"These are the 10 Buddha heads stolen from Pangpo Cave."
As soon as the expert appraisal conclusion came out, the police officers of the Jiajiang County Public Security Bureau in Sichuan Province finally breathed a long sigh of relief. The 10 "Buddha heads" that were stolen in August 2017 finally returned to their homeland after four years of wandering outside.
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<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > the Buddha's head in Pangpo Cave in Jiajiang disappeared</h1>
Walking into Pangpo Cave, Mucheng Town, Jiajiang County, Leshan City, Sichuan Province, hundreds of Ming Dynasty cliff statues come to life. There are also many moving legends about Pangpo Cave. On the rock wall, the "Pangpo Cave Record" written by the Ming Dynasty Zhang Fengfeng has a special record of Pang Jushi.
The 10 Buddha heads recovered
Who is this Pang Jushi? One theory is that pang tong's uncle during the Three Kingdoms period is that of Pang Yun in the Tang Dynasty. According to legend, in the Pangpo Cave, there were also statues of Pang Yun and his daughter Pang Lingzhao engraved by monks.
Pangpo Cave is located halfway up the mountainside, with steep cliffs in four places, with two platforms in the middle, and between the platforms is a cliff seven or eight meters high. There are two rows of Buddha statues carved in the middle and upper part, 26 statues in the upper row and 27 statues in the lower row, a total of 53 statues, each about 50 centimeters high, with different looks and lifelike appearances.
On the cliff on the other side above, there are several inscriptions. One of the inscriptions clearly records that the engraving of the statue of Pangpo Cave was completed in the first year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, that is, in 1522 AD. The latter article is earlier, the "Pangpo Cave Record" written by the Ming Dynasty Zhang Fengfeng in the fifteenth year of Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty, that is, in 1520 AD. Below these two inscriptions, there is also shang Yanjun's "Inscription Nan'an Pangpo Cave" by Shang Yanjun, the last Chinese imperial examination in the late Qing Dynasty. According to this calculation, the Buddha's head here has a history of nearly 500 years.
In recent years, niche tourism has made many temples hidden deep in the mountains famous. However, an article published on the Internet and illustrated about Pang Podong was read and remembered by Yang Mou, a "person with a heart" in Jianyang County, Sichuan Province.
On the morning of August 20, 2017, Zhou Mingcheng, a 69-year-old father of Zhou Mingcheng, a villager living near Pompo Cave, was fishing down the mountain to go home for dinner when he suddenly found that the head of the Buddha statue in Pompo Cave was passive. Zhou Mingcheng ran over to take a look, and his heart tightened, "Oops! The Buddha's head should have been stolen! He quickly called the police.
Destroyed Buddha statue
After the incident, the local cultural relics protection and public security department quickly arrived at the scene. After on-site investigation, a total of 10 Buddha heads were missing, 5 in the upper and lower rows, and there were fresh chisel marks in almost every crack, which was initially determined to be stolen, and the crime was committed from the evening of August 19 to the early morning of August 20. The 10 stolen Buddha heads are all carved in the Ming Dynasty, and the rock mass is made of red sandstone.
The Ministry of Public Security attaches great importance to this major cultural relics case, the Sichuan Provincial Public Security Department is listed for supervision, and the police in Leshan City and Jiajiang County continue to carry out investigation work, but with little effect. Until a tip from the detainees brought a turnaround.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="71" > hooked up with "stele collectors" and "tomb robbers."</h1>
The theft of the Buddha's head in the Ming Dynasty was a matter of great importance, and the criminal investigation brigade of the Jiajiang County Public Security Bureau immediately went to the scene to investigate. Pangpo Cave is located in the middle of the mountain, which cannot be reached directly by car, and it takes about 15 minutes to walk.
"Because this case occurred in a very remote place, there were very few clues." Hu Hongyu, deputy county magistrate of Jiajiang County and director of the Public Security Bureau, introduced. At that time, the specific time of the crime was judged to be between June 23 and August 20, there was no monitoring coverage at the scene, and the common crime tools left behind could not provide too many clues, and the case was at an impasse.
How were these Buddha heads stolen? According to the preliminary investigation and analysis, the crime tools may be divided into three categories, one is to use hammers and hammers to chisel, the second is to use screwdrivers and the like to chisel the Buddha's head, and the third is portable electric hammer tools, because some traces similar to electric hammers have been found.
After repeated simulation experiments and on-site guidance by criminal investigation experts, the special case team portrayed: the suspects are 2 to 4 men around 30 years old, who have a shallow understanding of cultural relics, rough and clumsy modus operandi, and are not skilled enough in the use of tools... The police have visited more than 3,000 people from more than 1,000 households, and even arrived in Guangdong. At the end of 2020, a detainee gave a clue - a person named Ah Lang once showed him a photo, holding a Buddha head in his hand, which was about the same size as the Buddha head of Pangpo Cave, and also mentioned the three words of Pangpo Cave.
Who is "Alang"? Yang Mou, who made a living by "collecting stone tablets", entered the sight of the police.
One of Yang's associates, named Zhang Moumou, tried to excavate an ancient tomb in Mucheng Town just a year before the Buddha's head was stolen, and was stopped by the police.
An unusual intersection occurred in the wooden town of Jiajiang County, one who collected stone tablets, one who stole ancient tombs, and two related "peers".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="72" > absurd netizens actually fell into the pit because of "Notes on tomb robbery"</h1>
Although the two targets of Yang and Zhang were locked, the police did not hit the grass to scare the snake. After more than half a year of peripheral investigation, on May 12, 2021, the special case team began to carry out arrests. Yang and Zhang were quickly arrested. Shun teng touched the melon, and the other two co-suspects Wang Mou and Wu Mou were also captured one after another.
The case was finally revealed.
"Pangpo Cave is remote and inaccessible, and theft is not easy to detect." According to Yang's account, he contacted Zhang X, a Chengdu person, in the cultural relics QQ group, and then Zhang X invited Wu X, a Panzhihua person, to let the wind blow, and Wu invited Wang X, a Chongqing man, to drive to transfer cultural relics.
"At that time, 'Notes on the Tomb Robbery' was relatively popular, so I searched for 'Lieutenant Touching Gold' on QQ and joined such a group." According to the criminal suspect Wang Mou, through this group to know Wu, so he got on the thief ship.
After the four temporary combination of cockroach thieves stole the Buddha's head, they quickly sold it to Jiang Mou, an antique owner in Chengdu, for more than 10,000 yuan.
The police found the antique boss Jiang Mou. After three days of interrogation, Jiang finally admitted that he had spent more than 10,000 yuan to buy a Buddha's head, but he sold it to Fu Mou, an antique dealer in Fujian, for 125,000 yuan, and then had no contact with the other party.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="73" > 4 years The Buddha's head is still well preserved</h1>
Just when the police were preparing to go to Fujian to find Fu, they suddenly received a call from Jiang's father, saying that the Buddha's head had been found, just in Chengdu. On June 11, 2021, the police of the special case team rushed to a logistics warehouse in Chengdu with excitement and anxiety.
Open the box and check the Buddha's head
I opened the box and saw that the Buddha's head was still there. "There was a sense of relief and excitement." A police officer handling the case said that after almost four years, he was finally able to see these Buddha heads again, and everyone's efforts were not in vain. According to the appraisal of cultural relics experts, although these 10 Buddha heads have been wandering for thousands of miles for 4 years, they are still well preserved.
The day after the Buddha's head returned home, the police of the special case team went to Fujian and found Fu Mou, who purchased the Buddha's head. According to Fu Mou's account, he felt that this Buddha head was very beautiful and beautiful, and it was very artistic, so he spent 125,000 yuan to buy it. He first took it to try to engage in antiques, but the process was not easy to master, and he never found a master, so he did not move. Hearing Father Jiang say that something had happened to the Buddha's head, he quickly returned it.
At present, the case is still under further investigation. The Pangpo Cave, hidden in the deep mountains, has now been equipped with monitoring probes and special guards, and the local publicity has been further strengthened, and more villagers have been mobilized to participate in the protection of the Pangpo Cave monuments.
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