A Chinese bronze vessel looted from Yuanmingyuan, or the Old Summer Palace, has recently returned to China and entered the collections at the National Museum of China on Tuesday.
The vessel, known as the Bronze Tiger Ying, was auctioned in April by Britain's Canterbury Auction Galleries.
The buyer, through the auction house, contacted China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage or SACH in late April and expressed hope for an unconditional donation.
Resources show the vessel, once belonging to the royal family of the Qing Dynasty between 1644 and 1911, was taken away by British military officer Harry Evans from the Old Summer Palace, which was sacked and destroyed in 1860 during the invasion of Anglo-French allied forces.
Representatives from SACH and experts with the National Museum of China visited Britain in September to authenticate the bronze vessel, which dates back to the Western Zhou period between 1046 BC and 771 BC.
"Chinese cultural relics lost overseas are an important component of the cultural heritage of our country," said Liu Yuzhu, head of SACH, adding they bear the profound history and cultural emotions of the Chinese people.
Liu said SACH has in recent years successfully facilitated the return of many lost cultural relics to China, and the return of the Bronze Tiger Ying is a representative model.
Low-profile preparations for its return began in June through multiple channels. It was returned to China's custody on Sept 21 and remained in the Chinese embassy until it was moved to Beijing on Nov 23, according to a release at Tuesday's ceremony marking its move to the National Museum of China.
"Its journey back home is a milestone in our efforts to repatriate lost treasures from overseas," Liu said. "It fully shows our responsibility to protect our country's cultural heritage, and may contribute more wisdom about handling similar issues."
China has signed bilateral cooperation agreements with 20 countries on repatriating illicitly exported cultural relics.
Only eight ying artifacts are known to exist, according to Sun Ji, 89, a veteran archaeologist who participated in appraising the artifact.
In 2013, two bronze animal head statues from the Old Summer Palace－the rabbit and rat from the Chinese Zodiac－were returned from France and moved to the museum. The two artifacts, part of a fountain, were also looted in 1860.
(Source: ourjiangsu.com)
