Daylight-robbery relic auction

By Zuo Likun (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-10-30 17:32

If someone took away what belonged to you, the last thing you would want to do is buy it back.

This simple logic also applies to the Chinese government's attitude towards the upcoming auction in Paris of its long-lost relics, two invaluable bronzes of a Rat and Hare from Yuanmingyuan Garden, or the Old Summer Palace.

The bronzes of Rat (L) and Hare, shown in this combined photo, are planed for auction in Paris next February. Chinese officials reiterated her stance that it's definitely unacceptable to put war-time plunder under the hammer. The two bronzes were stolen from China in the Late Qing Dynasty during the opium wars (1839-1842).

Song Xinchao, Museum General at State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said that China would not use "its own money" to buy back "its own things".

Christie's, an international arts dealer and auctioneer based in Hong Kong, announced recently that the two bronzes of Rat and Hare would go under the hammer in Paris during February next year, with an estimated combined worth of over 200 million yuan (US$28.6 million).

Rat and Hare are two of the 12 animals in Chinese Zodiac, with other animals being the Ox, Tiger, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Cock, Dog and Boar. Originally the two bronzes were part of a set of all twelve that formed a famous fountain in the palace gardens. They spouted water in turn to mark the various hours of the day with the exception of midday, when an elaborate hydraulic mechanism triggered all of the animals simultaneously. The fountain was destroyed, along with the whole royal garden, by colonial invaders in the Late Qing Dynasty during the opium wars (1839-1842).

According to a BBC report last Sunday, a special mainland fund, set up to help retrieve long-lost Chinese national treasures, attempted to negotiate the return of the bronzes with the French collector Yves Saint Laurent, a world-famous fashion designer, in 2003 and 2004.

However, the designer priced out of the market, wanting US$20 million.

"This is no different from robbery!" Zong Tianliang, Spokesman at Yuanmingyuan Garden Administration, said to a reporter from the International Herald Tribune. The repurchasing plan was aborted over the price disputes.

In June 2008 Saint Laurent died, leaving his collection, including the two bronzes from China, to a European fund, which decided to put them under hammer through the auctioneer Christie's.

In a telephone interview with the Oriental Morning Post, Wang Jia, Christie's Operation Manager in China, insisted Christie's operates legally between collectors and buyers.

However, Christie's auction plan has stirred heated debates and instant outrages in China. Online comments denounced it as a daylight robbery, adding unacceptable insult to the injury. While others wondered if there was still any possibility of retrieving the national treasures through negations.

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