The Western Zhou bronze ware "Huyu" will be auctioned in the UK for an estimated value of 1.1 million - 1.8 million yuan. The tiger is auctioned by the lawyer Wang Yuanmingyuan.

Western Zhou bronzes "虎蓥"

Legal Evening News (Reporter Cui Yifei, Li Shixiang) On March 28th, a message of "Western Zhou Bronze Ware" (蓥 yíng) "will be auctioned in the UK" caused widespread concern. In the auction information, this artifact is called from Yuanmingyuan. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage said today that it is understanding and verifying the situation through an official response. Liu Yang, a member of the Academic Committee of the Yuanmingyuan Academy, said that this cultural relic was identified as a cultural relic of the Yuanmingyuan. The reporter tried to contact the auction house of the auction, but as of press time, she did not receive a reply from the other party about the auction dispute. Liu Yang, a lawyer who has long been concerned about the loss of cultural relics from Yuanmingyuan, hopes that Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park will be able to sue this auction as a plaintiff.

event

3000 years ago, tigers were rare

Earlier reports said that this rare Western-style "Tiger" bronze was taken from the Yuanmingyuan by British Navy Colonel Harry Lewsi Evans. In a letter to the family, he said that he had participated in the looting of Yuanmingyuan, and the precious cultural relics that were taken away contained bronzes. The letter was discovered by the London antique dealer Alstair Gibson along with this bronze.

It is said that similar bronzes are rare, and the history of this upcoming bronze auction dates back 3,000 years. According to the auction house, the valuation of this “tiger” is as high as 120,000-200,000 pounds (about 1.1 million to 1.8 million yuan).

At present, the "è“¥" bronzes are known to exist only in the world. In addition to the "Tiger" and another "è“¥" appearing outside the auction house, the other five are in the museum collection, so the "tiger" is rare.

status quo

Lost cultural relics have repeatedly "repurchased"

In recent years, the frequency of the loss of cultural relics in China has increased significantly in international auctions, and it has a strong posture. It is understood that the value of most of the lost cultural relics that appeared in the auction is far lower than the auction price. The reason why the foreigners continue to shoot the sky-high price is that foreigners use the patriotism of the Chinese to take the opportunity to raise the price of Chinese art and let the people do not hesitate. The price is repurchased, and profits are drawn from it.

In 2000, the head of the 12-year-old bronze statue of the animal head of the Yuanmingyuan, the head of the monkey, the head of the monkey, and a piece of Qianlong’s sauce, painted gold and pastels, and appeared in the spring shoots of Christie’s and Sotheby’s in Hong Kong. On the other hand, China Poly Group bought 3 bronze statues of beasts for a total price of 30 million Hong Kong dollars, and Beijing Cultural Relics Co., Ltd. bought bottles for 19 million Hong Kong dollars.

In the practice of pursuing the loss of overseas cultural relics through the purchase of this commercial channel, many civil society insiders pointed out that this is not a wise and long-term solution.

problem

Identifying the difficulties of “grabbing” cultural relics

It is also a dilemma to pursue the loss of cultural relics from a legal perspective. Although the international conventions stipulate the principle that the looting of cultural relics should be returned to the original owner, it is difficult to actually plunder the cultural relics and how to trace them back. Due to the age, the exact evidence of many documents is difficult to collect and becomes a major bottleneck. In addition, many auction houses have bypassed these conventions for auctions. Therefore, it is difficult to recover cultural relics by international conventions.

In 2009, Liu Yang, a well-known lawyer from the China Lawyers Group who went to Paris to pursue the bronze beast of the Yuanmingyuan, and Liu Yang, the head of the Global Chinese Lawyers Union, introduced in an interview that cross-border recollection of cultural relics, whether through diplomatic channels or Recourse in accordance with the law is a difficult point in the world. Not only China, but all the logistics of the country, such as Egypt, India, and so on. It is indeed difficult to rely on a country or an organization to pursue cultural relics. It is still necessary to establish an organization such as the International Association for the Unification of Private Law through international efforts and gradually reach a consensus and formulate relevant agreements, treaties or protocols.

The dialogue expert determined that it was the cultural relics lost in Yuanmingyuan

Yesterday, Liu Yang, a member of the Academic Committee of the Yuanmingyuan Society, said in an interview with the "Legal Evening News" reporter that this tiger can be sure that the British military officers have looted from the Yuanmingyuan, and there is no doubt that it has a very high cultural value.

Legal Evening News: Is the “Tiger” that appeared in the auction house really a lost cultural relic of Yuanmingyuan?

Liu Yang: The auction house's website has a detailed introduction, including the military officers' books that involved in the looting of the Yuanmingyuan cultural relics. They all mentioned that the tiger cub is from the Yuanmingyuan, and the problem of black and white is not big. Previously, there have been similar situations in the auction house, such as the diary of the witnesses, and the credibility is relatively high. It is now undoubtedly certain that it is a cultural relic that the British officers have robbed from Yuanmingyuan.

Legal Evening News: Have we ever known that the cultural relics of the Yuanmingyuan, which is "the tiger cub", have been lost overseas?

Liu Yang: I have not heard of it before because there is no relevant record. It may be displayed on a shelf in a palace in Yuanmingyuan or stored in Duobao. It is an object for the emperor to watch and play. It has a very high artistic value and historical value.

Legal Evening News: The valuation of this "tiger" is 1.1 million to 1.8 million yuan. Is the value of this cultural relic reasonable?

Liu Yang: Because of the fear of streaming, the starting price set by the auction house is generally not very high. With reference to past experience, the occurrence of ten or twenty times the starting price has occurred, so this starting price does not have too high reference value. Moreover, the tiger cub is sparsely populated, has a strong scarcity, and it is difficult to measure its value with money.

Legal Evening News: Why does the auction house emphasize that this is a cultural relic of the Yuanmingyuan, will the cultural relics rise on the Yuanmingyuan?

Liu Yang: Foreign auction houses will do a very detailed report on auction information, and make a comprehensive and objective introduction to the lot as much as possible. It will not take Yuanmingyuan as a selling point of hype, but only an objective statement on the background of cultural relics.

Dialogue lawyers hope to go to Yuanmingyuan for litigation

This morning, the reporter of the Legal Evening News telephoned Liu Yang, a lawyer who has long been concerned about the loss of overseas cultural relics in Yuanmingyuan. Lawyer Liu Yang went to France to stop the auction of the head of the Yuanmingyuan.

Legal Evening News: What measures do you think China should take for this auction?

Liu Yang: For this auction, I will communicate with the Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park Management Committee after returning to Beijing. I hope that they can serve as plaintiffs and go to the UK to sue the auctioneers or the relevant persons of the auction. If a lawsuit can be filed, the auction is prohibited. According to the management regulations of the international auction house, Chinese law and English law, if the ownership is unknown, the origin is unknown, there is a major flaw, it is impossible to auction, and it should be easy to succeed. Our aim is to initiate the return. The issue of aging has been solved in the Anglo-American legal system. The most significant thing is that the source of illegal loss, the case has a very strong grasp and win, and there is still great confidence in the return. I have already communicated with experts from Yuanmingyuan.

Legal Evening News: What department is being sued? Will this department be accepted?

Liu Yang: The lawsuit filed in the court of the auction house is generally accepted. First of all, it can be forced to stop the illegal auction, on the basis of which the cultural relics can be returned.

Legal Evening News: How can we recover this lost cultural relics?

Liu Yang: For the loss of cultural relics overseas, the government will give some support in moral and diplomatic terms. It is hoped that the local government where the cultural relics are located can recover the lost cultural relics overseas through legal channels, but in this respect, it is often the case that there is more than one incident. All in all, the recovery of overseas cultural relics can first be made through diplomatic means, such as the State Cultural Relics Bureau. There are more than 10 days from the auction, and I am also observing the reaction of the auction house. If diplomatic means are not effective, legal means should be taken to recover the cultural relics. I hope that the Yuanmingyuan Relics Park can stand up. I am also studying the possibility of being a plaintiff.

Text / reporter Cui Yifei Li Shixiang

Chinese language logistics take-off event

July 2008

Rat head and rabbit bronze statue

The Christie's auction house in France announced that it will hold a special auction in February 2009. Among the auction collections, including the Chinese Yuanmingyuan precious cultural relics and the first bronze statue of the rabbit. On February 19, 2009, a group of 81 Chinese lawyers who lost their cultural relics filed a civil lawsuit in the local court of Paris under the name of the European Union for the Protection of Chinese Art. For the first time, the lost cultural relics were pursued in the form of law. In the end, Chinese businessman Cai Mingchao caused the two cultural relics to “slap” in the way of not paying after the auction.

In October 2012, "Qinglong Longqing Jade Carving Antique Animal Face Pattern Lifting Beam"

"Qing Jiaqing Bai Yuzhen carved phoenix long Yi children's card"

The British Bonds auction house announced that it will hold a special auction of Chinese art on November 8. Chinese collectors found that there are two pieces of Yuanmingyuan lost cultural relics - "Qinglong Long Qing Jade Carving Antique Animal Face Pattern Lifting Beam" and "Qing Jiaqing White Jade Carving Phoenix Pattern Long Yi Zi Sun". The incident caused great controversy in China, and eventually the auction house announced the withdrawal of the two Yuanmingyuan cultural relics. This is also the first time the Yuanmingyuan cultural relics were withdrawn in the UK.

2016

Several pieces of Chinese lost cultural relics

The netizen broke the news that the Yokohama International Auction Company of Japan plans to auction several pieces of Chinese cultural relics at the end of October of that year. Immediately after the State Administration of Cultural Heritage was informed, a letter was sent to the Yokohama International Auction Company in Japan to stop the auction. After the Japanese Yokohama International Auction Company conducted an investigation, it decided to withdraw the film and then return it to the client.

(Editor: Li Xingwang HF015)