Shandong Business Daily And Speed Leopard News Network reporter Zheng Zhinan Jin Lihong
On May 12, zhejiang public security reported that the tomb of Qian Biao in Lin'an District was stolen, and 223 cultural relics involved in the case had been recovered, including 175 stolen cultural relics of Qian Biao's tomb. On October 12, the Intermediate People's Court of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province (hereinafter referred to as the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court) tried the case in public at first instance and pronounced a verdict in court, and the defendants Jiang Minglei and Li Changwei were sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime of excavating ancient tombs. In addition, the court found through trial that in April 2019, the defendant excavated qian's tomb.
In May this year, after the official notification of the theft of the tomb, the reporter visited the location of Qian's tomb. Qian's tomb is located in the middle of the city, next door is the Lin'an District Government, surrounded by a number of shops. According to historical records, Wu yue Wusu king Qian Wei, the founding monarch of Wu Yue during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, he once requisitioned migrant workers to build the Qiantang River Hanhai Shitang and encourage the expansion of reclamation, and the people of the two Zhejiang provinces called him "Sea Dragon King".
A staff member of the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology revealed to the Shandong Shangbao And Sobao News Network that after the incident, the superior leaders went to the institute to conduct inspections and emphasize the safety of cultural relics.
A total of 39 suspects were arrested
On the morning of October 12, the Intermediate People's Court of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province (hereinafter referred to as the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court) issued a circular: The first instance held a public trial of the case of defendants Jiang Moulei and Li Mouwei for illegally excavating ancient tombs and pronounced a verdict in court, and the defendants Jiang Moulei and Li Mouwei committed the crime of excavating ancient tombs, and were sentenced to life imprisonment, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property, recovery of the illegal gains of the two defendants, and confiscation.
At the beginning of May this year, some netizens posted that Qian's tomb had long been stolen, and attached an article on the official website of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage on April 26, focusing on the following: "Zhejiang public security organs detected the Hangzhou Lin'an series of cases of illegal excavation of ancient tombs and reselling cultural relics, arrested 39 criminal suspects, and successfully recovered a large number of extremely precious cultural relics such as secret color porcelain and gold and jade belts." After the article was issued, it quickly aroused the attention of netizens. The reporter of Shandong Business Daily and Speed Leopard News Network noted that the official website of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage still retains relevant content.
On May 12, Hangzhou held a briefing on the case of the theft and excavation of qian's tomb: the public security organs found out the criminal facts of Jiang X and other criminal gangs that stole and excavated ancient tombs such as qian's tomb and resold cultural relics for illegal profits. The circular said that 39 criminal suspects involved in the case were arrested and a total of 223 cultural relics involved in the case were recovered. At the meeting, it was also mentioned that Lin'an is promoting the construction of the comprehensive protection project of the Wuyue King Mausoleum Archaeological Site Park.
The tomb is separated from the district government by a wall
Qian's tomb is located in Lin'an District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, in the middle of a downtown area. When the reporter arrived at the site park, the surrounding area was surrounded by blue baffles, and the main entrance of the heritage park could be faintly seen from the gap in the baffles after approaching. Inside the fence, a security guard saw the reporter approaching, so he waved his hand, "Don't get too close to here, it's closed, it's not open." ”
Separated from the tomb of Qian Wei by a wall, is the Lin'an District Government. There is a security guard on duty outside the gate of the district government, and further west, there are various shops, with more vehicles and dense population.
In such a busy city where people came and went, Qian's tomb was stolen and excavated.
On the morning of October 12, according to a notice issued by the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court, it was ascertained after trial that at the end of April 2019, defendants Jiang Moulei and Li Mouwei had premeditated the tomb robbery through online contact, and selected the tomb of King Wuyue in Lin'an, a national key cultural relics protection unit, as the target of excavation. In early May of the same year, Jiang Moulei and Li Mouwei rushed from Fujian to Lin'an District of Hangzhou City, stepped on the targets of theft, rented houses in Lin'an District as dens, and purchased tomb robbery tools.
The two men went out day and night, using climbing the wall, tools to dig holes, etc., to steal the tombs of the Wuyue kings and stole a large number of precious cultural relics. Later, through Liu Mou (handled in a separate case) and others, illegal profits were sold and divided. After the incident, the stolen cultural relics have been recovered. On May 23, 2020, Jiang Moulei and Li Mouwei were arrested by the public security organs and arrested. The public security organs froze, sealed, and seized a batch of stolen money and stolen goods of Jiang Moulei and Li Mouwei in accordance with law.
Ten people were sentenced in connection with the case
The Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court reported that during the remote video trial on October 12, the defendants Jiang Moulei and Li Mouwei had no objection to the facts and charges of the charges. Jiang Moulei's defenders argued that Jiang Moulei's subjective malignancy was not deep, Li Mouwei's defenders proposed that Li Mouwei's role was relatively small, and the two defenders requested a lenient punishment on the grounds that all the cultural relics involved in the case had been recovered and the two defendants confessed and voluntarily confessed. Both defendants pleaded guilty at the final presentation stage.
The Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court held that the defendants Jiang Moulei and Li Mouwei had stolen ancient tombs of historical, artistic and scientific value, and their acts had constituted the crime of excavating ancient tombs, and the theft of ancient tombs that had been identified as key national cultural relics protection units had stolen a large number of precious cultural relics. Although the two defendants were able to confess their crimes and admit guilt after they were arrested, and the public security organs went all out to recover the stolen cultural relics in this case, it was not enough to give the two defendants a lenient punishment, so the above judgment was made in accordance with law.
On the same day, the Lin'an District People's Court of Hangzhou City held a trial of the case of Tang X, Liu X, and ten other defendants in related cases who reselled cultural relics, extorted money, concealed, or concealed the proceeds of crime, and pronounced a verdict in court, sentencing Tang X, Liu X, and ten others to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from 11 years and 10 months to three years, and fined them, recovered the illegal gains of each defendant, and confiscated them.
It is understood that in any of the following circumstances, a person shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years, life imprisonment or the death penalty, and shall also be fined or have his property confiscated: (1) who excavates ancient cultural sites or tombs that have been determined to be key national cultural relics protection units and provincial-level cultural relics protection units; (2) leading elements of groups that have stolen ancient cultural sites or ancient tombs; (3) who have repeatedly excavated ancient cultural sites or tombs; (4) who have excavated ancient cultural sites or tombs, and who have stolen precious cultural relics or caused serious damage to precious cultural relics. Whoever excavates fossils of ancient humans and ancient vertebrates of scientific value protected by the State shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
The founding monarch of Wuyue once built the Qiantang River Hanhai Shitang
Known as the "Sea Dragon King" by the people of the two Zhejiang provinces
"In fact, there are not many imperial tombs that our country has publicly excavated, and Qian Wei is the founding monarch of Wu Yue, so it can be said that what was stolen is the imperial tomb." In May this year, when the reporter interviewed a researcher at the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the other party revealed to reporters that after the case was broken, the leaders of the Cultural Relics Bureau had gone to the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology to inspect, "The nature of this matter is more serious, and the superior leaders came to the cultural relics protection center on our side to inspect the cultural relics and stressed the need to pay attention to the phenomenon of cultural relics being stolen." At the same time, the researcher said, "As long as it is related to the king or emperor, it is at least a cultural relic of the first level or even a national treasure."
According to historical records, Wu Yue Wusu King Qian Wei, a native of Lin'an, Hangzhou, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, wu yue founded the monarch and reigned for 41 years. During his reign, he adopted the policy of protecting the border and the people, and the economy prospered. He requisitioned migrant workers, built the Qiantang River Hanhai Shitang, in the Taihu Lake Basin, built weir gates to store floodwater, and established a maintenance system for water network polder areas, encouraging the expansion of reclamation, and the people of the two Zhejiang provinces called him the "Sea Dragon King".
In 1956, Zhejiang Province announced the tomb of Qian Wei as a provincial key cultural relics protection unit. In April 1981, the People's Government of Zhejiang Province re-announced it as a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit. On June 25, 2001, the Tomb of Wuyue King of Lin'an was selected as the fifth batch of national cultural relics protection units.
Editor of Shandong Business Daily And Leopard News Network Gao Ling