure enough, there was no animal head at Christie's auction preview, and many people in China were secretly relieved, thinking that they had gained space to negotiate with the auction house.
However, only He Ping, the chairman of Poly Group, was still worried about this, so he instructed his colleagues participating in the auction to pay attention to the situation of the beast head at all times.
Sure enough, things took a turn for the worse, and Christie's still put the beast's head as the finale and put it in the auction items. Seeing this, Poly employees immediately contacted Director He Pingping and waited for them to make up their minds.
In the end, He Ping told his subordinates that once these national treasures were auctioned by foreign collectors or other individual buyers, the road to return to China would be more bumpy, and instructed them to take the beast's head at all costs.
The two who were instructed had the confidence to start operating in the auction house. They were worried that the domestic buyers would lose the battle with them, so they communicated with the domestic collectors, saying that they would take the beast's head and bring it back to their homeland, hoping that they would not increase the price.
Patriots responded one after another, and the auction of the beast's head finally kicked off. Poly employees, who are well aware of the auction routines, sit still and wait for foreign collectors to bid, but just before the auctioneer drops the hammer, they suddenly raise their cards and participate in the bidding.
The scene suddenly became anxious, Poly employees no longer pretended to be calm, 25 times in 2 minutes, and the fast and urgent price increase made the opponent's mood fluctuate.
Finally, with the auction hammer settled, Poly Group successfully won the monkey's head for 7.4 million Hong Kong dollars. At that moment, not only the applause in the auction hall continued, but even the Hong Kong people who protested outside the auction house cheered after hearing the news.
Subsequently, the Poly delegation became more and more courageous, and again auctioned two animal heads at a high price, and since then, all three animal heads that appeared at Christie's auction have been collected by Poly Group and successfully transported to Beijing.
At Christie's auction, it was the representatives of Poly Group who took the lead and won three national treasures at a high price of 30 million, but then it was the escort of Poly Group.
The return of the three animal heads to China was the strong financial support of Poly Group, and it was also the strategy of He Ping, the chairman of Poly Group at that time.
He Ping is a low-key person, but he is a typical patriotic businessman.
His father is He Biao, the recipient of the Order of Merit of the Red Star, a first-class Red Star, and his family background is destined to make him a person who puts the interests of the country first.
He Ping and Deng Rong are close to each other
He Ping is not only He Biao's son, but also the husband of Deng Xiaoping's third daughter, Deng Rong. They have known each other since 1971 and have been together for decades now.
In the second half of 1971, Deng Rongbei was sent to the yellow earth of northern Shaanxi, and the hard life did not wear out her will, but allowed her to dedicate her patriotic enthusiasm to this vast land. It was also here that she met her lover, He Ping.
Although Deng Xiaoping had a close relationship with He Ping's father, He Biao, the two families were far apart and had long lost contact in that special era.
Deng Rong naturally did not know He Ping, but laid the foundation for acquaintance in the loess of northern Shaanxi.
Under the introduction of a mutual friend Lu Tongyan, Deng Rong and He Ping met, and the two did not meet at first, but more in correspondence to describe their revolutionary ideals.
In that era when communication was not developed, the two got to know each other through letters, and Deng Rong had a good impression of He Ping, who was bitter and particularly responsible.
The two have similar growth backgrounds, and after growing up, they have the same experience of decentralization and transformation, and they have similar interests and special common topics.
In this way, the exchange of letters laid the foundation for the relationship between the two people, and after He Ping fell in love with this girl, he specially sent photos and letters to his parents to introduce his beloved girl.
He Biao and his wife are naturally very satisfied with such a daughter-in-law, although life is still difficult, but they are full of hope for the future.
Although the acquaintance was accidental, later marriage seemed to be an inevitable thing. He Ping and Deng Rong received similar family education and had similar growth experiences, and the relationship between the two young people came naturally.
As the relationship between the two became more and more stable, He Ping went to Nanchang in the hope of gaining the approval of Deng Xiaoping and his wife and contributing to their emotional journey.
He Ping was nervous at first, but when he saw Deng Rong's family preparing a table of meals to welcome him, he suddenly settled down.
After the meal, He Ping even told what he saw and heard in Beijing, which provoked Deng Xiaoping and his wife to praise him. In the few days he was in the Deng family, he had been very diligent, which made Deng Xiaoping and his wife have a good impression of him, and they were particularly satisfied with this son-in-law.
Soon, with the acquiescence of the two families, the marriage of He Ping and Deng Rong was decided. The two young people were shy and timid, full of love, and entered the palace of marriage.
After that, Deng Xiaoping and He Biao were both rehabilitated, and the two families returned to Beijing. Deng Xiaoping was also reinstated on the recommendation of Premier Zhou Enlai and Chairman Mao Zedong to contribute to the recovery of China's economy.
It's just that in those days, if you want to make some achievements, you have to break the convention, and many of Deng Xiaoping's political ideas have also been opposed by others.
Even some reactionaries who have resurrected from the ashes still want to "bring Deng Xiaoping" down again because of some old things.
Comrade Deng Xiaoping's work suffered some twists and turns, and the small family of He Ping and Deng Rong naturally also suffered some impacts. But He Ping's father, He Biao, not only did not have any dissatisfaction with his daughter-in-law, but even specially found He Ping and had a special conversation with him.
He told He Ping to insist on trusting Deng Xiaoping and respecting his wife Deng Rong. In He Biao's view, the young couple after marriage should share honor and disgrace. He must make He Ping so that Deng Rong will not suffer any grievances because of a temporary setback.
Subsequently, He Biao was worried that Deng Xiaoping's son Deng Zhifang would be persecuted, and even wanted to take him to his hometown in Honghu, Hubei Province, to protect him.
Of course, Deng Zhifang knew the kindness of the He family, and cried with red eyes, but he was unwilling to abandon his family to protect himself, and he stood firmly with his family. The He family saw that he had made up his mind, so they did not keep him.
Finally, Deng Xiaoping made a comeback again and came out to work. He Biao didn't say a word about what he had done before, because that was his friendship with his old comrades-in-arms, not a condition for merit.
It was also under the influence of his father that He Ping grew into a patriotic and responsible man. He thanked his father for everything he had done, and even more so took his father as an example and put the motherland first.
Although He Ping has retired to the second place and no longer participates in the specific affairs of Poly Group, his influence on Poly Group is still undiminished.
Perhaps, it was because of the joint influence of Deng Xiaoping and He Biao, two old comrades, that He Ping could make a desperate decision in 2000, abandon his personal interests, and bring back the national treasure.
And the relationship between him and Deng Rong is also touching, and they have been with each other all their lives, putting each other in the most important position.
Nowadays, those great people who have made outstanding contributions to China's development have left, but thousands of Deng Rong and He Ping still stick to their beliefs and guard thousands of miles of rivers and mountains for them.
Reference Links:
"Rescuing the "National Treasure"! 25 quotes in 2 minutes, they photographed back the beast head of the Old Summer Palace like this" - Shangguan News on July 10, 2021
"Rescuing the "National Treasure"! 25 Quotes in 2 Minutes, They Shoot Back the Beast Head → of the Old Summer Palace Like This" - China Youth Network, July 10, 2021
"Red Finance: A Hundred Years of Tokens" 20210709 The return of the beast head of the Old Summer Palace - CCTV July 09, 2021